Whoever first cultivated avocados, I’d like to kiss that person’s face and say ”God bless you!” Avocado is so far my favorite food. I love it so much that I may have to write a song about it. “Avocado, avocado, avocado!" Well, if you don’t have a thing for it, you may begin to like it, as scientists just found that avocados can manage obesity and help prevent diabetes.
The super avocatin B (AvoB)
In normal people, mitochondria in the body can burn fatty acids. When the mitochondria in the body fail to burn fatty acids properly, people can have insulin resistance and become obese or develop diabetes.
AvoB, a unique fat molecule found only in avocados, can inhibit this improper cellular process in skeletal muscle and the pancreas. In another word, AvoB can help manage obesity and prevent diabetes.
The mice study and human clinical study
In order to verify the effect of AvoB, the researchers conducted two studies.
In the mice study, the researchers first fed mice high-fat diets for eight weeks and made them obese. Then, in the next five weeks, they fed half of the mice AvoB along with high-fat diets. Another half of the mice had high-fat diets only.
It turns out that the mice with AvoB showed slower weight gain and greater insulin sensitivity. This means that AvoB can help them burn fatty acids and improve their response to insulin.
In the human clinical study, the researchers fed the participants a typical western diet along with AvoB. The participants did report weight loss, though not statistically significant. More importantly, the participants absorbed AvoB successfully without affecting the kidney, liver or skeletal muscle.
Although the scientists claimed that eating avocados alone are not likely to do the magic, the AvoB they contain may soon be made into pills or supplements to help you manage obesity and prevent diabetes.
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