New Delhi: You must have heard about healing qualities of avocado and dieticians suggesting to include avocado in your food habit.

Now a study has found that including avocado in your daily diet helps improve you gut health as the fruit is rich in dietary fibre and monounsaturated fat. It keeps you healthy by impacting the microbes in the gastrointestinal system.

Sharon Thompson, a graduate student in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at U of I and lead author on the paper, published in the Journal of Nutrition said, “We know eating avocados helps you feel full and reduces blood cholesterol concentration, but we did not know how it influences the gut microbes, and the metabolites the microbes produce.”

The researchers found that people who ate avocado every day as part of a meal had a greater abundance of gut microbes that break down fibre and produce metabolites that support gut health. They also had greater microbial diversity compared to people who did not receive the avocado meals, says the study.

Thompson told, “Avocado consumption reduced bile acids and increased short-chain fatty acids. These changes correlate with beneficial health outcomes.”

A medium avocado provides around 12 grams of fibre, which goes a long way toward meeting the recommended amount of 28 to 34 grams of fibre per day, says study.

Avocado being an energy-dense food also, is nutrient-dense, and it contains important micronutrients that Americans do not eat enough of, like potassium and fibre.

“It is just a really nicely packaged fruit that contains nutrients that are important for health. Our work shows we can add benefits to gut health to that list,” Holscher added.