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The SuperFoods Avocado Powerful Nutrient Booster
The SuperFoods Avocado Powerful Nutrient Booster
Powerful Nutrient Booster |
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| Perhaps the most interesting research on avocados demonstrates that it is a powerful "nutrient booster": Avocados actually improve the body's ability to absorb nutrients from foods. It's important to remember that it's not just the presence of nutrients in foods that matter, it's also our body's ability to absorb these nutrients. In one study, adding about half an avocado (75 grams) to a carrot/lettuce/spinach salad increased the absorption of the following nutrients in the subjects who ate the salad: alpha-carotene by 8.3 times, beta-carotene by 13.6 times, and lutein by 4.3 times compared with the absorption rate of the same salad without avocado. In a second study, adding a medium avocado (150 grams) to a serving of salsa increased the absorption of lycopene 4.4 times and the absorption of beta-carotene 2.6 times compared with eating the salsa without the avocado. Both studies concluded that the healthy monounsaturated fat in the avocado caused a significant increase in the absorption of the fat-soluble carotenoid phytonutrients in the meal. |
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