Avocados: NZ study suggests they're good for the gut

A study by scientists at Plant and Food Research may have just found another reason to eat avocados. Photo / File

A first-of-its-kind Kiwi study may have just found another reason to eat avocados: the fruit may boost gut health.

While avocados contain compounds that are already known to support cardiovascular health and blood glucose regulation, and have anti-inflammatory benefits, a study by scientists at Plant and Food Research has proven the first to examine the direct effect on gut health.

Macronutrients in food such as dietary fibre are known to alter gut microbiota composition and metabolic activity, so the team fed rats different diets that included five, 10 or 15 per cent avocado for six weeks.

While the researchers were surprised to find no noticeable effect on bacterial populations in the rats' guts compared with the control, they did find other beneficial health effects.

The gut bacteria metabolised the dietary fibre in the avocado to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as a result of fermentation.

SCFAs are associated with a number of health benefits, including the stimulation of cells to produce antimicrobial peptides called defensins, which play an important role in immune protection.

The research showed higher concentrations of defensins in the gut tissues of the avocado-fed rats.

Although this wasn't solid proof of beneficial activity in the body itself, higher levels were probably better for gut health, study co-leader Dr Gunaranjan Paturi said.

Another change to the gut lining had more straightforward benefits.

SCFAs are also the fuel for goblet cells, which produce mucus in a healthy gut that protect gut tissue.

The team found significantly more goblet cells in the gut wall in rats on the 15 per cent avocado diet, something that implied the fruit also positively influenced gut mucus secretion, Paturi said.

As the trial was working with a known safe and beneficial food, Paturi said the next step could be a move straight into testing with humans.

"This is exciting research," New Zealand Avocado chief executive Jen Scoular said.

"It potentially opens the door to a whole new area of benefit we hadn't seen before.

"It would be great to see this research followed up to find out if it translates into real benefits for human gut health."

The research was funded as part of MBIE's Food for Health programme and published in the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition.