Eating avocados helps improve brain function

Science has just given you one more reason to eat avocados!

It's common knowledge that avocado is a superfood.

Not only does it give you your required dose of vitamins and proteins, fight cancer, lower cholesterol, and help your heart, it's now been revealed they're good for your brain too.

According to research from the University of Illinois, avocado - which is a lutein-rich food - can do wonders for your overall cognitive skills. 3

People with higher levels of lutein – a nutrient also found in green, leafy vegetables like spinach or kale and eggs – have 'younger' brains than others.

The study examined 60 adults between the ages of 25 and 45.

After measuring their levels of lutein, the researchers then measured their brain activity while performing an attention-heavy task.

They found that those with higher levels of lutein had neural responses that were similar to younger individuals than with people their own age.

Anne Walk, the study’s lead author, said: ‘We want to understand how diet impacts cognition throughout the lifespan. If lutein can protect against decline, we should encourage people to consume lutein-rich foods at a point in their lives when it has maximum benefit.’

‘The neuro-electrical signature of older participants with higher levels of lutein looked much more like their younger counterparts than their peers with less lutein. Lutein appears to have some protective role, since the data suggest that those with more lutein were able to engage more cognitive resources to complete the task.’

Naiman Khan, who worked on the research, said: ‘Now there’s an additional reason to eat nutrient-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, eggs and avocados.

‘We know these foods are related to other health benefits, but these data indicate that there may be cognitive benefits as well.'