avocado on toast
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
May 25, 2021 ·  3 min read

Study will pay people to eat avocados every single day for 6 months

If your favorite brunch item is avocado on toast and you always pay extra for guac, then I have the study for you. Researchers from five American universities want to pay people to eat avocados every single day for six months. They first announced the study in 2018; however, it hasn’t yet actually taken place. They are still recruiting, and there are details that you need to know. (1)

Researchers To Pay People To Eat Avocados For Six Months

Researchers from Loma Linda University, Penn State, Tufts University, Wake Forest University, and the University of California want to study what effect eating avocados every day has on the human body. Their goal is to determine if avocado is as good for weight loss as we all think it is. To do this, they want to pay people to eat avocados every single day for six months straight. (1)

The study is known as the Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial (HAT). There will be two groups in the study: Those who eat avocado every day and those who are not allowed to eat it at all for the duration of the study period. From there, there are several requirements that study participants must meet. (1)

HAT Study Requirements:

To be eligible for the study, participants must live in the Inland Empire and Southern California. Study participants must be willing to (1):

  • Go to the Loma Linda University (LLU) every two weeks to pick up study materials.
  • Attend 8 cynical visits on the LLU campus over the 6 months of the study.
  • Undergo 2 MRI scans.
  • Speak with dieticians four times throughout the course of the study and provide them with information on what you eat on a daily basis.
  • Eat either one avocado a day for six months or eat no more than two throughout the entire study period.
  • Follow study protocol even during holidays or while traveling.

The clinical visits will take from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on what needs to be done during that visit. Participants will know ahead of time roughly how long their visit will be. The over-the-phone diet recalls will take between 40 minutes and one hour, and picking up study items will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes each week. During the first and last clinical visits, participants will complete a memory test which will take an hour and a half each time. (1)

Other Requirements:

In order to qualify, you must also be (2):

  • 25 years old or older
  • Not currently eating more than 2 avocados per month
  • A waist circumference of at least 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men

If you are currently pregnant or lactating, following a diet, use certain medications or oral steroids, drink more than 7 alcoholic drinks a week (females) or 14 alcoholic drinks a week (males), have specific allergies, or have outstanding medical conditions or illnesses, you are ineligible. (2)

What Do Participants Get?

The researchers are looking for 1000 people to participate in the study. Participants will be paid $300, be given small gifts throughout the study, and receive either free avocados during the study or receive them at the end. (1, 3)

Why Are They Studying The Effects of A High-Avocado Diet?

For quite some time now, people have touted avocados as a dietary superfood. The researchers want to determine how much, if, at all, avocados actually help people lose weight. Though the fruit is full of healthy fats and may improve cholesterol levels, there is some concern as to whether or not it is as good for you as people say. (3)

“Since avocados contain the highest fat content of any fruit, it seems illogical to think they might actually help people lose their belly fat,” the LLU researchers said. (3)

They hope to determine whether or not avocados actually help people lose the fat around their abdomen. If you think you are eligible and would like to participate in this study, visit their website here. The estimated trial completion date is January 2022 (2).

Keep Reading: NASA will pay you $13,000 to lay in bed

Sources

  1. The Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial. Hat Study.org. 2018.
  2. Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial (HAT).” Clinical Trials.gov. May 17, 2018.
  3. Study will pay people to eat avocados every single day for 6 months.” CNN. Andrea Diaz. August 29, 2018.