Posted on 06/20/2025 10:47:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new study reveals that eating one avocado per day may enhance sleep, highlighting an unexpected connection between nutrition and sleep quality. The findings build on growing evidence linking avocados to heart health and suggest intriguing potential for dietary choices to influence sleep-related health factors. Credit: Shutterstock Daily avocado intake was linked to better sleep and heart health, likely due to key nutrients, according to a new analysis of a major dietary study.
A new study suggests that eating one avocado per day may help improve sleep. Research now confirms that sleep is just as important for overall health as nutrition and exercise. In a secondary analysis of the largest randomized controlled trial on avocados to date, researchers found that adults who ate one avocado each day for six months reported better sleep than those who consumed fewer than two avocados per month.
According to the CDC, getting enough sleep can reduce risk factors for heart disease. These results add to the growing evidence that supports avocados as a heart-healthy food and represent the first time a link has been found between avocado consumption and sleep. The American Heart Association (AHA) includes healthy sleep duration as one of eight essential health factors that, when optimized, can help promote ideal cardiovascular health.
Research insights from Penn State
“Sleep is emerging as a key lifestyle factor in heart health, and this study invites us to consider how nutrition—and foods like avocado—can play a role in improving it,” said Dr. Kristina Petersen, study author and associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University. “Cardiovascular health is influenced by many factors, and while no single food is a silver bullet, some—like avocados—offer a range of nutrients that support multiple aspects of heart health. This is an encouraging step in expanding the science around avocados and the potential benefits of consumption.”
With support from the Avocado Nutrition Center, the study included 969 racially and ethnically diverse American adults who had elevated waist circumference, a cardiovascular risk factor that affects nearly 60% of adults in the United States. Participants were randomly assigned to either eat one avocado per day or to consume very few avocados (fewer than two per month) while maintaining their usual diet over a six-month period.
Measuring heart health outcomes
Cardiovascular health was assessed using the AHA’s Life’s Essential 8, a framework used by healthcare professionals as well as individuals to better understand and reduce risk factors. This tool identifies diet quality, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep, body weight, blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood glucose as leading behaviors and factors that when improved, can lead to better health outcomes.
Daily avocado intake was associated with improved diet quality (measured by the Healthy Eating Index 2015), blood lipids (modest reductions in LDL-C and total cholesterol levels), and sleep health (increased self-reported sleep duration). No significant effects were found for the other Life’s Essential 8 components.
New research suggests that eating one avocado a day may positively impact sleep. Credit: Avocados – Love One Today Though the study was not originally designed to examine sleep as a primary outcome, the results offer an exciting direction for future research with more rigorous methodology and tools to better understand the potential for how the nutrients in avocados may support aspects of cardiovascular health. There are several strengths to this study design, but the findings are not conclusive and cannot be generalized to all populations.
Avocados have the following nutrients per serving (1/3 medium avocado) that may play a role in sleep:
Tryptophan: 13 mg, a precursor to melatonin, which helps regulate sleep
Folate: 45 mcg (10% DV), supports the production of melatonin
Magnesium: 15 mg (4% DV), plays a role in muscle contraction and relaxation
Additionally, the combination of fiber and monounsaturated fats in avocados contributes to their beneficial impact on cardiovascular health.
Fiber: 3 g (11% DV), with one-third as soluble fiber, which helps block cholesterol absorption in the digestive tract and lowers the risk of heart disease
Monounsaturated fat: 5 g, which may help lower LDL cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke
Reference:
“Effect of Daily Avocado Intake on Cardiovascular Health Assessed by Life’s Essential 8: An Ancillary Study of HAT, a Randomized Controlled Trial”
by Janhavi J. Damani, Penny M. Kris‐Etherton, Alice H. Lichtenstein, Nirupa R. Matthan, Joan Sabaté, Zhaoping Li, David Reboussin and Kristina S. Petersen, 19 February 2025, Journal of the American Heart Association.
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.124.039130
The study was funded by the Avocado Nutrition Center.
The authors thank the Avocado Nutrition Center for providing avocados at the 4 clinical centers, Pennsylvania State University, Loma Linda University, Tufts University, and University of California at Los Angeles. The authors also thank the study staff at the central coordinating center, Wake Forest University, and all clinical centers for their assistance with HAT management and data collection.
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Too close to Trumpteenth!...............
LOL! That’s a good one.
I wonder how long it took some aide with a Magic Marker to put the fake grill marks on those hot dogs.
Cheeseburgers are not kosher.
And especially not those!...................
“With support from the Avocado Nutrition Center”
Too many calories in my book. Rather have something with taste...like a berry...or a peach.
2 grams is not a lot of protein. Prefer whole milk, cereal and strawberries.
a small avocado 160 calories...a med one...320 calories.
I pop 2.5 mg of melatonin at midnight, and it keeps me asleep through the witching hour.
I wonder who paid for the study?
I’ve often wondered if melatonin is good for adults, since our bodies were designed to decrease its production as we age.
Melatonin raises my BP.
first off, I love avacados
but I’m tired of these studies funded by the manufacturers or growers of things being studied
I simply don’t trust these studies anymore. Period.
“Cheeseburgers are not kosher.
And especially not those!...................”
Who puts cheese on raw burgers? Sheesh!
I should’ve mentioned that I don’t take melatonin every night—just when I feel like I’ve been short on sleep. I’ve read that taking it regularly might tell your brain to ease up on its own production.
Also, it’s important to take a really small dose; otherwise, you can feel groggy the next day. And it can interact with meds like blood thinners, diabetes meds, and blood pressure meds—not an issue for me, but good to know.
I was taking melatonin and noticed that after a few days of taking it I was really sad. So I stopped for a bit, then tried again. Same thing. I can use the lotion containing it but not ingest it.
Hmmm...I perhaps didn’t notice a sadness. Didn’t know there was a lotion. I’ll have to try it. Most people take it without any trouble...not us.
Point of interest. Have you ever taken Scopolamine?
I can’t stand the morning brain fog of even 1/10 a 3g melatonin pill (300mg). However, 8g of pistachios before bed, providing only about .64mg, helps with no side effects. I think melatonin sensitivity varies.
Yep, differences in reaction...and, of course, I’m allergic to nuts...no help there.
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