More avocado is the motto!

[Guest guest]

Avocado Protects Against Liver Damage

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I found the article below very interesting, especially because it

points out again how little we know about how and why different foods

are valuable and affect us. Therefore ANY diet plan is going to be

limited. Maybe trusting our instincts IS the way to go.:)

~^^V^^~

PS Interestingly this list contains some of my favorite foods.

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Avocado (Persea americana) may help to

protect the liver from damage, according to

new research from Japan.

Researchers fed avocado and 22 other

fruits to laboratory rats.

The rats were then given

D-galactosamine, a substance that

causes liver damage by interfering with

cell synthesis and results in cell death.

The rats fed the avocado obtained

the least amount of liver damage.

The Researchers discovered three new

compounds that might explain why the

avocado is protective.

" Besides offering taste and nutrition,

avocados seem to improve liver health, " said

Hirokazu Kawagishi, professor of applied

biological chemistry, at Shizuoka

University. " I

have begun eating avocados more myself,

because of this study. " He advocated that

people should try to eat an avocado a

day.

Besides avocados, 8 other fruits showed a

liver-protective effect:

Watermelon

Grapefruit

Lychee

Fig

Kiwi

Cherry

Japanese

plum

Papaya

Researchers are now analyzing those fruits to

determine if there are chemicals within the

fruit that can explain its protective effect

and

whether those compounds can be exploited to

develop drugs to treat disease. They also plan

to recruit human volunteers to determine if

adding avocado to the diet can effect the

outcomes of patients with liver disease.

A spokesperson for the California Avocado Info

Bureau, Jeanette LeBlanc, said that in the US

the average person eats about one avocado

every two weeks, although the numbers of

people who are eating avocados continues to

rise.

The 2000 International Chemical

Congress of Pacific Basin Societies in

Honolulu, Hawaii, December, 2000