If you're pregnant—or are trying to be—the official meal plan doctors in the U.S. recommend currently doesn't include the healthy fat. But the researchers of this study did some digging (perhaps after savoring a breakfast of avocado toast) and found that they're actually an amazing source of many of the nutrients pregnant women need, such as folate, potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. They also don't contain anything harmful like sugar, saturated fats, sodium, or alcohol (unless you're sipping an avocado cocktail).
To conduct their study, the researchers meticulously reviewed data comparing women who followed a Mediterranean diet full of plant-based foods, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats (with the addition of avocado, which complements the Mediterranean diet but isn't technically a part of it) and compared it to data of pregnant women who followed the recommended US dietary guidelines for pregnant women. (They looked at studies of women trying to get pregnant, too.) What they found out was that the Mediterranean diet eaters—enjoying added avocado to their meals—were able to get pregnant more easily and the babies were healthier, with fewer defects.
The researchers say that more direct study of avocados is needed, but that "based on this review, avocados offer a range of beneficial nutrients that can make a substantial contribution to a nutrient-rich diet when offered as a staple food for the periconceptional period, as well as during pregnancy and lactation."
So, maybe incorporate some guac into that baby shower you're planning?
Wondering what else to add on your good-for-the-baby diet? Get the recipe for the smoothie pregnant celebs are loving and consider noshing on the prenatal vitamin biscuits the founders of Blueprint dreamed up.
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