Is it healthy to eat an entire avocado every day?

🙌 Happy Friday! 

Last week, Scottish runner Josh Kerr set a new world record by finishing the one-mile run in 3:42:66… puts my 6:30 high school record to shame.

Kerr went to superhuman lengths to achieve this—like sleeping in an altitude bed chamber that mimics high-elevation (low-oxygen) conditions—but he’s really just inspiring a new reality of peak human performance. 

Today’s headlines: 

We’re celebrating the creamiest and greenest fruit on the planet for National Avocado Day.

This nutrient-dense fruit is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, fiber, potassium, and antioxidants, but how much of its health benefits are hype rather than evidence?

Here’s what some of the latest research shows.

Boosts the gut “matrix”: Controlled studies show that when given an avocado or a snack with the same fat and fiber content, the avocado supported greater gut diversity. This supports the idea that its benefits are part of a larger ‘matrix’ of vitamins and enzymes than macros alone.

Keeps the cholesterol away? When adults with obesity ate one avocado a day, they slightly dropped ‘bad’ cholesterol, modestly reduced heart disease risk, and gained no weight. Despite its high fat content, past research also shows that multiple servings per week may reduce this risk up to 21%.

Memory: Avocados contain nutrients like lutein and monounsaturated fats, tied to better cognition in older adults, but a new six-month study shows that the daily avocado doesn’t do much to boost memory or focus. This is an honest lens of healthy food.

The pit: Reviews of nearly 75 studies show that avocado pits are rich in antioxidant-rich phenolic compounds, able to prevent certain cancer growth in labs. But the pit is basically toxic if eaten as is, and we still know very little about whether it’s safe or effective for cancer in humans.

3 things to take away from this research

🏃 What we clicked next:

The avocado problem

The best way to make guacamole, according to experts.

The science could also change how you make friends.

People of all ages are using apps and algorithms to find love, but how much should you tell about yourself?

Your interests, feelings, and values shape how others see you, and a new study in Current Psychology suggests the most attractive profiles share a "Goldilocks" amount of self-disclosure. Not too much, but not too little. 

The over-under: Oversharing can feel intense and leave little mystery. Undersharing can read as distant and uninterested. Either creates assumptions around the kind of relationship you want (long-term or casual).

That said, clearly stating your relationship goal can override this effect and more quickly put you on the same page as the other person.

Strong social ties are among some of the most important predictors of healthy aging. The ability to self-disclose increases openness, trust, and likeability, ingredients for finding partners and friendships.

The takeaway: Your dating profile does not need to tell your whole story. Reveal just enough to convey warmth and intention, and let reciprocity and unfolding do the rest.

In a city that sets the standard, you expect the best. For your work, your community, and your health. The Livelong Women’s Health Summit ™ brings together more than 100 world-class experts to share the science, ideas, and breakthroughs shaping the future of longevity and healthy aging.

It’s what New York women deserve.

Surveys have found that 60% of people with arthritis experience pain all of the time. Fiber can help.

Preliminary research from a 6-week clinical trial by University of Nottingham researchers shows that 20g of daily inulin (prebiotic) fiber supplement can significantly reduce pain linked to knee osteoarthritis.

The benefits went beyond pain: 

The gut-pain axis: Inulin feeds healthy gut bacteria that influence butyrate and GLP-1 (the appetite-suppressing hormone), which are compounds also tied to muscle health and inflammation.

Going forward… It's early research, but targeting the gut microbiome with diet, prebiotics, and other interventions is a promising way to reduce pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis.

Highlighting your responses to last week's question, featured in Why modern life makes us so stressed. We asked:

What's the hardest part of modern life?

There’s always something else to do.

I can relate. Maybe the challenge shouldn’t be finding more time to relax, but permitting ourselves to. Who’s with me?!