When it comes to avocados, we’re a little obsessed. Whether atop fancy toast for breakfast, mashed up into party-ready guacamole, or even whipped into dreamy desserts, the green fruit is a pantry staple.
The superfood, which even has its own holiday, has been touted as a tool for heart health, lowering cholesterol and fighting diseases like diabetes and cancer, thanks to its ultra-high fiber content and levels of monounsaturated fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Now, researchers at four universities in the U.S. are designing a study, dubbed The Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial, to determine whether the fruit can aid in weight loss, and they need 1,000 fans of the fruit to eat it daily for six months.
“The study will examine whether eating one avocado per day reduces visceral adipose fat in the abdomen,” said Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH and Director of Center for Nutrition, Lifestyle and Disease Prevention at Loma Linda University, one of the schools conducting the project.
The study, which is funded by the Hass Avocado Board, will also involve the collaborative efforts of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles, Tufts University, Pennsylvania State University, and Wake Forest University, along with participants from three of those different areas.
How do you sign up? Participants, who must visit campus clinics to monitor progress and attend meetings, must also be over 25 years old and have a waistline of 35-40 inches, dependent on gender. For all their hard avocado-eating effort, each person will receive $300 and a gift of 24 avocados once the study is over.
To find out if you qualify, visit the study’s web site. Spots are going quickly—and we’re not at all surprised.