Avocados May Be Key for Treating a Type of Leukemia

Another reason to love avocados — as if you needed one. (Photo: Getty Images)

One of the quintessential superfoods, avocados are packed with body benefits that we’re still uncovering. According to a new study published in the journal Cancer Research, the fruit might even hold the key to more effectively treating leukemia.

Paul Spagnuolo, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo, is one of the few researchers globally working on discovering food-derived compounds called nutraceuticals that might be used in disease treatments. He located a lipid in avocados, called avocatin B, that could be used to beat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by zeroing in on the leukemia stem cells.

“The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease,” Spagnuolo says in a press release. “The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it’s the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse. We’ve performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed.”

There are currently just a few drug treatments available for AML that target stem cells, which affects more than 20,000 people in the United States each year, most over age 60. The disease also results in upwards of 10,000 deaths annually, according to The American Cancer Society. Spagnuolo is preparing his avocatin B treatment for Phase I clinical trials.

Of course, avocados do a whole lot more for the body besides potentially help treat a tough form of leukemia. According to Lauren Popeck, RD, a dietitian at Orlando Health, they’re high in monounsaturated fat, which helps reduce LDL cholesterol (AKA the “bad” kind). You’ll find a dose of B vitamins to ward off disease, and cancer-fighting vitamins C and E.

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And avocados are very high in fiber. “One avocado has 18 grams fiber, which promotes satiety,” she tells Yahoo Health. “They’re an excellent source of potassium, with nearly 1,000 milligrams in one avocado, which is more than a banana. And potassium naturally helps lower blood pressure.”

Popeck says you don’t need to eat the whole avocado in one sitting either — in fact, a proper serving size is just 1/5 of a medium-size fruit. “Choose small-sized avocados to help control calories, or incorporate avocados into healthy recipes to distribute the calories,” she says.

Popeck suggests making an avocado salad dressing in the blender with plenty of fresh lime juice and herbs, trying avocado pesto as a topping for grilled shrimp or salmon, or adding avocado to a spinach, blueberry, and banana smoothie. Even if you just top a burger or salad with 1/5 of the fruit, you’re still packing a hearty dose of key nutrients and fiber — while also controlling the fat and calorie content.

A lot of people worry about the fat in avocados and potentially gaining weight, but Popeck says you should be totally fine long as you watch your total caloric intake. An avocado packs around 250 calories, so ¼ to 1/5 of that will give you around 60 total.

So, just tally ‘em with the rest of diet… and eat up.

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