University Researchers Across the Country Want to Pay You $300 to Eat Avocados

Attention Millennials: You can now have your avocado toast and get paid to eat it, too. According to Insider, researchers at four universities across the country are looking for volunteers to eat an avocado a day to see if it keeps the doctor away.

More specifically, researchers want to test whether an avocado-centric diet helps reduce belly fat (visceral adipose fat), thereby promoting weight loss. Although avocados contain the most fat of any fruit, past research has shown that people who eat more avocados have smaller waists than those who eater fewer avocados or none at all—even if the two groups consume a comparable amount of calories.

If you qualify for this study, you'll be paid $300 for your time and efforts, on top of receiving a free health screening, "small gifts" throughout the study, and free avocados, of course. One group of participants will be instructed to eat an avocado each day for the six-month duration of the study, while a control group will be told to eat no more than two avocados per month during the same period. Participants will be randomly assigned to groups.

Although Hass Avocado Board is sponsoring the study, researcher Joan Sabaté of California's Loma Linda University—one of the participating universities—says this detail won't affect the outcome.

"For the last 20 years, we have been doing dietary intervention studies on plant-based foods and nuts. We are rigorous in our selection of projects," Sabaté said in a university statement.

Researchers from Penn State University, Tufts University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, are also conducting their own trials, each with 250 participants. Test subjects may be asked to pick up their supplies, so this opportunity is best suited to people living near one of the participating universities' campuses.

Although Millennials as a group have demonstrated an affinity for avocado, the only age requirement for this study is that participants be over the age of 25. Some physical requirements do apply, though. To see if you are eligible, visit the study website.

[h/t Insider]