The U.S. imports tons of avocados from Mexico. In fact, some sources say that more than 2.7 billion pounds of those luscious green berries (yes, they are berries) are consumed by Americans every year, including more than 54 million pounds of guacamole on Super Bowl Sunday alone.

But even so, only about 2% of Americans eat avocados daily or almost daily.

That’s a shame because according to a new study from Penn State's Department of Nutritional Sciences, published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, an avocado a day keeps unhealthy foods away.

The researchers looked at the overall food choices that around 500 people with abdominal obesity made when they ate an avocado daily, and those that another 500 made when they simply ate their usual, avocado-free diet.

Over a 26-week span, the avocado-eaters consumed fewer refined grains and less sodium, and ended up increasing their vegetable intake.

We're betting that the healthy monounsaturated fats, fiber (10 grams in a whole avocado), and added calories (about 240 in a medium one) made people feel full and satisfied, leading them to eat less unhealthy food.

And there are other benefits. For instance, avocados deliver twice as much potassium as a banana, and they increase your healthy HDL cholesterol level while improving the quality of bad LDL cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic.