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FACT BRIEF

Do avocados reduce the risk of cervical cancer, and do they take nine months to ripen?

By Kaiyah Clarke
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NO

A current Facebook meme compares avocados to unborn babies: Both take nine months to ripen, it says, and the avocado can help women avoid cervical cancer.

While avocados contribute to maintaining an overall healthy diet, researchers at the National Cancer Institute said "there are no research studies that we are aware of establishing a link between consumption of a specific food and risk of cervical cancer." 

A representative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) supports this statement. 

Also, avocados take 12 to 18 months to grow and mature — not nine months, as the post claims.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Union for International Cancer Control Cervical cancer elimination
World Cancer Research Fund Eat wholegrains, vegetables, fruit and beans
California Avocados California Avocado Trees, Avocado Flowers in Bloom
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.