A daily avocado can lower bad cholesterol

by kevin — July 22, 2018

A daily avocado can lower bad cholesterol

We saw the top 10 reasons of eating avocados.

Now there is evidence that eating an avocado a day in addition to a heart-healthy diet can reduce bad LDL cholesterol levels, according to research from the American Heart Association.

Researchers evaluated heart risks by replacing saturated fats from a traditional American diet with unsaturated fats from avocados. The research team set out to show that avocados lower bad cholesterol.

American Heart Association study shows eating a daily avocado can lower bad cholesterol.

Forty-five healthy, overweight, or obese patients between ages 21-70 were fed three different cholesterol-lowering diets. Participants were given an average American diet, two weeks before starting the cholesterol-lowering diets.

The diets were as follows: lower fat diet without avocado, moderate-fat diet without avocado, and a moderate-fat diet with one avocado per day.

Each participant consumed each of the three test diets for five weeks.

Researchers found that avocados lower bad cholesterol:

• Compared to the baseline average American diet, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) — the so called ‘bad cholesterol’ — was 13.5 mg/dL lower after consuming the moderate fat diet that included an avocado. LDL was also lower on the moderate fat diet without the avocado (8.3 mg/dL lower) and the lower fat diet (7.4 mg/dL lower), though the results were not as striking as the avocado diet.
• Several additional blood measurements were also more favorable after the avocado diet versus the other two cholesterol-lowering diets as well: total cholesterol, triglycerides, small dense LDL, non-HDL cholesterol, and others.

“These measurements are all considered to be cardio-metabolic risk factors in ways that are independent of the heart-healthy fatty acid effects,” said Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., senior study author and Chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee and Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, in University Park, Pennsylvania.

“This was a controlled feeding study, but that is not the real-world — so it is a proof-of-concept investigation. We need to focus on getting people to eat a heart-healthy diet that includes avocados and other nutrient-rich food sources of better fats,” Kris-Etherton said.

“In the United States avocados are not a mainstream food yet, and they can be expensive, especially at certain times of the year. Also, most people do not really know how to incorporate them in their diet except for making guacamole. But guacamole is typically eaten with corn chips, which are high in calories and sodium. Avocados, however, can also be eaten with salads, vegetables, sandwiches, lean protein foods (like chicken or fish) or even whole,” Kris-Etherton added.

This study showing avocados lower bad cholesterol was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

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