Including avocados in your healthy daily diet can help reduce cholesterol and the risk of developing heart disease. [Photo: Bigstock]

Enhancing your diet with avocado brings health benefits

7 March, 2016

By Staff Writer
Natural Health News

Natural Health News — Can a single ingredient swap in your diet have any impact on health?

According to the recently released 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, small shifts in food choices can actually make a big difference; including a shift from solid fats to oils, like the oil in fresh avocados.

On the heels of this advice, a new meta-analysis, conducted at the University of the Pacific, adds to the growing body of research that supports the use of avocados in lieu of solid fats (and foods that have higher saturated fat content) to significantly change lipid profiles.

The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, looked at 10 unique avocado studies with 229 participants, assessing the impact of avocados on cholesterol levels.

What you need to know

» Avocados contain healthy fats and well as useful amounts of fibre and can contribute to a healthy diet.

» In a recent study scientists focused on the impact of the healthy fats in avocados on factors that contribute to heart disease.

» People who ate between 1 and 1.5 avocados per day had lower total and LDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides in their blood, thereby reducing their risk of developing heart disease.

Better cholesterol numbers

Researchers found avocado consumption (1 to 1.5 per day) significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC), “bad” low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) when they were substituted for sources of saturated fat.

Additionally, avocado consumption did not impact “good” high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). However, the optimal amount of avocado and frequency of use needs further evaluation along with the nutritional similarities and differences between other different monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) sources such as canola, olive, peanut, safflower and sunflower oils.

“Interestingly, our results indicate that even healthy subjects with a relatively normal baseline TC [100 to 240 mg/dL], LDL-C [75 to 150 mg/dL], and TG [50 to 175 mg/dL] had significant reductions,” says Sachin Shah, PharmD, corresponding author and expert in cardiovascular health.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death both in the UK and worldwide. It’s responsible for more than 73,000 deaths in the UK alone each year. About 1 in 6 men and 1 in 10 women die from CHD and it is also a leading cause of disability globally.

Clearly there is more to a balanced diet than eating more avocados and larger trials looking at other sources of MUFAs and the impact of avocados in preventing major adverse cardiovascular events are warranted.

But beyond their naturally good fats, avocados are also a delicious way to boost fibre (8% of DV) and fruit intakes, both of which are under consumed in the Western Pattern diet.

An avocado meal makeover

Although it did not have any part in funding this independent study, the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) weighed in on the positive findings:

“This study supports the body of research showing the many benefits that fresh avocados have to offer when consumed in everyday healthy eating plans,” says Emiliano Escobedo, Executive Director, HAB.

“Through our nutrition research program, established in 2010, we are committed to increase awareness and improve understanding of the unique benefits of avocados to human health and nutrition. Clinical studies are currently underway to investigate the relationship between avocado consumption and risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, support of weight management and healthy living.”

HAB has recently launched a website that includes meal makeovers to show people how to make small shifts in their diets by substituting fresh avocados for other foods or ingredients higher in saturated fats using avocados and other healthy ingredients.