While avocados are known to be high in fat, they are rich in the “good fats”, known as monounsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids have been found to help with a number of heart problems, such as high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke.
To further prove the benefits of avocados and monounsaturated fatty acids on heart health, M. Kris-Etherton, PhD, a professor of Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, and a team of researchers evaluated 45 individuals who were considered to be either obese or overweight.
The participants were divided into three groups to follow a cholesterol-lowering diet over the course of five weeks.The first group consumed a lower fat diet, consuming 24 percent of their calories from fat (11 percent from monounsaturated fatty acids). The other two groups followed a moderate fat diet, consuming 34 percent of their diet from fats (17 percent from monounsaturated fatty acids).
The third group was instructed to eat one Hass avocado per day, while the other two groups did not eat any avocados in the five week study.
To evaluate the results of the study, the researchers took blood work from the panel of participants. They discovered that the first group, who followed the lower fat diet, lowered their levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, also called the “bad cholesterol”) by 8.3 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) from their baseline average. The second group, who followed a moderate fat diet without avocados, lowered their LDL levels by 7.4 mg/dL.
Remarkably, the third group, who followed a moderate fat diet eating one avocado per day, lowered their LDL levels by 13.5 mg/dL from their baseline average. The team also found that the third group’s other blood measurements, which included total cholesterol, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), were better than the other two groups.
While this study does promote that consuming a moderate fat diet with avocados is beneficial to heart health, it does not prove that eating avocados on a daily basis will guarantee lower cholesterol levels. The study was very small (only 45 participants) and was evaluated over a short period of time (just 5 weeks). Not to mention, it was controlled by the researchers and could have been skewed to yield their expected results.
With that said, we still know that foods high in monounsaturated fats, like avocados, are indeed good for heart health. So even if you cannot eat an entire avocado every single day, you can still find ways to add more into your diet to help improve your well-being. And even if you do not like the taste of avocados, there are numerous recipes that completely hide the taste of this heart-healthy food. Check out some of these ideas below:
- Add avocados into your smoothie for a smoother texture and a delicious, nutritious start to your day.
- Substitute butter with avocado in baked goods. You will not taste the difference and your heart will thank you!
- Make a quick and tasty chicken salad by mixing chopped rotisserie chicken with avocado (instead of mayonnaise).
- Slice an avocado in half and fill each half with a cracked egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees for a protein-packed breakfast
- Look up some heart-healthy guacamole recipes and enjoy with whole wheat tortillas or baked chips.
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