From Swiss chard to kefir, the list of superfoods experts recommend adding to your diet continues to grow as more research supports these foods’ outsized health benefits. But one such food is probably something you already have in your kitchen. Scientists say that incorporating avocados into your diet could help drastically reduce your risk of heart disease. Read on to learn how often you need to eat them to reap the benefits.
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Researchers studied the relationship between eating avocados and heart disease.
In a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in March 2022, researchers analyzed 30 years’ worth of data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professional Follow-up Study. The cohort included 68,780 women between the ages of 30 and 55 and 41,700 men aged 40 to 75 years, who had never been diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, or stroke when the survey period began.
Over the more than three decades of follow-up, researchers used questionnaires and surveys to document participants’ diets every four years, including how often each ate avocados. They noted there were 9,185 coronary heart disease events and 5,290 strokes reported among participants by the time they finished collecting data.
The team found that there were no significant health benefits observed when participants swapped in half a daily serving of avocado for equivalent amounts of nuts, olive oil, and other plant oils. There was also no significant reduction in the risk of strokes, regardless of how many servings of avocado were consumed, per a press release from the American Heart Association (AHA).
However, they did note that participants who replaced half a daily serving of margarine, butter, egg, yogurt, cheese, or processed meats with an equivalent amount of avocado saw a 16 to 22 percent decrease in the risk of a serious heart health emergency compared to those who rarely ate them.
They also found that those who ate two servings of avocado per week (which was specified to be half an avocado or one cup of volume per serving) saw a 16 percent decrease in cardiovascular disease risk, as well as a 21 percent decrease in coronary heart disease compared to people who ate less or no avocado.
“Our study provides further evidence that the intake of plant-sourced unsaturated fats can improve diet quality and is an important component in cardiovascular disease prevention,” Lorena S. Pacheco, PhD., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow in the nutrition department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a press release. “These are particularly notable findings since the consumption of avocados has risen steeply in the U.S. in the last 20 years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
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Avocados provide other health benefits, too.
The researchers pointed out that avocados have long been seen as a healthy dietary staple, thanks in no small part to their high levels of healthy monounsaturated fat (MUFA) and dietary fiber. That’s what makes swapping them in for other less healthy fatty foods and cooking oils can yield such impressive health outcomes.
Other research has uncovered evidence that avocados promote additional health benefits. A meta-analysis published in the journal Cureus in June 2023 found that people who consumed avocados regularly had lower total cholesterol levels than those with a traditional or low-fat diet. They also had higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) “good” cholesterol levels and lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) “bad” cholesterol than the other diet groups.
And it’s not just heart disease where the fruit can be effective. According to a 2021 study published in the Journal of Nutrition,regular avocado eaters tend to have “lower abdominal obesity compared with nonconsumers.” The researchers added that data collected from over 55,000 individuals showed that “habitual consumption of avocados was associated with lower weight gain and reduced risk of having overweight or obesity when assessed 11 years later.”
“The avocado (Persea americana) is a fruit that is rich in dietary fiber and MUFAs, two nutrients that are beneficial for metabolic health,” the study authors wrote. “Diets rich in MUFAs and fiber have received considerable attention for their potential to reduce obesity and lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.”
The takeaway:
Research shows avocados are great for heart health. A 2022 study from the AHA found that those who ate two servings of avocado per week saw a 16 percent decrease in cardiovascular disease risk and a 21 percent decrease in coronary heart disease compared to people who ate less or no avocado. Similar results were seen for people who replaced half a daily serving of margarine, butter, egg, yogurt, cheese, or processed meats with an equivalent amount of avocado.
Other research has shown that avocado consumption can help lower cholesterol levels, while another study found that those who eat avocados regularly were less likely to have lower abdominal obesity compared to people who don’t eat them.
Content shared from bestlifeonline.com.