In a new study, researchers found eating one avocado a day may help keep “bad cholesterol” at bay.
The research was conducted by a team from Penn State University.
According to the researchers, bad cholesterol can refer to both oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and small, dense LDL particles.
Small, dense LDL particles are particularly harmful to promoting plaque buildup in the arteries.
While previous research demonstrated that avocados could help lower LDL cholesterol, the team was curious about whether avocados could also help lower oxidized LDL particles.
The researchers recruited 45 adult participants with overweight or obesity for the study. All participants followed a two-week “run-in” diet at the beginning of the study.
This diet mimicked an average American diet and allowed all participants to begin the study on similar nutritional “footing.”
Next, each participant completed five weeks of three different treatment diets: diets included a low-fat diet, a moderate-fat diet, and a moderate-fat diet that included one avocado a day.
The moderate-fat diet without avocados was supplemented with extra healthy fats to match the amount of monounsaturated fatty acids that would be obtained from the avocados.
The team found that eating one avocado a day was linked to lower levels of LDL (specifically small, dense LDL particles) and oxidized LDL in adults with overweight or obesity.
Participants also had higher levels of lutein, an antioxidant, after the avocado diet.
The team says that avocados could help reduce LDL particles that had been oxidized.
Similar to the way oxygen can damage food—like a cut apple turning brown—the researchers said oxidation is also bad for the human body.
A lot of research points to oxidation being the basis for conditions like cancer and heart disease.
When LDL particles become oxidized, that starts a chain reaction that can promote atherosclerosis, which is the build-up of plaque in the artery wall.
The finding shows people should consider adding avocados to their diet in a healthy way, like on whole-wheat toast or as a veggie dip.
Avocados are really high in healthy fats, carotenoids—which are important for eye health—and other nutrients.
One author of the study is Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition.
The study is published in The Journal of Nutrition.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
