Heart Health Benefits of an Avocado
According to new research from The American Heart Association, eating a single avocado a day, significantly decreases your cholesterol level and lowers your risk of heart disease. If you have or are at risk for heart disease or your doctor has concerns about a potential heart attack, you should seriously consider adding avocado to your daily routine!
Here’s how the study worked: 45 obese people (men and women, 21-70 years old) were separated in three groups with each group eating a different cholesterol lowering diet. The first one was a low-fat diet (24% fat), the second one was a moderate-fat diet (34% fat) with no avocado and the third one was a moderate fat diet (34% fat) with avocado.
Each of the new diets improved participants’ LDL cholesterol, which is the worst kind of cholesterol. But the avocado eaters fared the best: their LDL cholesterol dropped 13 points, compared to around 8 points for people on the low-fat or avocado-free moderate-fat diets.
Researchers concluded that only ONE avocado per day as part of a moderate-fat, healthy diet, significantly lowers cholesterol and suggests that avocados should be a daily part of a heart healthy diet to help prevent cardiovascular disease and health problems related to high cholesterol. In this case, an avocado a day really does keep the doctor away!
*Article originally appeared at Expand Your Consciousness.
