Avocados are one of the most nutritious foods in the diet as they may provide many nutrients and minerals.
A recent study by a group of American scientists has found that consuming 1 avocado per day is linked to lower levels of bad cholesterol and better diet quality.
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
In general, cholesterol can be produced by the body or obtained from food. There are two main forms: high-density lipoprotein or HDL and low-density lipoprotein or LDL. Keeping low levels of cholesterol, especially LHL levels, is important to reduce the risks of heart problems.
Previous and ongoing research has identified that diets play a key role in controlling cholesterol levels. A specific area of interest is how food affects cholesterol.
In this study, scientists examined the benefits of daily consumption of avocadoes over a period of 6 months. Specifically, they tried to find out whether this nutritious fruit may help lower visceral adiposity in those with a higher waist circumference.
In addition, the authors inspected the effects of other factors, including the quality of life, body mass index, body weight, and levels of cholesterol.
All participants had to consume no more than 2 avocados a month and must have a higher waist circumference.
503 people in the control group kept their daily diet, while 505 people in the intervention group ate 1 avocado per day.
Scientists gathered data at the beginning and at weeks 8, 16, and 26 and then examined the levels of body fat or visceral adipose tissue with MRI scans.
The results suggested that both groups were not significantly different, except for cholesterol levels. Overall the control group had higher levels of bad cholesterol and higher total levels of cholesterol.
Concerning weight gain, there were no significant differences between the two groups. This suggests that eating one avocado per day did not result in weight gain.
There are several limitations to this research. Firstly, it only lasted 6 months, and a longer period would lead to different findings, especially in visceral adipose tissue. Another problem is that scientists did not gather information about medications or drugs that participants took during this time.
And last but not least, some collected data depended on the self-reports of participants. Therefore, there would be a possible risk for some errors.
Source:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.122.025657#d24987067e1
