An Avocado A Day Keeps The Heart Doctor Away

It’s  not news that eating avocados can lower cholesterol; health experts have known that for a while. What is news is just how good they are at doing that. A Penn State University news release reports that researchers at the school tested three diets, all designed to lower cholesterol: a lower-fat diet, consisting of 24 percent fat, and two moderate fat diets, with 34 percent fat. The moderate fat diets were nearly identical, however one diet incorporated one Hass avocado every day while the other used a comparable amount of high oleic acid oils — such as olive oil — to match the fatty acid content of one avocado. Note well: Hass avocados are the smaller, darker variety with bumpy green skin and have a higher nutrient content than Florida avocados, which are larger, and have smoother skin and a higher water content. What did they find? The envelope please…. After five weeks, the avocado diet decreased bad cholesterol by 13.5 mg/dL, while LDL was decreased by 8.3 mg/dL on the moderate-fat diet and by 7.4 mg/dL on the low-fat diet. Want more? Read more here.