A study that followed more than 110,000 men and women for more than 30 years claims to have shown that eating two servings of avocado a week reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Researchers also found that replacing half a serving of butter, cheese, bacon, or other animal product with an equivalent amount of avocado was associated with up to 22% lower risk of heart attack or stroke. The findings add to evidence from other studies that has shown that avocados — which contain multiple nutrients, including fiber and unsaturated, healthy fats — have a positive impact on heart disease risk factors. A ‘serving’ was defined by the study as half an avocado.
Although these studies rely on participants actually eating what they say they eat, and completing a questionnaire about it every four years, Lorena Pacheco, a doctor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, USA, who led the research, said the fact the project started in the late 1970s and involved so many people, gave it extra weight.
As well as data from 41,000 men in the American Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, the project also included data from almost 69,000 women in the long running British NHS Nurses Health Study.
Avocados are dense with nutrients and are high in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs).
