These Amazing Health Benefits Would Give You More Reason to Keep Eating Avocados Everyday

It looks like millennials’ obsession with avocado toast and guacamole is justified in the end. As it turns out even health experts agree that there are numerous benefits that come with eating the popular fruit. These are enumerated in a recent study done by the Pennsylvania State University.

Avocados & Bad Cholesterol

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Eating one avocado a day can help people prevent heart-related issues.

According to the study’s findings, there is a link between the consumption of avocados daily has links to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a kind of cholesterol that is often dubbed as the ‘bad’ kind.

The researchers reached this conclusion after performing a randomized, controlled trial with 45 obese and overweight participants. Over the course of five weeks, the group was subdivided into three smaller ones with each being made to eat three different diets: a low-fat one, a moderate-fat one, and another moderate-fat diet that added avocados. In the end, the group of people who ate the third diet had the lowest levels of LDL among the participants.

The presence of high levels of LDL in a person’s blood is associated with the development of clots, which could, later on, be the cause of strokes and heart attacks. Meanwhile, LDL’s counterpart high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is linked to a decreased risk of developing diseases as well as removing the harmful LDL from the bloodstream. There are studies that associate eating avocados with increased HDL levels.

Decreased Risks

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One healthy way to incorporate avocados in one’s diet is through preparing it with whole wheat toast.

But the tasty food’s benefits don’t end there. The researchers also found that consuming avocados helped in reducing the oxidation of LDL particles. This is a positive effect as experts believe that oxidation has links with other serious health conditions like cancer and heart disease, according to professor of nutrition Penny Kris-Etherton.

As she explains, the process begins a chain reaction that might lead to the build-up of plaque in the artery wall causing a disease called atherosclerosis.

Thus, she advises people to protect their health with the food they choose to eat. There are many ways one can incorporate avocados in their daily diet. They can be used to make foods like guacamole, salads, dips, and even soups.

More Research

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Avocados are rich in healthy fats and almost 20 different vitamins and minerals.

Still, the researchers noted that more studies need to be done about the fruit and its benefits. It’s worth noting that their own experiment was only done on a small sample of the American population.

In fact, Kris-Etherton says that the area of study about avocados and nutrition is still fairly new and that they’ve only looked into the tip of the iceberg. For example, the fruit, which is rich in carotenoids, might also have benefits when it comes to eye health.