Nata, a fruit vendor, waits for customers at a market in Jakarta March 15, 2011. Nata is a client of Danamon Simpan Pinjam, a unit of Bank Danamon focused on micro lending.
Nata, a fruit vendor, waits for customers at a market in Jakarta March 15, 2011. Nata is a client of Danamon Simpan Pinjam, a unit of Bank Danamon focused on micro lending. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni

A new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association revealed that consuming avocado can have good impact on the heart. The report stated that those who ate avocado while maintaining a low cholesterol and moderate fat diet saw a ten per cent reduction of bad cholesterol.

Researchers found that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fatty acids found in avocados can help reduce the risk of strokes and heart diseases. This proved to be true even among the obese lot. To test the benefits, a study was conducted on 45 overweight subjects, between the ages of 21 and 70. They were put on three different cholesterol lowering diets. Initially, they were placed on an average American diet for two weeks, then transitioned to follow three diets: lower fat diet that did not include avocado; moderate fat diet, without an avocado again; and the last diet was the moderate fat diet with an avocado per day.

At the end of the five weeks following the diets, those who were on the moderate fat diet with avocado had reduced 13.5 mg/dL of bad cholesterol; whereas those on the moderate fat diet without avocado and lower fat diet, reduced just 8.3 mg/dL and 7.4 mg/dL of bad cholesterol, respectively.

Hass Avocados, which are most popularly consumed, were used for the study. The researchers also found that the total cholesterol, triglycerides, small dense LDL, non-HDL cholesterol and other blood measurements of the subjects were also good.

Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., senior study author and chair of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee and Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, in University Park, Pennsylvania, said that there is an urgent need to get people to eat a healthy diet that "includes avocados and other nutrient-rich food sources of better fats." He recommends that though they are expensive and people usually make guacamole, which is high in calories when eaten with corn chips, it is best to eat these with salads, sandwiches or protein-rich foods.

Researchers have found that saturated facts increase the bad cholesterol levels, and this can be bad for the heart. Hence, those following heart healthy diets should start consuming polyunsaturated fatty acids in place of saturated fats.

They recommend people to be more heart health conscious, and to follow the Mediterranean diet.