The very cliché phrase of "one apple away keeps the doctor away" may not be literally true, but when it comes to avocado and cholesterol, there apparently seems to be scientific fact behind the same premise, a new study has shown.
It's not the first time that avocado and cholesterol lower than usually have been linked, but it hadn't ever been scientifically proven before; as new research on the topic emerges, it turns out it's not a bad idea to keep this botanically large berry in the house for a better health.
According to Science Daily, the new study regarding avocado and cholesterol was made by researchers from the American Heart Association, publishing it on the January issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, in a paper entitled "Effect of a Moderate Fat Diet With and Without Avocados on Lipoprotein Particle Number, Size and Subclasses in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial."
For the avocado and cholesterol study, as NPR reports, researchers from the Pennsylvania State University gathered 45 voluntary participants who were healthy but overweight or obese, and the participants agreed to try different diets that were meant to lower their cholesterol.
The first diet included a lot of fruits, poultry, low-fat dairy, whole grains and very small amounts of red meat; the other two diets were somewhat high in fat, with about 34 percent of the entirety of consumed calories coming from fat, with similar meals and foods only with more nuts and oils.
Between the two somewhat high-fat diets, one of them included a daily serving of an avocado.
"There is fiber in avocado," said Dr. James Underberg of NYU to CBS News, regarding the new avocado and cholesterol findings. "There are things called phytosterols that are essentially plant cholesterol that lowers cholesterol. There is also certain types of sugar in avocado that seem to have beneficial effects on insulin and may even benefit the appetite in certain ways."
However, due to the fact that avocados are high in fat, over consumption could still lead to weight gain, so it should be consumed with care.
