Cholesterol is not created equal: there's good, there's bad. The bad one, LDL (low-density lipoprotein), can build up plaque on the blood vessels and arteries. As they thicken, they can cause these blood pathways to be inefficient. Over time they lead to stroke and heart attack.
On the other hand, there's good cholesterol or HDL (high-density lipoprotein), which works quite the opposite of LDL. It looks for any LDL and brings it back to the liver, where it can be broken down and then eliminated from the body. Simply put, if you want to protect your heart, you need to increase your HDL. You can do that by eating avocados.
Avocados are some of the best types of food you can eat. They can be added to smoothies to make them creamier, to salads to give them more texture. Of course, they are a prime ingredient in making guacamole for your tacos and pita wraps. They're also delicious being eaten as is.
In one of the newest studies conducted by Pennsylvania State University researchers, avocados can drive the bad cholesterol level down because they are rich in monounsaturated fats. These are the same types of fat you see in olive oil (which is a significant ingredient in a Mediterranean diet, one of the best diets in the world).
For the study, more than 40 obese men and women participated, and they ate a diet with avocado for a period of 5 weeks. Later, when their cholesterol levels were taken, their cholesterol ratio-that is, HDL versus LDL-has greatly improved. In fact, they fare better with an avocado diet than with one that is low in fat.
Aside from monounsaturated fats, the avocados also have phytosterols and bioactive compounds that can act as antioxidants and prevent further cardiac damage due to free radicals. They also contain 35% fiber.
Currently the researchers are testing if a lower consumption of avocado like a slice-in the previous experiment, the subjects ate the entire avocado-will produce the same level of benefits.
