Enjoy avocados? Eating one a week may lower heart disease risk

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Enjoy avocados? Eating one a week may lower heart disease risk - Harvard Health Publishing​

The creamy, pale green flesh of an avocado is full of nutrients closely tied to heart health. Now, a long-term study finds that eating at least two servings of this popular fruit per week is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Study co-author Dr. Frank Hu, the Frederick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), puts this finding in perspective. "This study adds to the evidence to support the benefits of healthy fat sources like avocados to help prevent cardiovascular disease," he says. A key take-home message is to substitute avocados for less-healthy foods such as butter, cheese, and processed meats, he adds.

Who was in the study?​

The study included more than 110,000 people involved in two long-running Harvard studies: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up study. Most of the participants were white; they ranged in age from 30 to 75 and were free of heart disease and cancer when the study began.
 
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