Researchers say increased avocado consumption could lower risk for cardiovascular disease

A large study has found that replacing margarine, butter, egg, total yogurt, total cheese and processed meats with avocados was associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease events.

Published in the March 2022 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, the large study of U.S. men and women found that higher intake of avocados was associated with significantly lower risk of total cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease.

The “Avocado Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in U.S. Adults” article's authors were Lorena Pacheco, Yanping Li, Eric Rimm, JoAnn E. Manson, Qi Sun, Kathryn Rexrode, Frank Hu and Marta Guasch‐Ferré. The researchers studied 68,786 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 41,701 men from the Health Professionals Follow‐up Study who were free of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke at baseline.

Diet was recorded using validated food frequency questionnaires at baseline and then every 4 years, according to the abstract.

“After adjusting for lifestyle and other dietary factors, compared with nonconsumers, those with analysis‐specific higher avocado intake (equal or greater than 2 servings per week) had a 16% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 21% lower risk of coronary heart disease,” the abstract said. No associations between avocado consumption and frequency of stroke were found, researchers said.

“Replacing half a serving [per] day of margarine, butter, egg, yogurt, cheese or processed meats with the equivalent amount of avocado was associated with a 16% to 22% lower risk of cardiovascular disease,” the researchers said. “Our study provides further evidence that the intake of plant‐sourced unsaturated fats can improve diet quality and is an important component in cardiovascular disease prevention in the general population."