"A new study claims that consuming one avocado a day as part of a moderatefat diet could help lower bad cholesterol among people who are overweight or obese.  Consuming one avocado a day alongside a moderatefat diet was found to lower bad cholesterol among overweight and obese individuals.  The researchers including senior author Penny M. KrisEtherton PhD distinguished professor of nutrition https at Pennsylvania State University publish their findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association.  It is well known that avocados are high in fat but the majority of an avocados fat is monounsaturated which is deemed a good type of fat. It is known that monounsaturated fats can help lower levels of bad cholesterol https reducing the risk of heart attack https and stroke https  For their study KrisEtherton and colleagues set out to assess how avocado consumption  by replacing saturated fatty acids or bad fats  affected risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases.  The team recruited  healthy participants aged  years who were either obese or overweight.  Every participant was required to follow each of three cholesterollowering diets for  weeks. The diets consisted of a lowerfat diet without avocado a moderatefat diet without avocado or a moderatefat diet with one Hass avocado a day.  Prior to starting each diet subjects ate what the researchers deem an average American diet which was made up of  of calories https from fat  from protein while around half of calories were from carbohydrates https  From both of the moderatefat diets participants gained  of calories from fat of which  were from monounsaturated fatty acids MUFAs. The lowerfat diet provided participants with  of calories from fat of which  was from MUFAs.  Moderatefat diet with one avocado a day lowered bad cholesterol by . mgdL The researchers found that participants levels of lowdensity lipoprotein LDL  referred to as the bad cholesterol  were an average of . milligrams per deciliter mgdL lower after following the lowerfat diet without an avocado and . mgdL lower after following the moderatefat diet without an avocado compared with their baseline average.  However after participants followed the moderatefat diet with one avocado a day their LDL levels were found to be an average of . mgdL lower than their baseline average.  What is more the team found that a number of additional blood measurements  such as total cholesterol small dense LDL triglycerides and nonHDL highdensity lipoprotein  were better after participants followed the moderatefat diet with one avocado a day compared with the other two diets.  Although these findings demonstrate that an avocado a day alongside a moderatefat diet has the potential to reduce bad cholesterol the team notes that their research was a controlled feeding study. That is not the realworld says KrisEtherton so it is a proofofconcept investigation.  Still the team believes their findings indicate that people should consider replacing saturated fatty acids in their diet with healthier fats from avocados and other sources. KrisEtherton adds  We need to focus on getting people to eat a hearthealthy diet that includes avocados and other nutrientrich food sources of better fats.  In the United States avocados are not a mainstream food yet and they can be expensive especially at certain times of the year. Also most people do not really know how to incorporate them in their diet except for making guacamole. But guacamole is typically eaten with corn chips which are high in calories and sodium. Avocados however can also be eaten with salads vegetables sandwiches lean protein foods like chicken or fish or even whole. It should be noted that this research was supported by the Hass Avocado Board but the researchers say the organization played no other role in the study.  In January  Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that consuming half an avocado with lunch each day may satisfy hunger in overweight individuals and help with weight management https  Our Knowledge Center article on the health benefits of avocado https reveals some of the other ways the food may be good for us as well as the potential risks of avocado consumption."