"New research finds that eating an avocado per day as part of an overall diet rich in healthy fats may help cut the bad kind cholesterol known as LDL. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University recruited  overweight participants who agreed to try three different types of cholesterollowering diets. Their study httpjaha.ahajournals.orgcontente.abstract was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association. One was a lowfat diet that included lots of fruits lowfat dairy poultry whole grains and small amounts of red meat. The other two diets were moderately high in fat with about  percent of total calories consumed per day coming from fat. The types of foods and meals were similar to the lowfat diet but included more nuts and oils. One of the moderately highfat diets included a daily serving of one avocado. In one sample meal plan lunch was chicken salad with half an avocado and dinner included turkey tacos with another half an avocado. The diets were similar in terms of macronutrients like protein and fats and calories. The only difference between the two was the avocado  the other diet had the same amount of fat from other sources. At the end of the study the researchers found that the avocado diet led to significant reductions in LDL cholesterol compared with the other two diets. To put the difference in perspective the avocado diet decreased LDL cholesterol about  milligrams per deciliter of blood. Compare that with a decrease of about  mgdL for the lowfat diet and about a  mgdl drop from the moderatefat diet. I was surprised to see the added benefit of the avocado Penny KrisEtherton httpnutrition.hhd.psu.edudirectoryBio.aspxidPennyKrisEtherton a nutrition scientist at Penn State and the lead author of the study tells us. Its something in the avocado other than just the fat composition she says. She says shed like to do followup research to look at the bioactive compounds in avocados which may explain the added reduction in LDL cholesterol in the study participants. Its also possible that the fiber in avocados plays a role in the cholesterollowering effect she says. Article continues after this message from our sponsor But one caveat for anyone who loves guacamole When its served up with chips the calories can add up. A mere halfcup of guacamole has about  calories all on its own. KrisEthertons study was funded in part by the National Center for Research Resources part of the National Institutes of Health. It was also supported by a grant from the Hass Avocado Board an industry group that the researchers say had no role in the design of the study or the interpretation of the data. We asked KrisEtherton if she would have published the results had there been no positive findings for the avocado. Oh absolutely she told us. The agreement was to publish no matter the results. And given the reduction in funds available for research its become increasingly common for researchers to carry out these kinds of industrysupported studies."