According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation 225 South Africans die from heart diseases each day, yet the good news is that as much as 80% of heart disease (and stroke) can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle, such as regular exercise, quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and, of course, a healthy and balanced diet.

One standout food that should form part of a healthy and balanced diet is the avocado. This is because avocados contain key nutrients that help improve the health of the heart, like monounsaturated fats, potassium, and fibre. Avocados are also naturally cholesterol- and sodium-free, giving us many reasons to love this fruit.

For good heart health, we want to aim for high levels of the good HDL-cholesterol, while keeping total cholesterol and bad LDL-cholesterol levels at bay. It’s also important to keep triglycerides in check, a type of fat in the blood. Looking into the impact of avocado-containing diets on various heart-health markers, when avocados replaced bad saturated fats, researchers found a drop in total cholesterol, bad LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, with a rise in HDL-cholesterol, too.

Adding more support to these findings, in 2020 a trial published in the Journal of Nutrition found that eating one avocado daily lowers bad LDL-cholesterol.

It is clear that the variety of nutrients found in avocados offer a nutritional win that earns this amazing fruit a place on a heart-healthy menu. And this may not only improve our heart health, but other heart disease risk factors can be favourably affected too, like high blood pressure, inflammation, blood glucose and insulin levels, as well as metabolic syndrome and fat around the belly.

So go on, add an avo every day!

* Information provided by the SA Avocado Growers’ Association.

For further information and avo recipes, visit www.avocado.co.za, like @iloveavocadoSA on Facebook and follow @iloveavossa on Instagram.

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