An avocado a day won't fix heart health, but it will boost nutrition and sleep

An avocado a day won't fix heart health, but it will boost nutrition and sleep

Eating an avocado every day won't dramatically change your heart health scoremayImprove your diet, sleep and blood lipids - the view that small dietary changes still count!

In a recently published study in theJournal of the American Heart AssociationResearchers in the United States evaluated the effects of daily avocado intake on cardiovascular health metrics assessed by the Essential 8 (Le8) of Life in adults with abdominal fat.

background

Did you know that cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for almost a third of all deaths worldwide?

Despite decades of research, millions continue to suffer from heart-related conditions. While a heart-healthy diet is widely recommended, the role of individual foods in improving cardiovascular health remains unclear.

Avocados improved diet quality beyond just healthy fats - the avocado group had a higher 2015 Healthy Diet Index score, suggesting that adding avocados may have promoted better eating habits in general.

Avocados, known for their rich, unsaturated fats and essential nutrients, are often linked to better heart health. But can a simple habit like eating an avocado every day make a real difference?

This study aims to uncover whether a single-food intervention can meaningfully impact cardiovascular health. Given the increasing rates of obesity and metabolic disorders, it is critical to identify accessible nutritional strategies that can have a measurable impact on public health.

However, measuring overall cardiovascular health is complex, and single-item interventions may not always result in comprehensive improvements in health metrics such as the Essential 8 (Le8) of Life, which assesses multiple lifestyle factors.

Further research is needed to determine the extent to which individual food choices influence long-term cardiovascular health outcomes.

About the study

A randomized controlled trial was conducted at four clinical sites in the United States involving participants aged 25 years and older with abdominal obesity.

Participants were required to have a low habitual avocado intake (≤2 avocados per month) and were randomly assigned to either an avocado-supplemented diet group or a habitual diet group.

The intervention group was instructed to consume one avocado daily for 26 weeks, while the control group maintained their usual diet with restricted avocado intake.

The primary outcome was change in LE8 score, which measures cardiovascular health in eight domains: diet, physical activity, body mass index, blood lipids, nicotine exposure, blood glucose, blood pressure, and sleep health.

Baseline and 26-week data were collected through clinical assessments, dietary recalls, and standardized questionnaires.

Statistical analyzes were performed using general linear models to assess differences between groups in LE8 score and its components. Sensitivity analyzes were performed to assess the accuracy of the results.

Although the LE8 score is widely used to assess cardiovascular health, the sensitivity to detect small but meaningful dietary changes – such as daily food consumption – is uncertain.

Study results

Avocado consumption did not affect weight or waist size - although eating one avocado a day for 26 weeks had no significant effect on body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference.

The analytical sample included 969 participants (484 in the avocado-supplemented diet group and 485 in the habitual diet group) with a mean age of 51 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 33.0 kg/m².

After 26 weeks, no significant difference was observed between groups in the overall LE8 score (0.79 points [95% CI, −0.41 to 2.00], confirming that avocado intake alone did not result in a measurable improvement in overall cardiovascular health. Sensitivity analyzes confirmed this result when the analysis was locked to participants with complete data in all eight LE8 components.

While the overall LE8 score remained unchanged, individual component analyzes showed improvements in specific health markers.

The avocado-supplemented diet group showed a statistically significant increase in diet quality (+3.53 points [95% CI, 1.38–5.68]), blood lipids (+3.46 points [95% CI, 1.03–5.90]), and sleep health (+3.20 points [95% CI, 0.38–6.02]) compared to the habitual diet group.

However, changes in other components including physical activity, body mass index, blood glucose, blood pressure and nicotine exposure were not significant.

Further subgroup analyzes revealed no significant differences in cardiovascular health outcomes by gender, race, age, or health status.

Interestingly, LE8 scores decreased among Hispanic and Latino participants in the avocado-supplemented diet group, primarily due to lower physical activity levels. The study authors noted that this finding contrasts with previous research that linked avocado consumption to increased physical activity in Hispanic and Latino individuals. However, in this study, physical activity was measured using a simple yes/no question rather than detailed tracking, which may have influenced the results.

Additional secondary outcomes, including liver fat fraction, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and waist circumference, showed no significant differences between groups.

These results reinforce that while avocados may improve some cardiovascular health markers, dietary changes need to be broader—corresponding to a single food—to make significant changes in overall cardiovascular health metrics.

Conclusions

In conclusion, daily avocado consumption for 26 weeks did not significantly improve the overall cardiovascular health score of LE8 in adults with abdominal obesity. However, significant improvements were observed in certain areas of health, including diet quality, sleep health and blood lipids.

A key takeaway from the study is that a food intervention, although beneficial for individual health markers, may not be sufficient to make meaningful changes in comprehensive health indices such as LE8. Instead, major dietary and lifestyle adjustments are likely required.

For individuals, incorporating avocados into daily diets can be a simple but effective strategy to improve diet quality and lipid profiles.

At the community level, nutrition education programs that promote accessible heart-healthy foods like avocados can help combat rising obesity and metabolic disorders.

Globally, CVDs, which contribute significantly to healthcare costs and mortality, can support dietary interventions, even at small scales, preventative health measures, and influence policy decisions to promote healthier food choices.

It's also important to note that this study was funded by the Avocado Nutrition Center. However, the researchers emphasized that the funding body had no role in data analysis or interpretation.

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