Avocado consumption helps prevent heart disease

Eating two or more servings of avocados a week reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, and replacing avocados with certain fat-containing foods (butter, cheese, or processed meats) also prevents ill health.

That’s the connection that scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health have uncovered. This is reported in an article published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The researchers followed more than 68,780 women aged 30 to 55 in a 30-year health study and more than 41,700 men aged 40 to 75 for 30 years. All study participants were free of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke at the start of the study and lived in the United States.

Researchers assessed participants’ diets using food behavior questionnaires given at the beginning of the study and then every four years thereafter.