Nourish the Heart, Nurture the Body
With 40% of the U.S. population living with two or more chronic diseases, it’s important to take a closer look at cholesterol, because it plays a role in three leading causes of disability and death in America—cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity.
Helping patients connect these dots can be the “aha!” moment many people need to make real change.
The good news: focusing on messages that increase fruit and vegetable intake—especially avocados—is an easy approach to help your patients reduce chronic disease risks.
WHY FRESH AVOCADOS?
You already know the fiber and unsaturated fats in avocados are good for cardiovascular health. These are the same reasons to recommend patients choose avocados to better manage cholesterol levels and reduce their risks for other chronic diseases. Specifically, consuming foods rich in fiber may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. And replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats offers benefits in the body without raising LDL cholesterol levels.
One message, one fruit: Fiber + good fat = healthy avocados
And if you need one more reason to recommend avocados:
They’re grown on trees using naturally regenerative practices including no-till, cover-cropping and water conservation—all of which contribute positively to the climate, enrich soil and protect natural resources. Regenerative agriculture is a win-win-win for farmers, the environment and consumers.
Healthy food, healthy people —healthy planet.
6g monounsaturated fats, 43% DV fiber per serving.
NEW Heart Health Mini Cookbook
Featuring American Heart Association Heart-Check Certified Recipes
Put cardiovascular health in your patients’ hands with a new mini cookbook featuring American Heart Association Heart-Check certified recipes. This cookbook is a simple tool patients can use to start incorporating more heart-healthy foods in their diets, like avocados.
6g monounsaturated fats, 43% DV fiber per serving.
Evidence-Based Guidance
Monitoring cholesterol levels is an important part of understanding patients’ risk for chronic diseases. Now, a new systematic review and meta-analysis (of seven randomized controlled studies) that included 1,359 healthy people and those with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease evaluated the impact of a diet that includes avocados compared to diets (low-fat and “habitual”) without avocado on cholesterol levels.
Researchers found the avocado diet was associated with significantly lower total and LDL cholesterol levels compared to control diets without avocados, and significantly higher HDL cholesterol compared to the low-fat control diet.
This study relies on published work, presenting unique limitations such as the use of a small number of subjects reporting data with a wide range of participant characteristics. While the findings cannot be generalized to all populations, they do support the growing body of evidence demonstrating avocados as a heart-healthy fruit.
More Research on Avocados + Cardiovascular Health
Read the growing body of research on the potential positive health effects of avocados and cardiovascular health.
Your Quick-Reference Heart Health Toolkit
This toolkit offers a reference sheet for you, plus a handout for patients, distilling the essentials on avocados and cardiovascular health so you can educate patients.
For You
Explore the latest evidence supporting how avocados can be part of a heart-healthy eating plan and how making small dietary changes may help your patients lower their LDL cholesterol.
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For Your Patients
Use this culinary-inspiring consumer handout with your patients to show how easy and delicious it is to substitute avocados in place of other condiments, toppers and ingredients.
Expert Insights with Cardiologist Dr. David Sabgir
“Don’t underestimate simplicity. Simple but specific changes like snacking on fruits and vegetables 3 times a week—something as simple and delicious as guacamole with carrot sticks—or walking for 30 minutes 5 times a week can have a significant impact on health. No need to overcomplicate it.”
Consolidate your favorite avocado resources and recipes in one easy-to-access location with a LoveOneToday.com account
Go to the website and register for free to save your favorite recipes, articles, research, and get easy access to all downloads.
