A pilot study conducted by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and published in the scientific journal, Food and Function, found that eating one-half of a fresh medium Hass avocado with a burger, rather than eating the burger alone, may curb the production of compounds that contribute to inflammation in healthy men. Inflammation is a risk factor that may be associated with heart disease.
- After eating a burger with one-half of a fresh medium Hass Avocado, some of the after-meal effects observed after eating a plain burger, specifically inflammation and narrowing blood vessels, were reduced within hours.
- When fresh avocado was eaten with a burger there was no increase in triglyceride levels beyond what was observed after eating the burger alone despite the extra calories and monounsaturated fat from the avocado.
Limitations: More research is needed to determine whether fresh avocado plays a role in maintaining or improving blood flow:
- Researchers reported that the difference in peripheral arterial blood flow (the movement of blood to different parts of the body, as measured by PAT), a predictor of vascular health, after eating the hamburger meal compared to the hamburger-fresh avocado meal was approaching statistical significance (P=.052).
- PAT scores significantly decreased (signifying reduced blood flow) only after the plain burger was eaten (approximately a 27% drop, on average) compared to a burger with fresh avocado (approximately a 4% drop, on average, signifying less reduction in blood flow); suggesting that the addition of the fresh avocado may have mitigated the additional 23% decrease in PAT scores (decrease in blood flow) measured after consumption of the burger alone.
