 In the United States, numerous adults have poor diet quality due to the increased consumption of processed food. Poor diet quality is the leading risk factor for developing cardiometabolic diseases which in turn increases risk for chronic health conditions which ultimately results in death. According to doctors it’s important to improve diet quality within the general population since that will help promote better health outcomes. Recent study has analyzed food-based intervention like daily avocado intake on diet quality and cardiometabolic risk Â
The findings reveal that consuming avocado within a daily diet can help maintain dietary guidelines for Americans with abnormal obesity. However, it is also seen that Changes in diet quality do not directly influence cardiometabolic disease risk factors. Researchers studied 1008 participants for 26 weeks who were aged 25 and older with abnormal obesity and low avocado intake. These participants were divided into 2 groups where one was provided with daily avocado supply along with guidance on how to consume it. Whereas the other group was asked to maintain their usual dietary habits limiting their avocado consumption to two per month.Â
Diet quality was evaluated at various intervals during the study. As per USDA’s classification, this trail considered avocado servings approximately 75 grams as part of total vegetable component in HEI-2015 scores. The participant’s cardiometabolic disease risk factors like visceral fat accumulation, BMI,VLDL cholesterol, liver fat fraction was also minutes to understand effects of avocado intake.Â
During the study researchers found that people who consumed avocados regularly showed a potentially clinically relevant increase of 4.74 points in their HEI -2015 scores compared to the control group who just maintained a regular diet. This improvement is mainly attributed to an increase in total vegetable intake and an acceptable ratio of saturated and unsaturated fat, both of which are directly related to daily avocado consumption. Individuals who consumed avocados regularly did not show any significant difference within their intake of polyunsaturated fats.Â
The consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) increases by 13 grams per day which is equivalent to MUFA content of avocados (17 grams). Dietary improvements with avocado do not lead to significant changes in cardiometabolic disease risk factors over a 26-week period. Studies show that enhancing the quality of diet over time leads to low risk of cardiometabolic diseases and mortality.Â
The authors within the study had two explanations for why the findings were not aligned with the scientific opinion on diet quality and disease risk. The intervention period of 26 weeks might have been too short to observe risk factors. Since the participants’ diet scores were poor from the beginning, noticing a significant change within diet even after adding healthy substitutes would have been difficult to see in the span of 26 weeks.Â
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats, fibers and other essential nutrients. Researchers conclude that avocado might not directly impact health, but it will reduce consumption of sodium, refined grains and added sugars. This in turn will help decrease the chances of chronic disease among obese humans Â
