With 400 deaths per day, the cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in France for people over 65 and women. An alarming assessment which continues to increase according to the French Federation of Cardiology. “Between 2008 and 2013, the hospitalization rate for myocardial infarction among women aged 45 to 54 rose by 5% per year,” she points out.
the lack of physical activity and poor food hygiene are the two biggest risk factors for the disease. A good Alimentation can therefore on the contrary reduce the risks, as shown by this new study concerning lawyers.
Cholesterol: monounsaturated fatty acids protect your arteries
The works published in the Journal of the American Heart Association show that the consumption of an avocado per week or more, would contribute to reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
“Our study provides further evidence that the consumption of unsaturated fats of plant origin can improve the quality of the diet and is an important part of the cardiovascular disease preventionsaid Dr. Lorena S. Pacheco, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Eating an avocado a week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 21%
For 30 years, researchers followed more than 68,780 women between the ages of 30 and 55 and more than 41,700 men between the ages of 40 and 75. All participants lived in the United States and were free of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke at the start of the study. The researchers referenced 9,185 events of coronary disease and 5,290 strokes during these follow-up years. They studied participants’ diets using questionnaires about their eating habits sent out every four years. They were thus able to analyze how many avocados and how often each of them consumed them.
After taking into account a wide range of cardiovascular risk factors and overall diet, scientists found that people who ate at least one avocado per week had reduced risks of:
- 16% for cardiovascular disease
- 21% for coronary heart disease
compared to those who had never used it or who only did so very rarely.
Heart attack: replacing animal products with avocado reduces risk
Thanks to statistical modelling, the daily replacement of half a portion of butter, egg, yoghurt, cheese or processed meats such as sausage by the same amount of avocado was associated with a 16-22% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, etc.).
No significant association was observed for the risk of stroke and the amount of avocado consumed.
“Good While no one food is the answer to eating a healthy diet regularly, this study is proof that avocados have possible health benefits. This is promising because it is a popular, accessible, desirable and easy-to-include food in meals eaten at home and in restaurants,” the authors conclude.