What weird fruit fights cholesterol

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When you think about your heart health and keeping your cholesterol in check, high-fat foods aren’t exactly the first thing you’re planning to put on your plate. Certain high-fat foods are also loaded with cholesterol – but not all are actually bad for your cardiovascular well-being. In fact, there’s one high-fat (and highly beloved) fruit that’s surprisingly great for high cholesterol. It’s the avocado.

Avocados may be particularly fat-rich, but they’re full of good-for-you monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These “good” fats are a must-have in any healthy diet, and according to research, they just may be what makes avocados such a helpful food for high cholesterol. 

Here’s what science has to say about the potential link between eating avocados and lower cholesterol levels. 

Just one avocado per day can offer benefits for high cholesterol

It turns out that an avocado a day may be a heart-healthy addition to anyone’s diet. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University conducted a randomized, controlled study in which 45 adult participants, all of whom were clinically diagnosed as overweight or obese, followed a series of changing diets.

For the first two weeks of the study, all of the participants followed the same “average American” diet, which was designed to put them all on similar nutritional footing. At the end of this initial period, the participants then followed three different diets in a randomized order over five weeks. They tried a low-fat diet, a moderate-fat diet and a moderate-fat diet that included one avocado per day. Researchers then tracked changes in key health metrics as the participants tried out each diet.

At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that participants had significantly lower levels of cholesterol when following the one-avocado-per-day diet. Specifically, their “bad” cholesterol levels – or LDL cholesterol – decreased. The avocado diet results in lower cholesterol levels in comparison to both the low- and moderate-fat diets. 

There was one more bonus to eating an avocado each day. Researchers noted that when participants added in a daily avocado, they also saw higher lutein levels. Lutein is an antioxidant that plays a role in eye health.

Why avocados had a bigger impact than “good” fats alone

One of the interesting findings of this study was that getting plenty of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats alone wasn’t enough to significantly impact participants’ cholesterol levels. 

Those on the moderate-fat diet didn’t see the same benefits as those who ate a moderate-fat diet plus one avocado per day. Researchers noticed that the difference appeared to be in how, exactly, adding in an avocado affected the LDL cholesterol and its ability to build up in the body.

Participants who ate an avocado daily had fewer small, dense LDL cholesterol particles within the body. Those particles, researchers say, are particularly bad for your heart health and overall cholesterol – especially when it comes to promoting plaque buildup in your arteries. 

Additionally, adding a daily avocado into your diet can help reduce oxidized LDL particles, another key factor in high cholesterol and heart health woes. Researchers noted that those who ate one avocado per day on a moderate-fat diet reduced the oxidized particles that can contribute to atherosclerosis (the buildup of plaque in artery walls) and plays a role in other heart conditions.

But why are avocados able to make such a positive impact? The study’s researchers hypothesized that it isn’t the monounsaturated fats present in avocados alone. Rather, it’s more likely that there are some additional bioactive compounds that may contribute the extra benefits that come from this particular fruit.

And this isn’t the first study that suggests there’s something about avocados that influences LDL cholesterol. Prior research has also shown that this creamy green fruit can lower overall LDL levels, leading to better cholesterol as a whole. So, if you’re hoping to have a positive impact on your high LDL cholesterol levels, grabbing an avocado each day just might be able to make a difference.

To get more avocados into your daily diet, try these recipes:

A compound found in the peels of citrus fruit has the potential to lower cholesterol more effectively than some prescription drugs, and without side effects, according to a study by U.S. and Canadian researchers.

A joint study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and KGK Synergize, a Canadian nutraceutical company, identified a class of compounds isolated from orange and tangerine peels that shows promise in animal studies as a potent, natural alternative for lowering LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), without the possible side effects, such as liver disease and muscle weakness, of conventional cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The findings will be described in the May 12 print issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

The compounds, called polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs), are similar to other plant pigments found in citrus fruits that have been increasingly linked to health benefits, including protection against cancer, heart disease and inflammation. The study is believed to be the first to show that PMFs can lower cholesterol, the researchers say. "Our study has shown that PMFs have the most potent cholesterol-lowering effect of any other citrus flavonoid," says Elzbieta Kurowska, Ph.D., lead investigator of the study and vice president of research at KGK Synergize in Ontario, Canada. "We believe that PMFs have the potential to rival and even beat the cholesterol-lowering effect of some prescription drugs, without the risk of side effects."

PMFs are found in a variety of citrus fruits. The most common citrus PMFs, tangeretin and nobiletin, are found in the peels of tangerines and oranges. They are also found in smaller amounts in the juices of these fruits.

Using hamster models with diet-induced high cholesterol, the researchers showed that feeding them food containing 1 percent PMFs lowered levels of LDL cholesterol by 32 to 40 percent.

Previous animal studies by others have shown that similar flavonoids, particularly hesperidin from oranges and naringin from grapefruit, also may have the ability to lower cholesterol, although not as effectively as PMFs, according to Kurowska.

Treatment with PMFs did not appear to have any effect on levels of HDL cholesterol, or good cholesterol, the researcher says. No negative side effects were seen in the animals that were fed the compounds, she adds. The researchers are currently exploring the compound's mechanism of action on cholesterol metabolism. They now suspect, based on early results in cell and animal studies, that it works by inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol and triglycerides inside the liver.

A long-term human study of the effect of PMFs on high LDL cholesterol is now in progress. While drinking citrus fruits is full of health benefits, taking PMF supplements could be an easier way to lower cholesterol, since a person would have to drink 20 or more cups a day of orange or tangerine juice to have a therapeutic effect, Kurowska estimates.

KGK Synergize already has developed a nutrition supplement containing PMFs combined with a form of vitamin E that seems to enhance the compound's effect, according to Kurowska. Marketed as a cholesterol-lowering agent under the trade name SytrinolTM, the supplement recently became available in the U.S.

USDA's Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory in Winter Haven, Fla., and KGK Synergize Inc. provided funding for this study.

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Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Are you worried your heart health?

Perhaps your recent bloodwork wasn't what you hoped for. And now your doctor (and even spouse) are nagging you to do something about it.

Whatever the case, here's some good news...

One doctor now says there's a new way to support healthy cholesterol... without suffering side-effects or living on nothing but salads.

And according to him, it comes down to eating one strange fruit.

That's because when Italian researchers gave folks an extract of this little-known fruit, their findings were surprising:

...healthier cholesterol within weeks. And no major side-effects.

It's results like these that caught the attention of Health Canada. And even our very own Cleveland Clinic here in the US.

And that's just the start...

In a recent clinical study this fruit was shown to revitalize arteries after 6 months. And healthier arteries means better blood flow... helping deliver critical nutrients all over your body.

No wonder users report feeling more energetic after eating this.

Boston MD, Dr. George Karanastasis had this to say after reviewing the research, "There are plenty of foods that help keep cholesterol healthy... but I've never seen one that actually improves artery health this much (or this fast, for that matter)..."

Watch this video as Dr. K shows you what this weird fruit is... as well as where to get it, how much you should eat, and how often for best results.

This short video is quickly going viral. It's racked up more than 46,000 views in the past few weeks alone. And it's already helping thousands of people across the country to better their health.

One such viewer recently wrote in saying, "Dr K., keep educating everyone... sharing your wisdom and tear-laced vision for good health and wellness. We are blessed there are doctors like yourself having completed credible research for dietary guidelines..."

That said, a word of warning...

The content of this video is somewhat controversial. According to Dr. K, "This information is on the cutting-edge of science. And like all breakthroughs, it will be several years before this becomes mainstream medical practice.

So, if this can help the tens of thousands of folks who can't wait that long, I'll consider it mission accomplished."

If you've been told you need to live on salads just to keep your cholesterol in check (or put up with unpleasant side-effects), visit the link below now to learn more about this fruit:

==> 1 Weird Fruit That Fights Cholesterol [WATCH]

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References:

1 Better HA prediction from new cholesterol test? Two simple tests could someday elbow aside, or at least complement, today's standard cholesterol tests. Harv Heart Lett. 2006 Jun;16(10):3.

2 Fernández-Friera L, Fuster V, López-Melgar B, et al.; Normal LDL-Cholesterol Levels Are Associated With Subclinical AS in the Absence of Risk Factors. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017 Dec 19;70(24):2979-2991.

3 Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, et al.; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and ST Statistics Subcommittee. HD and ST Statistics-2020 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020 Mar 3;141(9):e139-e596.