Effect of a moderate fat diet with and without avocados on lipoprotein particle number,size and subclasses in overweight and obese adults: A randomized,controlled trial

Background: avocados are a nutrient-dense source of monounsaturated fatty acids (mufa) that can be used to replace saturated fatty acids (sfa) in a diet to lower low density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c). well-controlled studies are lacking on the effect of avocado consumption on cardiovascular disease (cvd) risk factors. methods and results--a randomized,crossover,controlled feeding trial was conducted with 45 overweight or obese participants with baseline ldl-c in the 25th to 90th percentile. three cholesterol-lowering diets (6% to 7% sfa) were fed (5 weeks each): a lower-fat diet (lf: 24% fat); 2 moderate-fat diets (34% fat) provided similar foods and were matched for macronutrients and fatty acids: the avocado diet (av) included one fresh hass avocado (136 g) per day,and the moderate-fat diet (mf) mainly used high oleic acid oils to match the fatty acid content of one avocado. compared with baseline,the reduction in ldl-c and non-high-density lipoprotein (hdl) cholesterol on the av diet (-13.5 mg/dl,-14.6 mg/dl) was greater (p<0.05) than the mf (-8.3 mg/dl,-8.7 mg/dl) and lf (-7.4 mg/dl,-4.8 mg/dl) diets. furthermore,only the av diet significantly decreased ldl particle number (ldl-p,-80.1 nmol/l,p=0.0001),small dense ldl cholesterol (ldl3+4,-4.1 mg/dl,p=0.04),and the ratio of ldl/hdl (-6.6%,p<0.0001) from baseline. conclusions--inclusion of one avocado per day as part of a moderate-fat,cholesterol-lowering diet has additional ldl-c,ldl-p,and non-hdl-c lowering effects,especially for small,dense ldl. our results demonstrate that avocados have beneficial effects on cardio-metabolic risk factors that extend beyond their heart-healthy fatty acid profile. © 2015 the authors. published on behalf of the american heart association,inc.,by wiley blackwell.