Avocados are a versatile type of fruit that provide healthy fats. These healthy fats may help decrease the bad cholesterol in your body while boosting the good cholesterol. Adding fresh avocado slices to your veggie burger at lunch, or enjoying guacamole with pita chips in the afternoon can help you get on the right track to healthy cholesterol levels.
Good vs. Bad
Your body needs cholesterol to make certain hormones and form cell membranes. Too much low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol can cause atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and heart disease if you have too much in your blood. Your LDL cholesterol should be below 100 mg/dL. High-density lipoprotein is the "good" cholesterol that travels through your blood and picks up the excess LDL cholesterol and transports it to the liver, which breaks it down and discards it, reports the Harvard School of Public Health. Your HDL should be above 60 mg/dL.
Good Fat in Avocados
Avocados are among very few types of fresh produce that are high in fat. You need some fat in your diet for vitamin absorption and energy. The primary type of fat in avocados is monounsaturated fat. This is one of the healthiest fats you can consume. Monounsaturated fats, or MUFAs, may help reduce your risk of heart disease, according to MayoClinic.com. A diet high in MUFAs can lower your total cholesterol and help reduce your LDL cholesterol level. In addition to this, MUFAs may increase the "good" HDL in your body. Each 1-oz. serving of avocado has 3 g of monounsaturated fat. While this type of fat is beneficial, it still contains calories and you should limit your fat consumption. Each fat gram, of any type, provides 9 calories.
Additional Fats
Avocados also contain polyunsaturated fats, or PUFAs, which are another type of heart-healthy fat. Replacing saturated and trans fats in your diet with MUFAs and PUFAs, can put you on the path to lower LDL cholesterol and a healthy heart. A 1-oz. serving of avocado has 0.5 g of polyunsaturated fat. Avocados have a minimal amount of saturated fat. This type of unhealthy fat can increase your overall cholesterol by causing an influx of LDL in your blood. Each 1-oz. serving has less than 0.5 g of saturated fat. Saturated fat should not make up more than 7 percent of your total calories, suggests the Harvard School of Public Health. Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, that would be 15 g of saturated fat.
Avocados in Your Diet
Avocados can be added to any meal throughout the day as a way to increase your consumption of monounsaturated fats. Add a few slices to your omelet at breakfast. Enjoy a Cobb salad for lunch with fresh cubed avocado. Make guacamole and use it as a vegetable dip or spread it on a grilled chicken sandwich for dinner. Having avocados in your diet can help boost the "good" HDL and minimize the "bad" LDL in your body.
