[Effects of avocado on the level of blood lipids in patients with phenotype II and IV dyslipidemias].

To examine the effects of avocado on plasma lipid concentrations a two-diet trial involving 8 phenotype IV and 8 phenotype II dyslipidemia patients was carried out. A diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (DRCA) using the avocado as their major source (30% of the total calories were consumed as fat, 75% of the total fat from the avocado), with restriction of saturated fat and less of 300 mg of cholesterol per day was evaluated. Patients also were in a low-saturated fat diet without avocado (DRSA). The three daily meals were eaten at our clinical unit. Diets were four weeks in duration and they were assigned in a crossover design. In phenotype II both DRCA and DRSA significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels. On phenotype IV DRCA produced a mild reduction on triglyceride levels while DRSA increased them. On HDL-cholesterol concentrations DRCA produced a significant increase in both phenotypes while DRSA did it only in phenotype IV. Avocado is an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids in diets designed to treat hypercholesterolemia with some advantages over low-fat diets with a greater amount of carbohydrates.