What does eating an avocado every day do for your health?
Eating an avocado every day probably has beneficial effects on your cholesterol, especially when it replaces other, less healthy fats. Whether it also actually prevents heart attacks has not yet been proven in controlled research.
Eating an avocado every day has its best-studied effect on cholesterol. When avocado replaces other fats in the diet, total cholesterol falls by around 19 mg/dL on average and LDL ('bad' cholesterol) by around 17 mg/dL. That effect does not occur if you simply add avocado on top of your usual eating and drinking pattern. A separate review of seven trials found a small rise in HDL ('good' cholesterol) among avocado users, but saw no significant reductions in LDL or triglycerides. The two reviews therefore partly contradict each other, which increases the uncertainty.
Regarding the quality of LDL, one randomised trial in people with overweight shows something noteworthy: one avocado per day reduced oxidised LDL by nearly 9 percent, more than a comparable diet with the same type of fats but without avocado. Oxidised LDL is the most harmful form. This suggests that not only the fatty acid composition, but also other compounds in avocado, such as lutein and other antioxidants, play a role.
On long-term cardiovascular disease there is only one large study, which followed more than 110,000 people for thirty years. People who ate avocado at least twice a week had 16 percent fewer cardiovascular disease events and 21 percent fewer coronary artery disease events. But that avocado caused this has not been proven: people who eat a lot of avocado may also live more healthily in other ways. No controlled trials have yet directly measured whether avocado prevents heart attacks or strokes.
For eyes and brain there are small trials funded by the avocado industry. Eating a daily avocado increased blood lutein by 25 percent after six months and improved macular pigment optical density in older adults. Another small trial found improved attention after twelve weeks, but it is unclear how that mechanism works. Both studies are too small for firm conclusions, and the industry funding calls for caution.
On fat distribution and blood sugar the picture is mixed: in women with overweight, abdominal fat shifted slightly more favourably after twelve weeks, but not in men. Blood sugar regulation did not improve in anyone.
This answer rests on two reviews of multiple randomised trials on cholesterol, four individual randomised trials (on oxidised LDL, eye health, cognition and abdominal fat) and one large prospective study on cardiovascular disease in more than 110,000 people. The cholesterol effects are reasonably well supported, but the two reviews partly contradict each other. The studies on eyes, brain and abdominal fat are small, and two of them were funded by the avocado industry, which complicates interpretation. No controlled trial has measured whether daily avocado consumption actually prevents heart attacks or strokes.
What is the best way to use creatine?
Creatine works best in combination with strength training: optionally start with a loading phase of 20 grams per day for 5 days and then maintain with 2 to 5 grams per day. If you have a kidney condition, discuss it with your doctor first.