Table 3.
Serum lutein, zeaxanthin, macular pigment density (MPD), blood lipids, markers of inflamation, and oxidative stress in healthy adults (>50 years) consuming one medium avocado a day (Avocado, n = 20) or one medium potato or one cup of chickpeas a day (Control, n = 20) for six months. Mean (SD).
| Avocado | Control | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 3 Months | 6 Months | Baseline | 3 Months | 6 Months a | |
| Lutein (nmol/L) | 330 (139) | 423 (111) b | 414 (147) b | 322 (134) | 352 (153) | 371 (168) c |
| Zeaxanthin (nmol/L) | 63 (17) | 69 (45) | 57 (30) | 65 (33) | 83 (47) d | 78 (40) e |
| Macular pigment denisty (MPD), OD | 0.393 (0.142) | 0.484 (0.178) f | 0.494 (0.137) b | 0.380 (0.173) | 0.445 (0.177) g | 0.424 (0.149) |
| Serum cholesterol (mg/dL) | 219 (52) | 224 (56) | 209 (43) | 200 (46) | 209 (42) | 205 (54) |
| high density lipoproteins (HDL) (mg/dL) | 57 (21) | 61 (23) | 61 (22) | 58 (16) | 56 (14) | 57 (18) |
| low-density lipoproteins (LDL) (mg/dL) | 129 (43) | 135 (37) | 131 (25) | 132 (37) | 137 (37) | 137 (45) |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 86 (64) | 99 (82) | 79 (57) | 84 (55) | 94 (84) | 93 (58) |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 2.0 (2.8) | 2.0 (2.8) | 1.7 (1.8) | 1.3 (1.0) | 2.3 (2.4) | 1.6 (1.6) |
| β-Amyloid, pg/mL | 7.7 (2.8) | 7.9 (2.7) | 7.5 (2.7) | 9.6 (5.0) | 9.2 (5.2) | 9.7 (5.2) |
| LDL Oxidative lagtime (min) | 88.2 (22.9) | 91.2 (14.2) | 89.1 (17.3) | 84.5 (26.6) | 86.2 (16.9) | 85.0 (18.7) |
a n = 19 for blood measures due to loss of sample due to technical error. For each group, significance from baseline (p value): b 0.001; c 0.03; d 0.01; e 0.004; f 0.005; g 0.04; OD: optical density; HDL: high density lipoprotein; LDL: low density lipoprotein.