First thing - no outcome data - so the title of the article vs. the data don’t match.
Second thing, the avocado is unlikely to be the active ingredient. As much as I have some avocado almost daily - it isn’t in anyway proven in this discussion as being causative.
With food - substitutions are critical. For example, EVOO - healthier than the comparator, having some lard or butter. Definitely better - is it better than simply having Whole Foods and not having any EVOO?
So replacing some bad foods with Avocado is the active ingredient. Could it even be more valuable to replace those bad foods with something different?
Anyway - this is overselling Avocados, without sufficient evidence to support the title.
Copy of the published paper, link below.
The point of contact for the published paper is
Kristina S Petersen
email address is kup63@psu.edu
You have a view/opinion contact;
Kristina S Petersen
You will receive a response.
One Avocado per Day as Part of Usual Intake Improves Diet Quality: Exploratory Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial
Open AccessPublished:January 10, 2024
Abstract
Background
Few clinical trials have evaluated diet quality change as a predictor of intervention effectiveness.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to examine changes in the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 after a food-based intervention, and assess the associations between HEI-2015 change and intervention effects on cardiometabolic risk–related outcomes.
Methods
The Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial was a 26-wk, multicenter, randomized, controlled parallel-arm study. Participants were 1008 individuals aged ≥25 y with abdominal obesity (females ≥ 35 inches; males ≥ 40 inches). The avocado-supplemented diet group was provided 1 avocado per day, and the habitual diet group maintained their usual diet. Change in diet quality was assessed using the HEI-2015 from a single 24-h recall conducted at 4 time points. Mixed models were used for analysis.
Results
The avocado-supplemented diet group had a greater increase in the HEI-2015 (4.74 points; 95% CI: 2.93, 6.55) at 26 wk than the habitual diet group. Compared with the habitual diet group, the avocado-supplemented diet group had greater increases in the following HEI-2015 components from baseline: total vegetables (0.99 points; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.21), fatty acid ratio (2.25 points; 95% CI: 1.74, 2.77), sodium (1.03 points; 95% CI: 0.52, 1.55), refined grains (0.82 points; 95% CI: 0.32, 1.31), and added sugars (0.84 points; 95% CI: 0.49, 1.19). No differences in HEI-2015 improvements were observed by race, ethnicity, study site, body mass index, or age category. In the avocado-supplemented diet compared with the habitual diet group, the HEI-2015 increased in females (6.50 points; 95% CI: 4.39, 8.62) but not in males (0.02 points; 95% CI: −3.44, 3.48). Median HEI-2015 change was not associated with intervention-related changes in cardiometabolic disease risk factors.
Conclusions
Intake of 1 avocado per day for 26 wk in adults with abdominal obesity increased adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Changes in diet quality did not predict changes in risk factors for cardiometabolic disease.
This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03528031 (ClinicalTrials.gov).
https://cdn.nutrition.org/article/S2475-2991(24)00005-2/fulltext
It is definitely a great substitution for other foods that are less healthy. It is interesting how the media reporting is much more sensational in its claims than the published article, which is much more measured and conservative in the claims.
It has to be, to have the person click the story to sell/try to sell product or services
As I have post numerous times.
Today(2024) it is Bernays methodology on steroids.
So, from a scientific perspective: the dependent variable was the HEI-2015 food index scale. The effect change in the experimental arm was statistically significant. The HEI scale is significantly and inversely associated with all cause mortality.
Give this, how much variance does the ~4.75 experimental arm change in the scale account for in terms of ACM? According to a 2018 study, participants in the highest quintile of the HEI-2015 had an 18% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to participants in the lowest quintile. This study also found that participants in the highest quintile had a 32% lower risk of CVD mortality, and a 16% lower risk of incident CVD.
Translation: since we cannot see the distribution statistics from which we would calculate percentile ranks, we can only guess (based on how these distributions usually fall out) about the statistical impact of an avocado a day on ACM. However, we can assume it is positive but significantly less so than the 32% and 16% reported in the 2018 study.
Personal translation: I love avocados so I’m going to overinterpret these findings. 
As I posted above the point of contact for the published paper is
Kristina S Petersen
email address is kup63@psu.edu
You have a view/opinion/question contact;
Kristina S Petersen
You will receive a response.
Invite her to this forum.
I don’t think you can say that. It may be that she responds, but not everyone does.