A fruit duo could help lower blood pressure and improve heart health, a study suggests.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) – a group of conditions including high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, among others – is America’s biggest killer, claiming nearly 1 million lives every year.
Recent research has repeatedly honed in on vegetables and fruits that can help clear harmful plaque out of the arteries, relieve pressure on blood vessels and keep the heart from overexerting itself.
Now, researchers in Illinois have found that pairing avocado and mango together could improve vascular health, a key predictor of artery diseases, blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
In a new study, more than 80 adults with prediabetes – a reversible precursor to type 2 diabetes and a condition that significantly increases CVD risk – either followed a low-fat, low-fiber diet or incorporated one cup of avocado and one cup of mango into their diet.
After eight weeks, people on the avocado-mango diet had significant improvements in their blood vessel function, which reduces the heart’s workload and helps oxygen-rich blood travel to vital organs.
They also had measurable improvements in their diastolic blood pressure – the bottom number on a blood pressure reading – which put less strain on the heart and lowers the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The researchers believe the fiber, vitamin C and unsaturated fat content in the avocado-mango duo are responsible for the improvements and could represent a practical way to improve heart health beyond medication.
Researchers in Illinois have found a fruit duo that may improve vascular health in people with prediabetes (stock image)
‘This research reinforces the power of food-first strategies to help reduce cardiovascular disease, particularly in vulnerable populations like those with prediabetes,’ Dr Britt Burton-Freeman, principal investigator and professor at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), said.
‘It’s an encouraging message: small, nutrient-dense additions—like incorporating avocado and mango into meals and snacks—may support heart health without the need for strict rules or major dietary overhauls.’
About 115 million Americans have prediabetes, and recent reports suggest about 80 percent don’t know they have it.
The study, published in February in the Journal of the American Heart Association, looked at 82 prediabetic adults between ages 25 and 70 with an average age of 45.
Once per week for eight weeks, participants completed questionnaires about their food intake over the past 24 hours.
The researchers found that on average, people on the avocado-mango diet increased their flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which measures how much an artery dilates in response to increased blood flow, by 6.7 percent, a sign of improved artery function.
Meanwhile, people in the control group decreased their FMD by 4.6 percent, signaling worsening artery function.
Participants in the avocado-mango group also improved their diastolic blood pressure, a change that was particularly striking in men. Men who ate the fruit pairing decreased their diastolic blood pressure by 1.9mmHg, which doctors said could compound over time.
Men in the control group, however, saw an increase of 1.9mmHg in blood pressure.
The above chart shows the comparison of FMD in the control group versus the avocado-mango group. The latter group improved their FMD by 6.7 percent, a sign of improved artery function
The difference in blood pressure was not notable in women. There were also no changes in overall calorie intake or weight in either participant group.
One cup of fresh mango contains about 2.6g fiber, about seven percent of an average adult’s recommended daily intake, and 67 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.
Fiber intake has been shown to help blood vessels relax, improving blood flow, and soluble fiber, such as that found in mangoes, binds to cholesterol and prevents the body from absorbing it, helping to manage blood pressure.
Vitamin C, meanwhile, protects nitric oxide, a molecule that tells the blood vessels to relax and widen. It also works as an antioxidant to lower inflammation within the blood vessels.
Avocados are also rich in fiber and unsaturated fat, which lowers cholesterol and fats called triglycerides in the blood, lowering the risk of plaque buildup.
The researchers noted that the study’s small sample size was a main limitation, as well as only looking at short-term outcomes associated with the avocado-mango combination.
