Avocado protects against heart attack, strokes, diabetes, hypertension etc on HWN RESEARCH

Recent studies have associated air pollution to rise in chronic disease such as heart attack, strokes, diabetes, hypertension, cancer to mention but a few. But scientists have found that extracts of the leaves, fruits, seeds and bark of avocado can protect the body from the damages of air pollution.

Botanically called Persea americana, avocado belongs to the plant family Lauraceae.

Indeed, scientists have found higher levels of vitamin E may help protect the lungs from particulates - tiny particles of harmful smog.

These particles come from a variety of sources, including power plants, factories, trucks and cars and the burning of wood. They can travel deep into the lungs and have been associated with increased numbers of hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes.

A new study from King's College London and Nottingham University, United Kingdom, suggests higher blood levels of vitamin E may minimise the effects of exposure.

The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Also, scientists suggest that extracts of the nutritious avocado fruit may be able to lessen the liver damage caused by the hepatitis viruses.

A study carried out at Shizuoka University in Japan and published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests the avocado fruit may have potential. Rats were given a chemical, which causes similar liver damage to the hepatitis viruses, and fed 22 different types of fruit to see if they made any difference.

The researchers found five compounds extracted from fruit to have a beneficial effect, and the most potent of these came from the avocado.

The scientists are still not sure whether the same effect could be found in humans, and say further studies are needed. They also have no idea how the avocado extract actually has this effect.

Precisely how much help this would be to stem the damage caused by hepatitis in humans is as yet unclear, as often patients are wholly unaware of their infection until serious damage has taken place.

Healthy: A 100g serving of avocado provides 10 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E, which may help protect the lungs from particulates.

Harmful: Smog over the Chinese capital Beijing. The particulate matter of which it is made is one of the main air pollutants thought to be damaging to human health.

Vitamin E is important because it acts as an antioxidant to fight free radicals, the dangerous naturally occurring oxygen molecules blamed for various diseases.

Because it protects cell membranes, vitamin E maintains healthy skin, eyes and strengthens the immune system, according to British National Health Service (NHS) Choices.

The advice website says men need 4mg of vitamin E a day, while women need 3mg, and you should be able to get all you need from your daily diet.

A 100g (3.5 ounce) serving of avocado provides 10 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E - likewise a serving of cooked spinach.

Any vitamin E your body doesn't need immediately can be stored for future use, so it doesn't need to be consumed every day.

The Department of Health advises that taking 540mg or less a day of vitamin E supplements is unlikely to cause any harm. For the first time, researchers found a clear link between the amount of the vitamin in the body, exposure to particulate pollution and lung function.

They say there is now growing evidence that some vitamins may play a role in protecting the lungs from air pollution.

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the main air pollutants thought to be damaging to human health.

Dr. Ana Valdes, Reader at Nottingham University and co-author of the study, said: "Our work builds on a number of studies exploring whether some vitamins can counteract the negative effect on lungs caused by air pollution.

"More work is needed to establish whether antioxidant supplements do indeed provide protection to the lungs in the general population."

The new study looked at links between lung function, a set of metabolites - chemical signatures circulating in the blood - and exposure to two types of particulate matter, PM10 and PM2.5

The study involved 5,500 people from the UK twins registry who had also undergone tests to measure lung capacity and function. Around 500 twins living in the Greater London area also had their long-term exposure to PM estimated from their postcode.