Guacamole Recipe, Spotlight on Tomato Vinegar and Avocados, Handling Jalapeños Safely, and Research on Lowering Heart Disease Risk
Who doesn’t love to dip into a bowl of guac at fall get-togethers? Now, what if you could make it even more delicious with a secret ingredient? My latest collection of artisanal vinegars includes a zesty new addition that does just that: Tomato Vinegar. Read more about this special vinegar below. And speaking of guac, I’m including intriguing research on the heart-healthy benefits of avocado and why it might be time to switch the old adage to “an avocado a day keeps the doctor away.”
Guacamole
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Tomato Vinegar
For this year’s vinegar collection of the T. J. Robinson Curated Culinary Selections, I’ve chosen a vinegar entirely different from the sweet fruit-based ones I’ve included in the past. Most artisanal fruit vinegars, such as apple or pear, spend years, sometimes decades, mellowing in old oak barrels, but my Tomato Vinegar takes a different path that gives it a fresh, vibrant taste. It starts with tomatoes that are picked fully ripe and then gently pressed for their juice. That juice ferments naturally—sugars turn to alcohol first, then a mother of vinegar culture and a bit of oxygen coax the alcohol into acetic acid. Instead of oak barrels, the vinegar rests for about a year in stainless-steel tanks, which lock in its brightness without adding barrel notes. Nothing else goes into the bottle—just fermented, fully ripe tomato juice that will enhance not only tomato-based recipes but so many others as well.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Handling Jalapeños Safely
When prepping jalapeños, wear disposable culinary gloves to protect your skin. Jalapeños produce capsaicin-rich oils that easily transfer to your fingertips and don’t rinse off with water alone. And if you should accidentally rub your eyes, these invisible oils will trigger an immediate burning sensation that is difficult to soothe.
If you do get capsaicin on your fingers, wash your hands immediately with a grease-cutting dish soap instead of regular hand soap to break down the oils. If you have only regular soap, first pour a little rubbing alcohol on your skin to dissolve the oils, then wash.
For Your Best Health
An Avocado a Day May Help Keep Heart Disease Away
According to new research led by scientists in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences and published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, eating one avocado each day may modestly reduce heart disease risk in adults with obesity. It builds on previous research that found that avocado consumption could lower LDL cholesterol and LDL particle levels though it did not reduce body weight or waist circumference in people with obesity.
In the earlier study, researchers closely controlled everything the participants ate. But what if people ate as they normally would? Kristina Petersen, PhD, associate professor of nutritional sciences and senior author of the new research, said, “This study demonstrated benefits in the real world, where people’s diets are much less predictable. In the course of people’s normal lives, avocado consumption still contributes to a healthier diet.”
For the new analysis, the team examined data from 786 participants enrolled in the Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial. The six-month study included adults ages 25 and older. Men qualified for the study if their waist circumference was greater than 40 inches, while women were eligible if their waist circumference exceeded 35 inches. Half of the participants were asked to continue their usual diets and physical activity. The remaining participants also maintained their normal routines but received one avocado to eat every day.
Researchers compared blood samples collected at the beginning and end of the six-month trial. Among participants assigned to eat one avocado per day, LDL particle concentrations fell by 49 nanomoles per liter. According to the researchers, that change corresponds to an estimated 4% reduction in heart disease risk. “Four percent is a modest reduction compared with the 14% to 29% lower heart disease risk associated with improving the overall diet,” said Janhavi Damani, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State and first author of the study. “However, it is a step in the right direction.”
The improvement in LDL particle levels was consistent across participants. Sex, race, ethnicity, age, and body mass index did not significantly affect the likelihood of experiencing the benefit.
The findings suggest that adults with obesity from a wide range of backgrounds could potentially benefit from including avocados in their diets. However, the researchers advised people to speak with a registered dietitian nutritionist or physician for personalized guidance before making dietary changes.
Fitness Flash
More Research on Lowering Heart Disease Risk
Type 2 diabetes is a serious health concern, in part because it increases the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack (myocardial infarction). A new study led by Frank Hu, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that adults with type 2 diabetes who stuck with eight healthy lifestyle habits had a 60% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those who reported zero or one healthy lifestyle habit. The eight low-risk lifestyle habits assessed were a higher-quality diet, being physically active, not smoking, restful sleep, no heavy alcohol intake, good stress management, social connection and support, and no opioid use disorder. The researchers also looked at how taking a GLP-1 drug affected risk.
The study included 98,261 participants with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program between January 10, 2011, and September 30, 2023. The participants had no previous history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or advanced chronic kidney disease. The researchers assessed the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, or MACE, defined as nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular death.
During follow-up, 10,443 participants had a major cardiovascular event. Participants using GLP-1 receptor agonists and adhering to six to eight low-risk lifestyle factors had a 43% lower risk of MACE than did those with three or fewer low-risk lifestyle factors and no GLP-1 receptor agonist use. Adherence to low-risk lifestyle habits combined with GLP-1 receptor agonist use was associated with a greater reduction in MACE risk than either approach alone, underscoring the importance of combining lifestyle changes with medication to manage type 2 diabetes.
As Dr. Hu stated, “Our findings underscore that, even in the era of highly effective GLP-1 pharmacotherapy, lifestyle habits remain central to diabetes management and cardiovascular risk reduction and can substantially amplify the benefits of modern medications.”
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