By David Klein, Ph.D.
From Your Natural Diet: Alive Raw Foods by Dr. T. C. Fry & Dr. David Klein

Avocado is more than just a tasty treat to be enjoyed in
guacamole—it makes a hearty, satisfying meal when eaten alone, in
salads and in other dishes. Most people who transition from a standard
American diet to a vegan diet with avocado, nuts and seeds don’t miss
the animal foods because raw vegan plant fat is so satisfying as well
as more nutritious than cooked fatty animal foods! In hundreds of
thousands of cases, people who’ve adopted a vegan diet of predominantly
raw foods with minimal or no cooked starches as part of a healthful
lifestyle (including regular exercise and adequate sleep), have lost
excess weight, overcome illness, gained new vitality and avoided the
killer diseases which now plague our meat, bread, dairy, and
junk-food-eating society. The fresh vitamins, active enzymes, organic
minerals, soluble fiber, high water content and easily digested fats
and proteins in avocados and other fruit and plant foods can help
transform any sluggish, overweight meat eater into a slimmer and more
dynamic person. Some of the leanest people I know eat the most
avocados! Cooked foods such as bread, pasta, meat, dairy and junk foods
are the villains that can keep an avocado eater from losing excess fat.

If your goal is to reduce your consumption or transition completely off
meat and dairy, avocado may be the perfect way to satisfy your natural
cravings for creamy nourishment. Dr. William Esser wrote in his Dictionary of Natural Foods:

The avocado is one of the most valuable foods which nature has given
man. For those concerned about eliminating meat from their diet, this
offers not merely a “substitute,” but a food which is much superior in
value for human maintenance. It is rich in protein and fat and
comparatively higher than any other fruits in these elements. The fat
is more digestible than animal fats.

Avocado is also known as the “alligator pear” because of the rough skin
on some varieties. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fruit was also
commonly known as “butter pear.” In tropical Central America, avocado
trees have been growing wild for thousands of years, providing natives
with a rich food. The Aztecs called the tree "Ahuacatl." Marauding
Spanish armies changed this to "abocado" or "avocado," the now common
English name.
According to the Little Green Avocado Book,
there is strong evidence that avocado trees flourished 50 million years
ago in what is now California, and avocados might have provided food
for dinosaurs.

Today’s avocados are derived from three natural races. The Mexican type
(semitropical) produces small fruits, 6 to 10 ounces having glossy
purple, paper-thin skin when ripe. The Guatemalan type (subtropical)
yields medium pear-shaped fruits which are first green, turning
purple-black or coppery-purple when ripe, with a typically tough shell.
The West Indian type (tropical) produces enormous, smooth, round,
glossy green fruits of up to two pounds in weight. In the United
States, 95 percent of the commercially grown avocados come from
California, with small percentages coming from Florida, Louisiana,
Texas and Hawaii. The California Rare Fruit Growers Fruit Facts, Volume One,
reports that avocados grow well in valley and coastal California, as
far north as Cape Mendocino and Red Bluff. Hybrid forms of all types
are grown.

Avocado growing is relatively new in the United States. Avocados are
available year-round. Harvest time depends on the variety. The Hass,
the best known commercial variety, is a hybrid of the Mexican and the
Guatemalan types and is picked from January into fall, depending on
where it is grown.
The Little Green Avocado Book
also reports that avocado trees are large evergreens of the laurel
family, and there are about 400 commercial varieties of avocado. Some
are: Bacon, Ettinger, Fuerte, Gwen, Hass, Nabal, Pinkerton, Reed and
Zutano. Mexican types ripen in 6 to 8 months from bloom, Guatemalan
types 12 to 18 months.
There are wide differences in the flavors of individual avocados,
ranging from salty, to nutty, to sweet, with shades in between. If a
fruit has been picked too early, it may be watery and unpalatable. If
picked too late, some varieties develop a rancid flavor. If a Bacon
avocado tastes like bacon, it is rancid. If an avocado has dark flesh
(rot), compost it and/or salvage the good parts.
At some farmers markets and produce stores, one can occasionally
find “Cukes” (also known as "Cocktail" or "Finger" avocados), seedless,
pickle-shaped avocado fruits which result from improperly pollinated
flowers. One can also occasionally find miniature avocados which have
thin, black edible skin and an anise flavor (the Mexicola is one
variety)—these make a delightful treat!
Julie Frink, Curator for the Avocado Variety Collection, University
of California Research Station at Irvine, California, wrote:

I have nearly 20 varieties growing in my yard and the Hass
variety is always one of the best. Some of the green varieties sold in
stores have given a bad name to some really fine green skinned fruits.
The most inferior tasting avocados have either been picked when too
immature or they are poor quality pollinator varieties to begin with.
One of our favorites is the round, green Reed. A perfect Reed on Labor
Day is a most fantastic treat! So often these wonderful fall avocados
are picked and sold in the spring when they are watery and tasteless.
The green, elongated pear-shaped Pinkerton can be fantastic if allowed
to stay on the tree until full maturity, but will be rubbery and
tasteless if picked too soon.

avoThe Little Green Avocado Book also states that an
acre of avocado trees can yield more food than an acre of any other
tree crop. Imagine the ecological implications—a perfectly healthful
“meaty” food which requires 1/200th or less of the acreage needed by
the cattle industry for a comparable yield in pounds, posing no
pollution problems—and no carnage! Worried about mad cow disease?—eat
raw avocados, seeds and nuts and stay sane and mentally keen!

Avocados are bursting with nutrients—vitamins, A, B-complex, C, E, H,
K, and folic acid, plus the minerals magnesium, copper, iron, calcium,
potassium and many other trace elements. Avocados provide all of the
essential amino acids (those that must be provided by our diet), with
18 amino acids in all, plus 7 fatty acids, including omega 3 and 6.
Avocados contain more protein than cow’s milk, about 2 percent per
edible portion. Since rapidly growing nursing infants obtain no more
than percent protein from mother’s milk, we can safely assume that
children and adults do not regularly require foods richer in protein
than avocado. Our bodies recycle approximately 80 percent of our
protein; cooked protein is denatured and largely unusable, thus, our
protein need is far lower than what is taught by conventional
dietetics. A small avocado will provide more usable protein then a huge
steak because cooked protein in meat is deranged and mostly unavailable
to our liver, the organ which makes all of our body’s protein. There is
clear evidence from many sources that cooked fatty and high-protein
foods are the prime culprit in our country’s high rate of cancer, as
well as in colitis, Crohn’s disease and many other diseases. (I
instantly healed up from a long illness, ulcerative colitis, seventeen
years ago after I stopped eating meat and adopted a properly combined
low-fat vegan diet of mostly raw fruits and vegetables, and I have
since helped over 1,000 people recover from similar illnesses.) Ripe,
raw organically grown avocados are naturally pure and furnish all of
the elements we need to build the highest quality protein in our
bodies.

The water content of avocado by weight averages 74 percent. Because
avocado is a ripe, watery, enzymatically-alive fruit, it ranks as the
most easily digested rich source of fats and proteins in whole food
form. The ripening action of the sun “predigests” complex proteins into
simple, easily digested amino acids. The fat content (by weight) varies
from 7 percent to 26 percent according to the variety, averaging 15
percent. Approximately 63 percent of the fat in avocados is
monounsaturated, 20 percent is polyunsaturated and 17 percent is
saturated. Avocados are the perfect source of dietary fat—appetizing in
their raw state, digestible and pure. Another plus is that avocados
have no cholesterol.

Avocado is an alkalinizing food, i.e., the mineral end products of
metabolism have an alkalinizing effect in the blood and other bodily
fluids. Because the human body works to maintain a slightly alkaline
pH, an alkalinizing diet is the most healthful way of eating. Meat,
dairy and most raw nuts create acidity in the body—excess eating of
these causes the leaching of alkalinizing calcium from our bones to
buffer the acidity, leading to osteoporosis. Dr. Douglas Graham states:

Current bone density testing has verified loss of calcium from the
bones after the consumption of just one meat meal. A similar meal
containing the same amount of protein from plants results in no calcium
loss. Fruit and vegetable proteins, which supply the complete spectrum
of human nutrients, must be considered superior to animal protein,
which is deficient or missing many of our essential nutrients such as
fiber, vitamin C and a host of phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Avocado eaters who eat a healthful vegan diet typically experience more
lustrous hair, softer, smoother skin, more pliable nails, fewer joint
problems, slimmer belly, less body odor, improved mental function and
enhanced libido. Upon giving up animal meat and dairy, switching to a
diet of 75 percent to 100 percent raw vegan foods with
enzymatically-alive “plant meat,” and adopting a healthful lifestyle, a
multitude of people have reaped amazing health benefits and joyous
vitality.

How to eat avocado
Using your fingernails, peel off the skin. The skin of a naturally
ripened avocado will easily spiral off in one to three pieces.
Alternatively, using a knife, slice an avocado along the
north-south or east-west axis, then remove the pit. The halves can be
sliced into smaller segments. The skin can then be peeled off, or you
can scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Eat plain as a snack or scoop
the flesh into a bowl or onto a salad.
Avocado generally requires approximately one-and-a-half to two
hours in the stomach to be digested. It digests well if the eater is
relaxed, hungry, energetic, has an empty stomach and follows proper
food combining guidelines. If one eats avocado when tired, one may fall
asleep.
For optimum digestion, eat avocado alone or with any non-sweet,
non-starchy fruit or any non-starchy vegetable food. Eating avocado
with leafy greens, celery and/or cucumber will enhance the digestive
process as additional digestive enzymes are secreted. People with weak
digestion will generally experience enhanced digestion when eating
avocado with non-starchy salads as opposed to eating avocado alone.
Avoid eating avocado with or within 20 minutes of eating sweet
fruit or drinking sweet fruit juice. The combination of a little bit of
lemon or grapefruit juice with avocado tends to digest well for most
people.
Wait at least 3 hours after eating avocado before eating sweet fruit.
Do not eat avocado with any other kind of oily, fatty or
high-protein food such as seeds, nuts, coconut, olives, yogurt, cream,
cheese or meat. Wait several hours between eating these foods, although
the ideal time is 24 hours. It takes several hours to digest and
utilize any kind of heavy/oily food, and the body can only digest one
at a time.
Avoid eating avocado if you are experiencing bowel inflammation, acid reflux, indigestion, sore throat, pain or fever.
Overeating avocados can lead to sluggishness, hyperacid stomach, skin outbreaks and C&C.
The quantity of avocados that is healthful for you is a function of
your taste preferences, digestion and health condition. Generally,
one-quarter to one-half of a medium-size avocado a day, one to three
days per week, is a good baseline for those who are in robust health.
For those who have C&C or have recently recovered from C&C,
begin with a spoonful with dinner one to three days per week and
gradually increase the quantity if the results are positive. For best
results, tune in to your body’s senses and observe your energy levels,
digestion and elimination.

Avocado preparation ideas

• Mash avocado (“avo butter”) into baked potatoes,
• Smear “avo butter” over steamed vegetables
• Dollop warmed “avo butter” over hot air popped corn
• Spread “avo butter” on whole grain bread and soft corn tortillas
• Dip baked corn chips into a avo halves, or a bowl of avocado pulp
• Halve and pit avocado then scoop (or “dip”) celery, carrot, broccoli, bell pepper pieces in and eat as a snack
• Add spoonsful or slices to salads—there’s your dressing!
• Mix with chopped bell pepper, tomato, celery, lemon juice, etc. for guacamole or salsa
• Party time: slice into spears or chunks, insert toothpicks and serve
as hors d’oeuvres. (Who needs cholesterol and fat-laden cheese?)
• Make veggie “handwiches” or “veggie roll-ups”—place chopped veggies,
sprouts, tomatoes and avocado chunks on lettuce, kale or cabbage
leaves, fold them over or roll them up, and enjoy
• Add to processed vegetables—veggie slaw, veggie loaves, veggie cakes and cookies
• Mix into veggie and sprout soups—blend in to make a creamy texture, or serve “chunky style”
• Make dressings—avo-carrot juice, avo-tomato-celery (add a little lemon or grapefruit juice and/or herbs to taste)
• “Avo butter”—smear a halved avocado over freshly shucked corn on the cob
• Stuff avocado and veggies into cored bell peppers (whole or halved) and serve as a “handwich” or other entrée

Note: avocado and starchy foods (e.g., potatoes, bread, grains,
corn, old carrots) make a “fair” food combination—for optimal
digestion, do not combine avocado and starchy foods.

Avocado vs. animal meat

Avocado - Watery and fiber-rich, non-consiptating
Animal Meat - Low water, no fiber constipating

Avocado - Has all essential amino acids
Animal Meat - Amino acids denatured by cooking

Avocado - No cholesterol
Animal Meat - High in cholesterol

Avocado - Takes 2 to 4 hours to digest, normally will not putrefy
Animal Meat - Takes 12 to 24 hours to digest, normally putrefies, poisoning our blood, tissues and brain

Avocado- No parasites, pathogens or tumors
Animal Meat - Incidences of parasites, pathogens and tumors range from rare to common

Avocado - Not inoculated with any chemicals
Animal Meat - Typically inoculated with antibiotics, medicines and hormones

Avocado - Water-rich and non-allergenic
Animal Meat - Bloody and laden with allergenic proteins

Avocado - Does not need cooking nor any preparation other than peeling
Animal Meat -
If eaten raw, the parasite-pathogen risk increases; when cooked, the
fats become carcinogenic, the proteins coagulate, and the
heat-deaminated minerals become embedded as arterial and bowel plaque
leading to atherosclerosis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, etc.

Avocado - 100 percent healthful.
Animal Meat - A major health hazard with links to cancer, colitis, diabetes, obesity and many other diseases.

Avocado - Alkalizing
Animal Meat - Acidifying

Avocado - The fuel required to digest avocado
and other fruity fats is less than half that required to digest meats,
and digestion time is dramatically lower as well
Animal Meat
- Takes approximately 50 percent of body’s energy and as much as three
days to digest and clean up the toxins from its decomposition in the
gut and the immune system response to the toxic proteins and grease
which enter the blood.

Avocado - 100 percent ecologically sound
Animal Meat -
Ecologically destructive, requiring up to 200 times the acreage and
over 10 times the quantity of water to produce one pound of food
(approximately 220 gallons of water per pound of avocado vs. 2,400
gallons water per pound of beef); grazing causes soil erosion and in
some countries deforestation; liquid, solid and gaseous animal wastes
pollute the atmosphere, land and waterways.

Some avocado myths and facts

Myth - It’s a vegetable
Fact - It’s actually an oily berry—a fruit

Myth - It’s high in cholesterol
Fact - It has no cholesterol. Only animal foods have cholesterol

Myth - It’s high in fat
Fact - By weight, avocados average 30 percent easily digestible oily fatty acids and approximately 70 percent water

Myth - Its saturated fat content is dangerous
Fact - Only about 2.5 percent of the edible portion
of avocado is saturated fat, and unheated saturated fat from live plant
foods is nontoxic

Myth - It’s fattening
Fact
- It is the cooked starches, meat, dairy and processed sugar in
people’s diets that feed their fat cells. Most active people who
consume avocados as part high raw food vegan diet have no problem
losing excess fat and staying lean

Myth - It is a tree ripened fruit
Fact - The avocado doesn't soften on the tree. After
dropping or picking it must be allowed to soften for 4 to 17 days
depending upon the variety and ambient temperature and humidity

Myth - It's best to ripen it in a bag
Fact
-Not necessary. Keep your weekly supply of avocados on your kitchen
table, counter or somewhere else in plain sight. Pinch the tops and
bottoms each morning and when they yield to pressure on both ends they
are ripe. Refrigerate the ones you are not ready to eat

Myth - It can’t be refrigerated
Fact - Yes it can. Wrap ripe avocado in plastic or
keep it in a plastic bag or container. If it is refrigerated for too
long, some spoiling may result. Remove unripened avocado from the
refrigerator 2 or 3 days before you intend to eat it.

Myth - Keep the seed in to keep guacamole from turning black.
Fact - That is an old wives tale! Wrap it in plastic to keep oxidation at bay.