Avocado - Not the Ordinary Alligator Pear-Purse

Persea americana 

Avocados, also known as alligator pears, are a delightful, nutritionally dense, and easily digestible addition to a healthy diet. These tasty fruits have often been recommended as a baby's first food and for convalescents. Include them, not merely as an occasional treat, but as a regular part of your diet.

 

(Photo credit: Tom Dubé)

Protein

If you are a vegetarian, vegan, or raw-foodist seeking more protein, and/or trying to cut down on animal proteins in your diet, avocados are a great nutritional ally. These fruits provide all 18 essential amino acids. Because they contain fiber, avocado protein is readily absorbed by the body -- unlike the protein in meat, which is difficult for most people to digest.

Carotenoids

Although many people associate carotenoids only with red and orange produce, avocados are also an excellent source of this phytonutrient. Avocados offer a diverse range of carotenoids including not only the better known ones such as beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and lutein, but also lesser known varieties of this type of phytonutrient such as neoxanthin, zeaxanthin, chrysanthemaxanthin, neochrome, beta-cryptoxanthin and violaxanthin. Every time you consume foods rich in carotenoids, you deliver high quality vitamin A to your body, thereby protecting eye health. Carotenoids also enhance the functioning of the immune system and promote healthy functioning of the reproductive system. Since carotenoids are fat soluble, eating avocados optimizes the absorption of these nutrients.

Healthy fats

The fat content, which causes some uninformed health "experts" to deem avocados as unhealthy, actually provides protection against heart diseases.

Many people now take supplements in order to consume more omega-3 fatty acids to lower their risk of heart disease. Avocados are rich in omega-3, delivering 160 milligrams per cup of alpha-linolenic acid. Studies have shown that oleic acid improves cardiovascular health. Oleic acid is the primary fatty acid in avocados. Avocados provide the healthy kind of fat that your body needs. Like olive oil, avocados boost levels of HDL (the "good" cholesterol). HDL cholesterol can help protect against the damage caused by free radicals. This type of cholesterol also helps regulate triglyceride levels, preventing diabetes. A study published early this year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that a vegetarian diet, which includes HDL fats, can reduce levels of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) as effectively as statin drugs.

Anti-Inflammatory

The combined effect of the deluxe package of nutrients contained in avocados offers powerful anti-inflammatory benefits. Avocados' unique combination of Vitamins C and E, carotenoids, selenium, zinc, phytosterols and omega-3 fatty acids helps guard against inflammation. This means avocados can help prevent or mitigate against both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis. Avocado seeds provide a number of benefits. Watch for an upcoming page.

Choosing and Eating

To get the most nutritional value from avocados, avoid ones which became over-ripe. You can identify these at the store because they feel overly soft when you hold them and will have dents. A ripe avocado should have no dents in its skin and will feel slightly soft when squeezed. You can also buy unripe avocados, which feel very hard when gripped, and permit them to ripen at home. Research has shown that the greatest concentration of carotenoids in avocado occurs in the dark green flesh that lies just beneath the skin. You don't want to slice into that dark green portion any more than necessary when you are peeling an avocado. For this reason, the best method is what the California Avocado Commission has called the "nick and peel" method. In this method, you actually end up peeling the avocado with your hands in the same way that you would peel a banana.

• The first step in the nick-and-peel method is to cut into the avocado lengthwise, producing two long avocado halves that are still connected in the middle by the seed.
• Next you take hold of both halves and twist them in opposite directions until they naturally separate.
• At this point, remove the seed and cut each of the halves lengthwise to produce long quartered sections of the avocado.
• You can use your thumb and index finger to grip the edge of the skin on each quarter and peel it off, just as you would do with a banana skin.

The final result is a peeled avocado that contains most of that dark green outermost flesh so rich in carotenoid antioxidants!

Starting seeds

Avocados are the fruit from Persea americana, a tall evergreen tree that can grow up to 65 feet in height.

The avocado tree, when grown by a hobby gardener is normally grown from seeds removed from ripened fruit. There are two acceptable methods of doing this, either by sprouting the seed in water or by actually planting the seed in soil.

Many people start avocado trees as novelty house plants by piercing the seed with its pointed end up, partially through with toothpicks on three or four sides to hold it on the top of a jar or vase partly filled with water and few pieces of charcoal (to keep the water sweet) just covering the base. In 2 to 6 weeks, when roots and leaves are well formed the plant is set in potting soil. Unless they're moved into soil within a few weeks or months after germination, they'll begin to deteriorate. They are also easily sprouted in a well-drained 4- or 5-inch pot of porous, fertile soil. The top of the seed should just barely peek above the surface of the soil.

If the soil is kept fairly moist and the temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees, the seed will begin to sprout and a pretty, leafy plant will develop. When the seedling reaches 12 inches, it should be pinched back to about 6-8 inches to produce a rounder, fuller plant. Once they've filled their pots up with healthy roots, they should be re-potted in a larger container. Avocados grown inside thrive in sun or in a good, lighted location. Indoor trees need low night temperatures to induce bloom. Water the trees so that the soil never becomes really dry but isn't ever soggy and waterlogged. Well-rooted plants should be fertilized with a balanced houseplant food every two or three weeks in the summer and about every six weeks during the winter. It's also a good idea to mist the leaves of your Avocado if the air in your home is very dry.

Avocado in the garden

Avocado trees are very versatile in their adaptability to different soils, but they prefer a rich loose sandy loam. They will not survive in locations with poor drainage. . The desirable pH level is generally considered to be between 6 and 7.

Transplanting should be done in early spring. Potted plants should be moved outdoors gradually, so they can acclimatize themselves, and adjust to the new elements. They will grow in shade and between buildings, but are only productive in full sun.

The root system is extensive and will choke out nearby plants, so they should be given plenty of room--up to 20 feet. However two or three trees can be planted in a single large hole to save garden space and enhance pollination.

Once established the avocado is a fairly tough tree. Once the tree is a year old, it should be fed four times yearly using a balanced fertilizer. Older trees benefit from feeding with nitrogenous fertilizer applied in late winter and early summer.

Karen Knowler: How to Set Up Your Own Super-Smoothie Bar At Home

I've so enjoyed writing this article for you - this issue is a real fun one, I think! As many of you know, I LOVE smoothies and I'm also pretty good at creating and making them, so this issue I thought I'd share with you my guide to creating a smoothie bar in your own home that's good to go at any time of day and is quick and easy to use.

Why smoothies? Because they're fast, quick, fun, delicious and they are great at any time of day and can often deliver a hefty dose of nutrition in a tasty and beautiful package!

My kitchen sees a lot of smoothie action, whether it be green smoothies for lunch or nut milk-based smoothies for supper... and I hope that with the help of this issue, yours will soon too!

Step 1: Tool Yourself Up. The only piece of equipment you need to make a great smoothie is, of course, a blender. Now, as may or may not know, all blenders are not equal! Certainly you can get away with a High Street blender costing around £20-£30 ($25-$50) for a fair amount of time if you treat it kindly, but if you've got the money and the passion then the best place you could invest your money for the long haul is without doubt in the very "hardcore" blender that is the Vita-Mix 5200 series or the Turboblend VS. Yes, they are pricey (especially here in Europe), but they are soo worth it. I am fortunate enough to own one myself and like many others who are also proud owners of these beautiful machines I really do think it's one of the best investments in my health I have ever made. I use it every day and it's my favourite piece of equipment in my entire kitchen. All that said, if budget does not permit you to spend nigh on £400 ($450)  on this particular piece of kit, then all is not lost, just spend the most you can on something that's got good reviews on Amazon or similar and when you've got that part sorted, you're ready to go!

Step 2: Gather Your Ingredients. Before you start let's take a look at what you could have on hand to make your smoothies with.

* Fresh fruit (in a bowl and/or fridge)
* Fresh greens (in your fridge. e.g. spinach, watercress, lettuce, kale, chard etc.)
* Frozen fruit (in your freezer)
* Ice-cubes (in your freezer)
* Sweeteners (e.g. dates, agave nectar, maple syrup [not raw], honey, stevia etc.)
* Flavourings (e.g. mesquite meal, carob powder, cacao nibs/ powder, vanilla pods/ essence etc.)
* Superfoods (e.g. maca, bee pollen, green powders, hemp protein powder, etc.)
* Nuts and seeds and/or their butters (for nut milks)
* Cartons of coconut water/ milk
* Oils (not necessary, but some people like to use hemp, flax or coconut oil in their smoothies for EFAs)

Obviously fresh fruit, greens, nuts and seeds are easy to buy in the shops these days, as are some of the other more specialised foods. But for those ingredients that are new to you or that you can't get hold of locally, the good news is that all of these ingredients are now easy to buy mail order wherever you are in the world.

If most of these are new to you, then the ones I recommend you start off with are: dates for sweetening and agave nectar (light) if you want something new to try; vanilla pods or essence and/or mesquite powder for flavourings; bee pollen (for non-vegans) as an incredible superfood and coconut oil for fat if you'd like some.

Whatever you choose, make sure that you gather all your non-refrigerated ingredients into one place so that they are all together, which leads me nicely on to...

Step 3: Pick Your Spot. Whether you choose to make your smoothies at home or at the office, picking the right spot is key. Why? Because if it's somewhere awkward to get to, or not near to the sink or a million miles from your fridge, ingredients or glasses, then you'll feel much less inclined to actually use your smoothie bar! In my current home my smoothie is simply one quick turn away from my sink, and in my previous home, my blender was located with my sink to the left, my smoothie ingredients to the right on a shelf above (you could have yours in a box or tray if you don't have shelving in your kitchen) and my glasses were located up to the right in a cupboard next to the ingredients. And the fridge was just 2 steps away. Even though this all sounds like perfect common sense, it's amazing how many of us make life difficult for ourselves and dot everything all over the place! By keeping these 5 things all close to hand, you will now officially have your "bar" in place and will be all set to get creative.

Step 4: Choose Your Recipes. Now that you have your blender, your ingredients and your actual "bar" all set up, what are you going to make? Well, this is where previous eZines come in. So far I've published probably around 20-30 different smoothies recipes in the past issues, so they should get you started! If you'd like to be super-organised then why not find some smoothie recipes you love (or would love to try) from recipe books and photocopy them (or print the eZine recipes off) and file them in those clear files you bought and you'll be all set to go.

Step 5: Get Smoothie-ing! I generally recommend that if you are very new to smoothie making that you start very simply, as I did, with pure water, a couple of small bananas (or one big one) and one handful of fresh fruit of your choice. Strawberries work well, as do any berries, or peach, nectarine, pineapple or mango. All of these are good and very straightforward to buy and use. From there, when you have your confidence up and are ready to try new things, you can start to get a bit more experimental and add in other more unusual ingredients such as the powders and potions and even a little bit of oil if you'd like to (ideally no more than 2 teaspoons per pint). Personally I keep oils out, but then getting enough calories is not my concern as my needs are pretty low in that department! One step beyond that is to experiment with using nut or seed milks for a base instead of bananas, which is where your nut milk bag will come in. This is really easy to do, but I'll keep the "How To" for another article which will follow next issue. Until then, I'll be expecting you to set your smoothie bar up to perfection ready and eager to go for next week!

Do we have a deal?!
Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Potato Leek Soup

March first was Saint David's feast day. Since our youngest is named David, we like to celebrate with a potato-leek soup. It makes a wonderful comfort food for these last few weeks of winter.

Somehow, the first of March slipped past us this year.

Now, however, we find ourselves at the beginning of Lent, with a fast day on Ash Wednesday. Since we have people in the family who cannot do a complete fast, we opted for the missed potato soup for our dinner.

Here is how I made our soup:

In an 8 quart stockpot, I melted

2 - 3 Tablespoons coconut oil

Then I cut into 1/4 inch slices and sauteed them until soft:

2 leeks

After about 5 minutes I stirred in:

1 Tbs. dried thyme (I prefer fresh thyme, but ours is not quite tall enough)

I turned the heat up a bit (just until it boils) as I added:

6 cups water
1 1/2 - 2 pounds potatoes (about 3 medium)

Turn heat down, once the water boils. TeCook until the potatoes are soft. Then liquify the soup. I like my little hand blender, or put it, in two batches, into my Vitamix.

Return to heat, and stir in:

1 Tbs. grated ginger, or 2 tsp. dried ginger
2 handfuls chopped sorrel or basil.

If you do not have these, organic baby spinach will work well.

Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Serve with a teaspoon of miso stirred into each bowl. Note: do not cook the miso. It contains pro-biotics and enzymes which will be destroyed by cooking.



For a little extra punch, do a kindness to your liver and add:

1/2 tsp Young Living JuvaSpice.

You ARE What You Eat

Everything you put in your mouth has an effect on your body – for good or ill. There is no neutral ground. It must pack the best nutrition. The body expects to be fed something that will give it what it needs to build, repair, and strengthen itself.

Read that again . . . .

Think carefully about it.

Not all food is equally nourishing. Foods which lack nutrients cause your body to become unbalanced, cause inflammation, and disrupt the body’s own control mechanisms. It may not show up right away, but over time the whole system suffers.

You hear about ‘empty calories,’ or ‘too much salt,’ or ‘too much sugar,’ or ’too much fat.’ Foods which fit these descriptions please the palate – they seem to taste good at the time. When the rubber meets the road, they just do not perform as your body needs.

Many people (not you, of course) put ‘stuff’ in their mouths without thinking about this concept. Instead other factors come into play when they consider their desire for ‘something good to eat’:

★ The salty crunch of chips.
★ The cool, smoothness of ice cream.
★ The bubbly sparkle of soda.
★ The charred chewiness of steak.
★ They may fancy some other taste or texture on the tongue.
★ Boredom leads to finding something to keep the mouth busy.
★ A gnawing, hungry feeling hits, so they put darn near anything in their mouths to put a stop to it.
★ They hit a period of low energy and/or mood. Something filled with sugar and/or caffeine, sends the whole system into a tail spin.

When this ‘stuff’ goes into the mouth, it contains few nutrients. It does not deliver sufficient nourishment as it goes through the digestive process. The body then sends out signals of hunger which it hopes will provide the nutrition it needs to carry on.

So, one eats more, ... and more, ... and more ....

In this way, not only does one put on weight, but cravings, addictions, and allergies to certain foods develop. The intestines become blocked and sluggish – sometimes so blocked that only liquids can pass through. Many people eat large amounts of food, but are still undernourished.

Folks generally look at diet in an unsavory light: “a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight;” or, alternatively: “the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person ... for a special reason.”

So ‘diet’ is a word often viewed with fear. Many try one diet or another, only to find themselves in torment. The experience leaves them with a constant sense of deprivation. Severe restriction of calories results in low energy and depression. In the end these efforts provide only a temporary remedy for the problem one is trying to address. One finally gives in, finding themself see-sawing back to (or above) their original weight. The chronic diseases you seek to avoid still plague you, or you end up with some other malady.

Webster gives higher status to these other definitions, by placing them first: “food and drink regularly provided or consumed;” and “habitual nourishment.”

In fact, the word ‘diet’ comes from a Greek word which means a manner of living.

We prefer definitions emphasizing the ways foods we ‘habitually eat’ enhance our health.

Remember: the cause of a habit is repetition. What you habitually eat depends on what you choose to put in your mouth. So choose wisely – over and over again.

Now, ask yourself these questions:

“Why do you eat?
Do you ‘eat to live’
or ‘live to eat’?”

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This is the beginning of the current lesson in our online (by email) course in natural healing. For more information, check our web site.

Health Tip of the Day - Food is Medicine

Everything you put in your mouth (or on your skin) has an effect on your body, for good or for ill - there is no neutral ground. Food can be like a powerful drug. It can have a chemical affect on our body and alter our emotional state.

To keep your mind clear and body in balance, eliminate foods high in refined sugar and unhealthy fats. Replace non-foods with high quality nutritious food. Go for colorful meals. Experiment with a variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Think of the rainbow when putting together a salad or vegetable tray. White is not only the absence of color, it generally indicates an absence of nutrition.

Your tongue, your palate, responds to the training you (or your parents) give it. Taste is a product of habit. The cause of a habit is repetition, so to change unhealthy habits, substitute something positive:

☻ Instead of coffee, start your day with a large glass (32 ounces - drink slowly, especially at first) of water with 1/2 a lemon squeezed into it. You have been without fluids for 8 to 10 hours or more. One of the signs of dehydration is lagging energy. If you have to sweeten it, add a touch of honey, agave, or (green) stevia, but decrease the amount from day to day to lessen your dependence on that burst of sweet.
☻ Replace that doughnut in your morning snack with an apple or pear. You still get to satisfy your sweet tooth, but the extra nutrients and enzymes will keep you going longer.
☻ Add darker leafy greens to your salad, rather than relying on iceberg lettuce, which loses any nutrition it has quickly after harvest.
☻ Keep raw (not roasted or salted) nuts on hand for quick snacks instead of candy bars. The B vitamins and healthy fats in them will give your brain a boost.
☻ Fill your refrigerator with a variety of cut up veggies or fruit. They will be easy snacks to grab (instead of chips) when you have the munchies. The crunch factor is still there, but with a lot more benefits.

You get the idea. Let your imagination take you to a better place in your health, through the food you eat.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General of the 2.2 million deaths in America each year, 1.8 million are diet related. Research shows that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables protects you against cancer, heart disease, and the effects of aging.

Health Tip of the Day

Research shows that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables protects you against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and the effects of aging. Experiment with a variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Think of the rainbow when putting together a salad or vegetable tray.

A great way to ensure you receive your daily vegetable requirements is to fill your plate 1/2 full with fresh raw vegetables or a salad and eat it before the rest of your meal. For midday snacks, think of apples, oranges and pears rather than cheese and nuts. A one inch cube of cheese can have 100 calories and can be 70% fat, while an apple has about 20 calories, almost no fat and is rich in fiber.

For quality fresh fruits and vegetables select locally grown produce, as they are higher in nutritional content and taste better. To learn more about finding local and organic produce near you, go to Local Harvest.

Health Tip of the Day

Your body needs 16 essential vitamins, 60 minerals, 3 fatty acids, and 12 amino acids. No one food has everything the body needs. Eating 80% of one's diet a variety of fresh raw seasonal fruits, vegetables, soaked nuts and sprouted seeds will assure that your body is getting what it needs!

A good strategy is to make sure that each week, when you shop, you pick at least one new fresh ripe quality fruit or vegetable that you did not get the week before. Thus you will provide your body with quality nutrients and give your taste buds a new sensation!

Health Tip of the Day

To reduce refined sugar intake, watch for the words sucrose, glucose, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup sweeteners, maltose and lactose on food labels. It is hard to avoid these items in pre-prepared items. Home made meals and treats really do not take much longer to prepare.
☻ In the time it takes to thaw and cook a frozen meal, you can put together a stir fry, made with fresh veggies mixed with nuts, lean meat, or tofu. Serve it with whole grain cous cous, millet, barley, or brown rice. Use three to five veggies in the dish and you can have an endless variety of meals.
☻ Whole grain muffins can be made with as few as 5 ingredients. Put together the dry ingredients and store in a jar. Measure out the portion you need and mix in the liquids and whatever you want to add. They are fresh out of the oven in 20 minutes.
☻ Soak raw nuts for 12 hours. Air dry and pack in serving sized bags for a tasty snack packed with healthy oils, vitamins and minerals.
☻ Cut up celery, bell peppers (of all colors), broccoli florets, and carrots (or get baby carrots) into ‘finger food’ type sizes. Store in zippered bags in the fridge for grab-it snacks.
☻ Dip veggies in nut butter, miso, tamari and ginger sauce, or oil and balsamic vinegar with herbs.
☻ Keep fresh fruits and veggies in the fridge for a quick, nutritious pick me up.
☻ BTW, don’t buy the ‘junk food’ snacks or they will be eaten.