LIKE THE OLIVE

Once condemned as a threat to the arteries, the avocado is now extolled as a disease fighter. Most of avocados' fat is the good type that actually protects arteries. The avocado is America's answer to the Mediterranean's healthful olive, researchers say.

DRUG INTERACTION

Eating large amounts of avocado can interact with the blood-thinning drug coumadin to promote bleeding.

Good Fat: The avocado's high monounsaturated fat content benefits arteries. It improves the all-important ratio of good HDL cholesterol to bad LDL cholesterol. It suppresses blood changes that lead to clogged arteries and heart-attack-triggering clots; it decreases blood insulin levels that can directly damage arteries. Eating more monounsaturated fat, studies show, often benefits people with heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Cholesterol Benefit: Eating avocados daily for three weeks improved blood cholesterol in middle-aged women better than a low-fat diet did, according to Australian research. The avocado diet reduced total cholesterol 8 percent compared with 5 percent for the low-fat diet. Most important, avocados improved the good HDL-cholesterol ratio 15 percent. The daily amount of avocado ranged from 1/2 avocado for small women to 1 1/2 for large women. Expected outcome: By eating avocados, heart patients could cut their risk of heart attack 10-20 percent and death rates 4-8 percent in 3-5 years.

Diabetic Boon: Diabetics benefit more from a moderate-fat diet rich in monounsaturates than from a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, argues Gerald Reaven, a leading diabetes researcher at Stanford University. His research on non-insulin-dependent diabetes shows:

-- A lower-fat (30 percent of calories), high-carbo diet raises blood sugar, insulin and triglycerides (a potentially harmful blood fat).

-- A higher-fat (45 percent of calories) diet rich in avocado-type monounsaturated fat has no such hazardous effects.

Antioxidant Power: The avocado is rich in the important antioxidant glutathione, which zaps "free radicals" in the body. Free radicals promote aging and chronic diseases such as cancer. Glutathione specifically blocks intestinal absorption of certain fats that create free radicals.

PRACTICAL TIPS

At the store: Hold an avocado in your palm and gently press. If the flesh feels soft, it's ripe. If a dent remains, it's too ripe to slice but may be OK to mash. Shun a very soft, shriveled, blackened avocado.

In the kitchen: Store hard avocados at room temperature until they soften. Ripe, unpeeled avocados will last in the refrigerator about five days. To open an avocado, cut around the fruit lengthwise. Separate the halves and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon, or leave the halves intact by gently peeling off the skin with your fingers.

If you don't eat an avocado immediately after cutting it, sprinkle it with lemon or lime juice to keep it from darkening, and refrigerate in an airtight container. If guacamole turns brown on top, just scrape off the top layer; the discoloration is unappetizing but harmless.

7 ways to use avocados:

- Add sliced or mashed avocado to sandwiches (turkey, chicken, tuna).

- Fill an avocado half with poultry, seafood, rice or vegetable salads.

- Sprinkle lemon and salt on an unpeeled half; eat with a spoon.

- Add slices, chunks or cubes at the last minute to salads. For a simple salad, mix slices of avocado and onion with olive oil and vinegar.

- Substitute avocado for cheese in chef's salads to slash fat in half.

- Spread mashed avocado on bread, English muffins or bagels. 1 tablespoon has 2.5 grams fat; butter, 12.