Avocados?

Love avocados. Sliced in a sandwich or tucked into a burrito, or in guacamole.

But, I recently took part in a discussion where it was claimed that avocados should not be fed to some critters. After a little research I found several mentions in various articles that it contained a cardiac glycoside and indeed should not be fed to critters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avocado

I can't find mention of the exact quantities of toxin, I am wondering whether it is too small to be of significance to us or whether the avocado lobby has put the hush on any concerns?

I have heard the same thing about avacados and critters. I believe there is probably a safe level to feed of them but I really don't want to put any of my herps or mammals at risk. I don't feed anything with onion or garlic to ANY animal either.

More for me. Yummy! I am going to make an avacado garlic onion lightning bug sandwich right now.

Originally Posted by Sanguine84

More for me. Yummy! I am going to make an avacado garlic onion lightning bug sandwich right now.

My question had to do with whether there should be any concern with people eating avocados. I guess your sandwich is an experiment addressing that question. If you check out instead of checking back in, I guess we'll know. I'm hoping you check back in

Oh I see. Well I have been eating avacados most of my life with no ill-effect. I personally think primate physiology is the most versatile and adaptive in all of nature. I mean, look at the crap we humans subsist on as staples of our diet (taco bell, McDonald's, KFC) and we still have an average life expectancy in the high 70s to low 80s!! That's nuts, isn't it?


Guac on!

Very bad for Parrots
http://www.plannedparrothood.com/articles/avocados.html

Some more info

Ingestion of avocado (Persea americana) has been associated with myocardial necrosis in mammals and birds and with sterile mastitis in lactating mammals. Cattle, goats, horses, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, sheep, budgerigars, canaries, cockatiels, ostriches, chickens, turkeys, and fish are susceptible. Caged birds appear more sensitive to the effects of avocado, while chickens and turkeys appear more resistant. Although an old case report exists of two dogs developing myocardial damage after avocado ingestion, dogs appear to be relatively resistant compared with other species.

I think the real question here is "What unhealthy foods AREN'T being lobbied for?" If there's a buck to be had, people are going to hide the nasty truth.

I think avacado is delicious but I think there is merit to the word of it being harmful to certain animals.

Spinach is healthy for humans as far as I know, but herbivorous/omnivorous reptiles will have the calcium leeched from their bones if they eat enough of it. I don't believe any osteoporosis cases in mammalians can be attributed to spinach consumption.

Originally Posted by Sanguine84

nasty truth.

I guess I was trying to see if anyone knew just how nasty the truth is in this case. Nasty truth can sometimes be kind of mildly nasty, or it can be really get down bad nasty- for instance, I quit smoking some time ago.
We picks our poisons, it's true, but we should pick them with knowledge of what they are. Asking questions is not being a health nut, necessarily.

I have had a long and happy life eating avocados, but I'm hoping for longer, and happier

I don't think I inferred that you were being a health nut. I am a bit of a paranoid when it comes to the things I ingest. I dislike that the government fluoridates the drinking water and feel that it has long standing negative effects.

As for how 'nasty' avacados are to the human body, I found this study that suggests in high enough concentrations the tocixity would be enough to be harmful in us all (as I interpreted the data).

Unripe avocados are said to be toxic. Two resins derived from the skin of the fruit are toxic to guinea pigs by subcutaneous and peritoneal injection. Dopamine has been found in the leaves. The leaf oil contains methyl chavicol. Not all varieties are equally toxic. Rabbits fed on leaves of 'Fuerte' and 'Nabal' died within 24 hours. Those fed on leaves of 'Mexicola' showed no adverse reactions. Ingestion of avocado leaves and/or bark has caused mastitis in cattle, horses, rabbits and goats. Large doses have been fatal to goats. Craigmill et al. at Davis, California, have confirmed deleterious effects on lactating goats which were allowed to graze on leaves of 'Anaheim' avocado an hour each day for 2 days. Milk was curdled and not milkable, the animals ground their teeth, necks were swollen and they coughed, but the animals would still accept the leaves on the 4th day of the experiment. By the 10th day, all but one goat were on the road to recovery. All abnormal signs had disappeared 20 days later. In another test, leaves of a Guatemalan variety were stored for 2 weeks in plastic bags and then given to 2 Nubian goats in addition to regular feed over a period of 2 days. Both suffered mastitis for 48 hours. Avocado leaves in a pool have killed the fish. Canaries have died from eating the ripe fruit. The seeds, ground and mixed with cheese or cornmeal, have been used to poison rodents. However, tests in Hawaii did not show any ill effect on a mouse even at the rate of 1/4 oz (7 g) per each 2.2 lbs (1 kg) of body weight, though the mouse refused to eat the dried, grated seed material until it was blended with cornmeal. Avocado seed extracts injected into guinea pigs have caused only a few days of hyperexcitability and anorexia. At Davis, mice given 10 to 14 g of half-and-half normal ration and either fresh or dried avocado seed died in 2 or 3 days, though one mouse given 4 times the dose of the others survived for 2 weeks.

The seed contains 13.6% tannin, 13.25% starch. Amino acids in the seed oil are reported as: capric acid, 0.6; myristic, 1.7; X, 13.5; palmitic, 23.4; X, 10.4; stearic, 8.7; oleic, 15.1; linoleic, 24.1; linolenic, 2.5%. The dried seed contains 1.33% of a yellow wax containing sterol and organic acid. The seed and the roots contain an antibiotic which prevents bacterial spoilage of food. It is the subject of two United States patents.

The bark contains 3.5% of an essential oil which has an anise odor and is made up largely of methyl chavicol with a little anethole.


Source:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/m....html#Toxicity

Originally Posted by Sanguine84

I am going to make an avacado garlic onion lightning bug sandwich right now.

How many lightning bugs do you catch before making a sandwich out of them? I'd think you'd have to have at least a couple or three dozen to notice them being on it.

Originally Posted by Sanguine84

More for me. Yummy! I am going to make an avacado garlic onion lightning bug sandwich right now.

Garlic and lightning bug? Fooey on that.

Now the Avocado and onions...YUM...Might have to go shopping here this afternoon.