Dr. Wilson C. Grant, of the Veterans ' Administration Hospital, Coral Gables, Florida, and the University of Miami School of Medicine, set out to discover if avocados, because of their high content of unsaturated fatty acids, would reduce the cholesterol of the blood in selected patients. The study comprised 16 male patients, ranging in age from 27 to 72. They were put on control diets to determine as accurately as possible, the normal cholesterol level of their blood. Then they were given 1 2 to 1 -- 1 2 avocados per day as a substitute for part of their dietary fat consumption.