7 Benefits of Avocado Oil
Dr. Eric Berg
10/02/2024
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Avocado oil is good for you and a heart-healthy oil with a mild flavor and high smoke point. It’s an excellent cooking oil and a rich source of essential nutrients and beneficial monounsaturated fats.
Let’s look at the health benefits of avocado oil and find out why you should regularly add avocado oil to your keto diet.
What is avocado oil?
Avocados are a rich source of essential nutrients, vital antioxidants, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. They are an exceptionally nutritious and versatile ingredient that works well in salads, smoothies, and even ice cream.
Avocados contain the most fat of all plant foods, and avocado oil is easily extracted by mechanically pressing avocado pulp.
Avocado oil is a nutritious cooking oil with a slightly nutty avocado flavor. Most health food stores stock two types of avocado oil: cold-pressed extra virgin avocado oil and refined avocado oil.
Extra virgin avocado oil is the first press of fresh avocado pulp and has a distinct bright green color. In contrast, refined avocado oil is filtered to remove small particles and impurities and has a lighter, almost yellow color.
Avocado oil has a higher smoke point than other vegetable oils, including sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil, and coconut oil. It can safely be heated up to 520°
Fahrenheit, making it one of the best cooking oils for roasting, frying, and sauteing.
Watch the video below to learn more about the powerful nutrients in avocado oil.
Is avocado oil healthy?
Extra virgin avocado oil is one of the healthiest oils you can choose. Research suggests that regularly adding avocado oil to your diet has significant health benefits.
Avocado oil is particularly healthy for your heart. It’s a rich source of oleic acid, an unsaturated fat that supports healthy cholesterol levels and is linked to a lower risk of heart disease.
Avocado oils are among the most nutritious plant oils. Incorporating avocado oil into your keto food list is an excellent choice to achieve optimal nutrient levels and support your health and well-being.
Avocado oil nutrition facts
Avocado oil is rich in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and essential nutrients, including vitamins E and K, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. In addition, avocado oil is an excellent source of chlorophyll and the carotenoid lutein.
Not only does avocado oil contain good amounts of vital nutrients, but it also promotes nutrient absorption. Healthy fats in avocado oil help your body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients, including vitamins E, D, and K.
One tablespoon of avocado oil contains the following:
130 calories
14 g total fat
10 g monounsaturated fat
2 g polyunsaturated fat
2 g saturated fat
0 g carbs
0 g protein
Avocado oil is rich in essential nutrients, including fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support a healthy body.
Avocado oil is an excellent source of:
Beta-carotene
B vitamins, especially folate, B5, and B6
Carotenoids, including lutein and zeaxanthin
Chlorophyll
Phytosterols
Oleic acid
These healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients have many potential health benefits and form the foundation of the best diet for cardiovascular disease.
Seven benefits of avocado oil
Using avocado oil supports your body and is linked to many health benefits. In fact, this study suggests that regular consumption of avocado oil reduces the risk of heart disease and can play an essential role in managing chronic diseases, including metabolic syndrome.
Here are seven benefits of avocado oil.
1. Supports heart health
Avocado oil supports heart health. It’s rich in potassium needed for healthy blood pressure regulation, and increased dietary potassium intake is linked to lower blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health.
Monounsaturated fat and oleic acid in avocado oil support healthy blood lipid levels and increase HDL cholesterol levels. HDL cholesterol is beneficial and lowers the risk of arterial plaque formation and heart attacks.
2. Promotes healthy skin and hair
Avocado oil supports healthy skin and nourishes hair. Monounsaturated fat, beta-carotene, and vitamin E in avocado oil soothe dry skin and promote wound healing. Vitamin E and oleic acid may speed up wound healing and lower eczema and psoriasis symptoms.
Avocado oil gives hair shine, nourishes your scalp, and promotes hair and nail growth. In avocado oil, vitamin E and B vitamins can penetrate and condition hair shafts and prevent breakage.
3. Reduces inflammation
Many essential nutrients in avocado oil have potent anti-inflammatory properties.
Monounsaturated fats, carotenoids, and beta-carotene reduce inflammation and may help protect you from developing chronic diseases linked to inflammation, including metabolic syndrome, heart disease, arthritis, and eczema.
Learn more about how inflammation increases the risk of serious health conditions here.
4. Controls blood sugar
Avocado oil helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels. Phytonutrients, including beta-sitosterol in avocado oil, increase your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar efficiently, keeping blood sugar levels in healthy ranges.
If you have insulin resistance or blood sugar issues, avocado oil is an ideal cooking oil for you.
5. Promotes healthy blood pressure
Consuming avocado oil is an excellent choice if you have high blood pressure. It’s rich in potassium, an essential nutrient in blood pressure regulation.
Potassium lowers blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscles of your blood vessel walls and increasing sodium excretion, which is responsible for increased blood volume and high blood pressure.
Learn more about the link between potassium and blood pressure here.
6. Decreases the effects of sugar
Consuming carbohydrates in combination with avocado oil may protect the cells in your body from the toxic effects of sugar. Oleic acid in avocado oil can counteract the harmful damage caused by byproducts of carb breakdown.
7. Tolerates high heat for cooking
Avocado oil has a higher smoke point than most other vegetable oils. Extra virgin avocado oil can be safely heated up to 375° Fahrenheit. Refined avocado oil is suitable for temperatures up to 520° Fahrenheit, making it ideal for grilling, roasting, and stir-frying.
Be careful not to heat avocado oil above its natural smoke point. When oil begins to smoke, it indicates the breakdown of nutrients and fatty acids, resulting in bitter-tasting oil and the potential for harmful byproducts.
Key takeaways
Avocado oil is a versatile cooking oil extracted from the flesh of fresh avocados. It’s highly nutritious and contains heart-healthy fats.
Consuming avocado oil benefits your health and lowers the risk of developing heart disease and hypertension. It also promotes healthy skin and hair and helps your body fight inflammation.
Avocado oil is a keto-friendly oil with a mild, grassy flavor that adds depth to your recipes. Its high smoke point is ideal for sauteing, stir-frying, baking, and roasting.
Choose cold-pressed, extra virgin avocado oil for the best flavor, nutrition, and quality.
FAQs
1. What is avocado oil?
Avocado oil is extracted from the pulp of fresh avocados. Cold-pressed, extra virgin avocado oil indicates that the oil is extracted from avocado pulp without further processing. Extra virgin avocado oil has a distinct green color and pleasant grassy flavor.
Refined avocado oil has been filtered to remove particles and impurities and is lighter in color and milder in taste compared to extra virgin oil.
2. Is avocado oil good for my health?
Yes, avocado oil is exceptionally good for your health. Avocado oil is rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that support heart health and contains high amounts of potassium needed for healthy blood pressure regulation.
Avocado oil provides essential nutrients, including fat-soluble vitamins E and K, antioxidants, and phytochemicals linked to several health benefits. Avocado oil helps your body to fight inflammation, counteracts the toxic effects of sugar, supports healthy blood sugar levels, and benefits skin health.
3. How can I use avocado oil?
Avocado oil is an excellent cooking oil. Refined oil has a higher smoke point and is ideal for high-heat cooking, including roasting, stir-frying, and sauteing.
Extra virgin avocado oil has a lower smoke point and shouldn't be heated above 350° Fahrenheit. It's an excellent choice for dips and salad dressings and works great in recipes like this delicious Homemade Italian Dressing and Avocado Ranch Dip.
Avocado oil is a versatile fat that can be used in more ways than just cooking. Add a few drops of avocado oil to your shower gel or massage directly into your skin to moisten and soothe flaky skin. Use avocado oil as a hair mask to condition your scalp and protect your hair from breakage.
4. How is avocado oil made?
Avocado oil is made by pressing the avocado fruit's pulp to extract its oil. The first press is extra virgin avocado oil with a distinct green color and flavor profile. If the oil is filtered, it's typically referred to as refined oil, which is somewhat lighter in color and milder in taste than extra virgin avocado oil.
Because avocado oil resembles the flavor of avocado, some people believe that avocado oil is an essential oil. However, this needs to be corrected. Avocado oil is classified as a carrier oil, not an essential oil.
Carrier oils are generally dietary fats that provide nutrition. In contrast, essential oils like rose, cedarwood, and lavender oils are typically not consumed and contain concentrated plant extracts.
5. Is avocado oil keto-friendly?
Yes, avocado oil is keto-friendly and one of the top acceptable fats on the ketogenic diet. Its high smoke point and mild flavor make it a versatile and nutritious cooking oil.
If avocado oil isn't suitable for your recipe, you can use coconut oil or olive oil instead. Both oils are healthy, keto-friendly ingredients.
6. Can I cook with avocado oil?
Yes, avocado oil is an excellent cooking oil. Compared to other types of vegetable oil, avocado oil is highly nutritious and can safely be heated to high temperatures. It's ideal for baked goods, dressings, sauces, dips, and fried foods like these delicious Cajun Waffle Fries.
7. What does avocado oil taste like?
Extra virgin avocado oil has a grassy, slightly nutty flavor that somewhat resembles avocado. Refined avocado oil has a mild, neutral flavor and can easily substitute for other vegetable oils.
8. Is avocado oil better than olive oil?
There is no clear winner when comparing avocado oil with olive oil. Both fats are heart-healthy with many health benefits.
While avocado oil contains more oleic acid and potassium, olive oil is rich in polyphenols and monounsaturated fats. Rather than using just one of these oils, regularly including both in your cooking and baking will provide the most health benefits.
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