Avocado is an extremely versatile fruit and is known as nature’s superfood. What people do not commonly know is that extra virgin avocado oil is also extremely healthy and nutritious and makes an excellent cooking oil.
What Is Avocado Oil?
Avocado oil is one of the few oils that is not pressed from the seed of the fruit. The oil does not come from the pip but from pressing the pulp around the pip. This is the area that has the most healthy fats including essential fatty acids and oleic acid.
What kind of avocado oil is best?
At African Oils we only sell Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Avocado Oil. In this way we retain all the health benefits and taste of the Avocado.
What does avocado oil taste like?
Avocado oil tastes like avocado, but milder. Its smooth flavour falls between nutty and grassy.
How do you use avocado oil?
Unrefined avocado oil has a smoke point of around 480 degrees F (250 degrees C) In fact, avocado oil can sustain higher temps than most popular cooking fats, including canola oil, corn oil, coconut oil, and peanut oil.
This high smoke point means it's perfect for pan-frying, roasting, barbecuing, and baking. Because it's an unsaturated fat, avocado oil remains liquid at room temperature.
Heath benefits of Avocado Oil
1. Packed with Healthy Fats
Monounsaturated fat is one of the top fats, and the good news is avocado oil is full of it!
Nearly 70% of avocado oil is made of monounsaturated fat, specifically oleic acid
Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
- Skin, eye, and dental health
- Reduced symptoms of arthritis
- Improved absorption of nutrients in your body
- Weight loss
2. Reduces Risk of Coronary Heart Disease
Avocado oil is high in Vitamin E, which is easily absorbed and is essential for your cellular health. Vitamin E coupled with the equally high levels of potassium help to destroy free radicals.
What are free radicals? Free radicals are unstable atoms that can damage cells which can inflict damage on your DNA, cause aging and illness.
Don’t forget, avocado oil is full of oleic acid. It’s this component that has been shown to support a reduced risk of coronary heart disease by 20-40%.
As an added bonus, avocado oil is an anti-inflammatory, which helps the artery walls avoid plaque build-up, reducing the risk of heart disease.
3. Hydrates the Skin
Vitamin E, along with the Omega-3s found in avocado oil, helps treat dry skin, sunburn, eczema, and even insect bites. It’s able to penetrate deep into the skin, unlike most lotions or oils. It’s because of this deep absorption that the nutrients in avocado oil may even reduce the appearance of scars.
4. Promotes Hair Health and Growth
Avocado oil contains a fatty substance called lecithin, which acts as a lubricant. When applied directly to the hair, it protects the follicles from harsh climates and wind damage.
5. Supports Improved Eye Health
Avocado oil is high in the antioxidant lutein.
Lutein is a vitamin called a carotenoid, which is essential to the health of your eyes.
The body can’t produce lutein naturally, but as an essential nutrient, we need to ingest it through the foods we eat. Dietary sources of lutein include leafy green vegetables, zucchini and broccoli, egg yolks, and of course, avocado.
This amazing antioxidant may reduce the chances of cataracts or macular degenerationand support sustained eye health.
6. Promotes Tooth and Gum Health
Ever heard of periodontitis?
Also known as gum disease, this nasty condition begins with bacterial growth in your gums and can progress to extreme inflammation ending in tooth loss].
7. May Reduce Inflammation
The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis, causes inflammation in the joints. Research has shown that the extracts found in avocado oil (avocado/soybean unsaponifiables) help ease stiffness and pain. So, people suffering from osteoarthritis might see some relief after adding avocado oil to their diet.
9. Provides Detoxifying Benefits
Forget about detoxing your body by drinking lemon juice for a week. Instead, start using avocado oil.
It contains magnesium, which removes lead and mercury from your vital organs, both of which can have negative health consequences in higher concentrations.
10. Suppresses Appetite and Supports Weight Loss
Full of vitamins, fats, and protein, avocado oil is extremely satiating and can help you feel full longer.
This is great for reducing those pesky cravings that have you reaching for a bag of chips or another quick source of low-quality energy.
The essential vitamins, antioxidants, and most importantly, healthy fat, may support improved health and digestion, which helps the weight loss process.