Cooking with Avocado Oil Benefits and Other Uses

Move over coconut oil! Avocado oil is here and I think it has some impressive benefits. Let's break down this versatile oil and why it is particularly good for high-heat cooking. 

For recipes that use avocado oil, try my Vegan Refried Beans or Chicken Enchiladas. 

Production

Avocado oil is made from the flesh of the fruit, not the seed. It is cold pressed to release the oil and preserve all the nutrients.

Cooking

Cold-pressed avocado oil is an excellent cooking oil because it has a neutral flavor and can cook at higher temperatures than olive oil. Pure avocado oil has a high smoke point of 460-500 degrees F, compared to olive oil at 325-375 degrees F. This higher smoke point makes avocado oil an excellent choice for high heat cooking.

Smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to smoke and ultimately, degrade. It is at this point that it changes color, flavor and nutritional value (it all goes south). You're basically burning the oil and it's better to just start over than to cook with it.

I have had a very satisfactory experience with how avocado oil performs at high temperatures, unlike extra virgin olive oil. Store avocado oil at room temperature in a dry place.

Health Benefits

Heart Health

Avocado oil is made up of heart healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (76% of the total fat) known for reducing cholesterol and improving (helper) HDL cholesterol. It is also a concentrated source of phytoesterols, a plant compound with a slew of nutritional benefits including antioxidant power and reducing inflammation.

Eye Health

Lutein, a type of carotenoid, is found in the oil as well and is known for promoting eye health by reducing the risk of macular degeneration.

But remember, an oil is an oil when it comes calories -- meaning that you still want to be mindful of the amount you are using. Be careful of "if a little is good a lot is better" mentality. That said, I don't fear fat AT ALL and tend to use a decent amount to help veggies taste delicious. Since enjoying healthy fats is a priority in my diet, other sources of fat (or high calories) move down my totem pole of importance and therefore frequency in my diet.

It's also important to note that when you enjoy this heart-healthy oil, you won't get the dietary fiber benefit from eating the actual fruit. So there are good reasons to enjoy both the pulp of avocados and the oil in your diet.

Beauty Benefits

This might be my favorite feature of avocado oil. Apparently it's been used as a beauty product for a long time but I am just catching on. It's praised for its anti-wrinkle, healing and skin softening properties. While I couldn't find any real research to prove that avocado oil does amazing things for your skin, I did find this: One small study looked at the benefits of avocados (not avocado oil) on skin elasticity. It found that participants who ate one avocado a day (in addition to their normal diet) showed increased elasticity and firmness on their foreheads after 8 weeks. 

My Skin Care Testimony

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Let me just back up a minute to say that I have a couple of peeves with the beauty industry.

1. I don't want weird stuff in my beauty products. Now I'm not all crazy about this as it's hard to change everything in your routine (much less afford more natural products -- more on that next). But I do try to find lotion and face products that have more natural ingredient lists. 
2. I get really mad that you have to spend A LOT OF MONEY to get products that work and are more natural. Seriously, I do not want to spend $50 for face cream or $15 for lotion. Not because I don't think it's worth it but because I want to be able to eat this week! Come on, man!

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I've read, and tried, using other oils on my skin before. But I've always HATED how greasy you feel afterwards. It's like it never really rubs in. Yuck! But due to the above peeves with beauty products, I wanted to see if avocado oil could help me out.

Reluctantly (seriously I waited about 2 months before trying this) I rubbed some on my skin one night after my shower....AND.... it actually absorbs in to my skin! Miracle. (Just keep rubbing it on for a couple of minutes and that should do the trick.)

I've noticed that my skin feels smoother and stay more moisturized that even the thickest body butters I've used. And perhaps best of all, this oil is pretty budget friendly. So I'm pretty hooked on this great way to use avodado oil. We'll see if it's still a good option in to the hot Florida summer months.

I give avocado oil 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up for cooking and for your skin. I like this avocado oil from Amazon. (It is non-gmo project verified if that's something you look for.) Or if you shop at NOWfoods.com, they have a great one. Be sure to use promo code: MHE for 20% off.

Avocado Oil Uses Summary

• Keep a Misto oil sprayer full of avocado oil and use this to spray any pan for cooking.
• Use it in salad dressings like my White Wine Vinaigrette below.
• Use in baked goods.
• Use on your skin as a completely natural moisturizing oil.

And lastly, here's a new salad dressing to try out with avocado oil. You can use any oil you like but I like the neutral taste here because without overwhelming flavors, the white wine vinegar really shines through.

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Recipe

Have you tried avocado oil before? Leave me a comment and let me know if you have and what you think. Will you try it now?

For other natural recipes with lots of vegetables, try Kale, Apple, Carrot, Salad made with extra virgin olive oil, or Grilled Okra and Tomatoes. 

Jenna