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This luscious green fruit is enjoying a wealth of popularity in food lately, but did you know about avocado oil benefits for skin? That's right -- the tasty guacamole maker can light up more than just your taste buds.
This is your ultimate guide to avocado oil. We’re talking about how this superfood does wonders for your skin, your hair, and your fight against aging. It’s one of the top ingredients in many different quality cosmetic product formulations, and after reading this guide you’ll know why it’s in such high demand.
To get a perspective on the avocado, you’d have to go back to 5,000 B.C. in Mexico, and Central and South America where the avocado tree was first cultivated. The Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas began using the avocado’s pulp on their skin for cosmetic reasons, and starting eating the fruit to relieve many different intestinal problems.
Thanks to its perceived healing properties, European conquerors deemed this New World fruit worthy of transport to the Old World. Spanish explorers were first to introduce Europeans to the fruit, and described it in a book around 1519. They were the ones who brought the avocado tree to Europe, selling them to many different countries.
The avocado has many nicknames, including “butter pear,”“vegetable butter,” and was even referred to as an Alligator Pear until the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to change its name officially to avocado. It probably would have been pretty hard to market avocados under the name "Alligator Pear" or it’s Spanish name: Aguacate (which came from the native Aztec name of āhuacatl).
Avocado oil is widely held in high regard thanks to its regenerative properties for the skin. This nourishing oil helps to rejuvenate the skin when applied topically, hydrating skin while enhancing its texture. That’s why you’ll find it used in many cosmetic product formulations.
Unlike most other oils, avocado oil is not extracted from the fruit’s seeds but rather is pressed from its fleshy pulp that surrounds the pit. It is mistakenly categorized as a vegetable oil, because the avocado is a fruit. In fact, it was once called the “fruit of kings.”
Many people use avocado oil to treat sunburned or environmentally damaged skin, thanks to the oil’s ability to soften the skin’s tissue and help cells regenerate. It even acts as a natural sunscreen, and when added to other products can help protect skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays. In fact, it has been proven to be a far more effective natural sunscreen than other oils, including coconut, olive, sesame, almond, and jojoba.
Avocado oil gets its superior moisturizing ability from its high sterolin content (plant steroids). This hydrating property helps boost the immune system, and assists in the rejuvenation and regeneration of skin. It is widely used in products created for dehydrated and climate-damaged skin.
There have been many studies linking the benefits of avocado oil to cardiovascular health, and more recently there have been studies linking topical application of avocado oil to skin health as well. Our skin is exposed to UV radiation, which causes oxidative stress damage and inflammatory harm.
Avocados have a high level of bioavailable lutein, which helps to protect skin from light-induced damage. But lutein is only one beneficial component of avocados!
The fruit is extremely rich in vitamins, including A, B, D, and E, as well as a high level of potassium, phytonutrients, amino acids, and essential fatty acids. In addition to being an exceptional emollient and moisturizer, avocado oil has the ability to quickly penetrate deep into the skin, and helps transport other beneficial nutrients into the skin’s cells.
This is extremely important, as avocado oil is one of the highest penetrating oils available. Its ability to penetrate deep into the skin tissue helps it transport other ingredients that can’t penetrate through the skin on their own. That’s why it’s used in many cosmetic product formulations, as a means to carry nourishing ingredients in creams, serums, and lotions deep into the skin.
Avocado oil also contains a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids, the same beneficial fatty acids found in fish oil. In addition to the many benefits avocado oil has on the skin, it also is helpful in treating a variety of scalp conditions as well. The hair’s shafts actually absorb the avocado oil, which provides the same benefits that the oil provides to skin cells.
There are several reasons why avocado oil benefits the skin and helps to keep it radiant and healthy. First, avocado oil helps increase collagen production, which gives skin its elasticity. As we age, the skin loses collagen, and wrinkles and fine lines develop. Thanks to the collagen-stimulating properties of avocado oil, those fine lines and wrinkles are reversed, making the skin appear younger.
Another benefit of avocado oil is its antioxidant properties. As skin is exposed to sunlight and the environment, free radicals and oxidative stress occur. This damages the DNA in the cells, causing a loss of elastin. By fighting those free radicals, avocado oil helps fight the aging process within the skin’s cells, providing skin tone renewal.
In case you’re not familiar with free radicals, here’s some background that will help. Free radicals are formed when oxygen combines with certain molecules. They pose danger to the skin because they cause damage to the skin’s DNA. When this happens, there is premature aging, sagging skin, age spots, and other damaging effects on the skin.
That’s where the potent antioxidants in avocado oil come to help. Interestingly, the more powerful antioxidants come from plant-based foods. Antioxidants work by helping the body fight off free radicals, even preventing their formation. They also have the unique ability to filter through skin cells and break up the free radical chains, while helping to repair the damage that was done to the cells.
The DNA damage that happens within the skin’s cells is what causes the appearance of premature aging. Once free radicals are reduced within the body, the aging process may actually be delayed. While research in this area is ongoing, there is a consensus that oxidative stress causes the mitochondrial damage within the cells that promote the fine lines, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity that show aging skin.
When applied topically, avocado oil helps to minimize the appearance of those fine lines and wrinkles. In addition to helping provide an improved appearance, there are some studies that show it also helps to stimulate collagen production, which is what is thought to rejuvenate the skin’s appearance.
Even though there are some synthetic antioxidants available on the market, they are found to be highly unstable. That’s why most cosmetic formulations prefer to use natural substances found in plants when looking for effective and therapeutic antioxidants. Avocado oil is a natural antioxidant, and is used extensively in many different cosmetic products.
When it comes to helping damaged or aging skin, nothing beats the topical application of the natural antioxidant avocado oil. It’s powerful moisturizers go to work immediately, penetrating deep within the skin and begin working its magic to help rejuvenate the skin’s appearance.
But there is plenty of evidence that shows eating avocados and using avocado oil for cooking has many health benefits as well. The avocado fruit is immensely nutritious, and contains more potassium than bananas. Avocados are full of monounsaturated fatty acids that are heart-healthy, and they are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
For people looking to lower their cholesterol levels, avocados can help! Studies have demonstrated that eating avocados significantly reduces cholesterol levels, while lowering LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL levels - with is the good cholesterol. And recent studies have shown that avocado extract can even help relieve the symptoms of arthritis.
Hopefully you’ve learned a lot about this amazing fruit from this guide to avocado oil. Avocados really are a delicious, one-of-a-kind treasure from nature and the fruit oil they provide is absolutely beneficial for skin!
