Contents
- The benefits and harms of avocado oil
- Chemical composition of avocado oil
- How to choose the right avocado oil
- How to make avocado oil at home
- Uses of avocado oil for food
- Can you fry avocados in oil?
- The use of avocado oil in cosmetology
- Contraindications for use
- Terms and conditions of storage
- Conclusion
- Reviews of avocado oil for the face
- Reviews of avocado oil for hair
The properties and uses of avocado oil is an interesting question for many women. The tropical fruit avocado is known for its many valuable properties, but not everyone is aware of the features of the pomace. It is interesting to understand what composition the product has and how it can be used.
The benefits and harms of avocado oil
The benefits of avocado oil are manifested in many areas – the product has a beneficial effect on the body both externally and internally. Several positive effects can be noted from the use of the product.
- Avocado squeeze promotes wound healing and rejuvenation. The antioxidant called squalene in the composition of the product has an antimicrobial and antifungal effect, and also helps lower cholesterol levels and has a beneficial effect on the hormonal system. Thanks to squalene, avocado remedy strengthens the immune system and helps the body fight carcinogens, free radicals and the effects of radiation. The pomace properties have a beneficial effect on the skin, as they contribute to the synthesis of vitamin D and the good absorption of carotene.
- Fruit pomace normalizes the work of the endocrine, digestive and cardiovascular systems. Substances in the composition soothe irritations of the mucous membranes and accelerate the healing of inflammations and ulcers. It is useful to use the product for inflammation of the urinary tract, for gastritis and peptic ulcer, for irritation of the esophagus and throat.
- Thanks to the substance lecithin in its composition, the avocado remedy strengthens and improves the functioning of the nervous, cardiac and brain systems. It is useful to use it for liver diseases, the oil helps to restore its cells. Also, the properties are beneficial for ailments of the pancreas and the reproductive system.
- The anti-inflammatory and healing properties are of great benefit in healing skin lesions. The product can treat not only cuts and healing burns, but also dermatitis, eczema, and other inflammations.
- The remedy is beneficial for joint ailments. Compresses and rubbing reduce tissue swelling, stop the inflammatory process and improve mobility.
- Since avocado oil is a choleretic agent, it is useful to use it for diseases of the gallbladder.
The product has a powerful cleansing effect on the body. It can be used to eliminate constipation, to remove toxins from the intestines and for weight loss.
Chemical composition of avocado oil
The product owes its useful properties to its rich composition. It contains:
- vitamins A and E;
- subgroup B vitamins;
- vitamin D and ascorbic acid;
- iodine, calcium and zinc;
- potassium;
- essential oils;
- antioxidants, including the very valuable squalene;
- easily digestible fats;
- vitamins K, F and PP;
- cobalt, copper and iron;
- phytohormones;
- chlorophyll.
In terms of nutritional value, the product is 100% fat. It has a very high calorie content – 885 kcal per 100 ml. However, the use of pomace involves minimal dosages, which makes its properties quite safe for the figure.
How to choose the right avocado oil
In shops and markets, natural avocado pomace is represented by two varieties – an unpeeled product obtained by cold pressing, and refined, subjected to heat treatment.
- Unrefined cold-pressed oil is the most useful in terms of food use. Since such a product is not subjected to heating during production, the composition remains unchanged, it contains all the vitamins, antioxidants and minerals.
- Refined oil is exposed to high temperatures. Because of this, it acquires a milder smell, but loses half of its valuable properties. For this reason, the product is used mainly for external purposes – for cosmetic masks and for the treatment of damaged skin.
Thus, it is necessary to choose a means in accordance with your goals. For use in food, it is better to purchase cold-pressed oil, although it costs much more. The color of the oily liquid should be brown or yellow-green, and the consistency should be thick.
How to make avocado oil at home
You can also prepare a healthy product at home, however, its valuable properties will be obviously lower than that of purchased oil. To create a pomace, you need only 2 ingredients – fresh avocados and natural coconut milk.
The cooking recipe is as follows:
- 1 kg of avocado must be properly washed, peeled, cut into pulp and remove the stone;
- then the pulp must be loaded into a blender and chopped;
- after that, pour 0,5 l of coconut milk into the blender and beat with chopped pulp until completely homogeneous.
The resulting mixture is poured into a saucepan with thick walls and boiled over low heat until the moisture has completely evaporated, stirring constantly. Upon reaching readiness, the mixture is removed from the heat, allowed to cool slightly, and then carefully squeezed through tightly folded gauze.
After that, the remaining oily liquid will only be poured into a glass container and stored in the refrigerator. For use in food, the properties of the product will not be very useful, but for skin and hair care, homemade pomace is very good.
Uses of avocado oil for food
The culinary use of the product is very diverse. Especially often, avocado oil can be found in the national dishes of Spain, the Mediterranean countries and Latin America; in these regions, the remedy is not in short supply.
It is used mainly for dressing salads, combined with vegetables and fish, with seafood and meat. Useful properties of avocado pomace add value to any vegetable dishes. And the use together with meat dishes improves their absorption and digestion.
Can you fry avocados in oil?
Avocado-derived oil has a unique property – it is well suited for frying and deep-frying because it has a fairly high smoke point. Unrefined avocado oil for frying can be used without fear of an unpleasant odor or the formation of carcinogens in the composition.
Of course, when heated, some of the vitamins in a natural product are inevitably destroyed, and harmful compounds are formed one way or another. But if you heat the oil for a short time, then it will retain valuable properties and enrich food with useful substances.
The use of avocado oil in cosmetology
The properties of avocado oil for the face and hair endow the natural product with an interesting feature, most often the use of avocado pomace affects the cosmetology sphere, and not cooking. The product demonstrates excellent performance in the care of the epidermis of the whole body and hair – smoothes wrinkles and improves skin elasticity, stops hair loss and makes them more manageable, evens out skin color and helps to cope with acne.
The use of avocado oil for the skin around the eyes is of great benefit. This area of the epidermis is especially vulnerable to wrinkles and irritations, and the properties of natural cosmetics have a powerful restorative effect.
In cosmetology, sunflower oil with the addition of avocado oil is used, and pomace is often mixed with essential oils, with scrubbing components and other natural products.
Avocado oil for hair
The properties of pomace from avocado fruits have a healing effect on weakened hair. The product deeply nourishes the scalp and activates metabolic processes in tissues, awakens dormant hair follicles to growth. Regular use of the product guarantees that literally within a month the curls will become much more voluminous, stronger and silkier, the structure of individual hairs will improve and a pleasant natural shine will appear.
Valuable pomace can simply be applied to the hair before each shampoo, or you can make mixed hair masks with avocado oil. For example, a very simple recipe is popular – avocado pomace is mixed in equal parts with linseed or burdock oil, distributed over the curls along the entire length and put on a plastic cap all night. In the morning, you will need to wash your head with shampoo, and the procedure should be repeated weekly.
Avocado oil for face
The properties and uses of avocado oil for the face are that the product is especially beneficial for dry epidermis and aging skin. Valuable substances in the composition of the pomace moisturize the skin and have a tightening effect, help get rid of uneven epidermis and the first wrinkles. Squeeze also brings benefits with a tendency to acne, despite the oily consistency, the oil perfectly cleanses the skin and relieves any inflammatory processes.
A mask for wrinkles with avocado oil is done like this:
- avocado pomace and grape seed oil are mixed in equal proportions;
- add 2-4 drops of lemon essential oil;
- soak a gauze napkin with the resulting mixture and apply it to the skin of the face for 20 minutes.
If you repeat the procedure twice or thrice a week, soon the face will noticeably change and look younger. In addition, the pomace can simply be added to a purchased face cream – 1 drop immediately before application. According to reviews, avocado oil for wrinkles significantly enriches the properties of any moisturizing and nourishing cream, so this use of pomace doubles the benefits of a cosmetic product.
Avocado oil for tanning
Useful properties of the product can be used on hot summer days to protect against ultraviolet radiation and to improve the quality of the tan. Avocado pomace improves the production of vitamin D in the fresh air, but at the same time prevents excessive skin absorption of ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, before going out into the hot sun, it is recommended to treat exposed skin with a small amount of a natural remedy.
Avocado oil for eyelashes
The properties of the product are useful not only for hair, the oil is used in the care of eyelashes, as it makes them longer, thicker and more expressive. Eyelashes are treated as follows – a small amount of avocado pomace is applied to an old clean mascara brush, and then distributed over the cilia with gentle movements.
The oil must be left on the eyelashes overnight and washed off in the morning with a mild tonic. The effect will become noticeable after a few applications – the condition of the eyelashes will improve so much that it is no longer necessary to increase their volume with the help of cosmetics.
Avocado oil for eyebrows
The properties of the product are no less useful for rare, prone to falling out eyebrows. The use of oil consists in regular application of the product on the eyebrows for the whole night. As usual, you need to wash off the useful remedy in the morning.
You can also prepare the following mixture with a powerful restorative effect:
- in equal parts, mix avocado oil, almond and castor oil – 1 small spoon each;
- add 1 capsule of complex vitamins to the mixture;
- lubricate the eyebrows before going to bed with a nutritious cocktail.
Avocado oil for nails and cuticles
The restorative properties of avocado pomace help to strengthen the nail plates and soften the cuticles of the fingers. It is most convenient to apply the product with a small brush or pipette – 1 drop of oil on the bottom of each nail. The agent is properly rubbed into the cuticle, fingertips and nail plates, and cellophane gloves are put on for several hours.
It is best to carry out the procedure in the evening – this will allow you to leave the product on the nails for a longer period and will not create everyday problems. With weakened nails and a hard cuticle, the use of a natural remedy is recommended to be carried out daily, until the condition of the skin and nails improves.
Avocado Body Oil
Avocado pomace helps to improve the condition of the skin of the whole body. To reduce cellulite, eliminate stretch marks and improve skin elasticity, you can simply regularly lubricate problem areas with a useful natural product.
In addition, this bath lotion has good moisturizing properties:
- 75 ml of almond oil are mixed with an equal amount of avocado pomace;
- the mixture is steamed for 3 minutes;
- then add 1,5 tablespoons of dry green tea to the oils;
- add 9 drops of lavender essential oil, 7 drops of chamomile ether and 3 drops of ylang-ylang ether.
The application of the lotion looks like this – the product must be mixed, and then poured in a volume of 40 ml into a bath with warm water. You need to take a bath for no more than a quarter of an hour; to achieve a quick and noticeable result, the procedure is carried out on a weekly basis.
Contraindications for use
With all the healing properties of avocado pomace, sometimes its use can be very harmful. It is not recommended to use a natural remedy:
- with individual allergies – you can check for its presence by applying a small amount of pomace on the sensitive skin of the elbow;
- with chronic problems with the gallbladder and kidneys – the properties of the product can lead to a sudden movement of stones, which will increase the inflammatory process and pain;
- with exacerbations of pancreatitis – the properties of fatty oils will only aggravate the course of the disease.
Terms and conditions of storage
The product remains usable for 18 months after opening the vial. Store the oil in a tightly sealed glass container. If the container with the squeeze has never been opened, then you can keep it at room conditions at a temperature of about 18 degrees, away from the sun. But open oil is stored only in the refrigerator, it quickly loses its properties in heat.
Conclusion
The properties and uses of avocado oil extend to both cooking and cosmetics. The composition of the product contains a lot of valuable substances, due to which the pomace from the pulp of avocado has a strong beneficial effect on the skin, hair and general condition of the body.