What Is Avocado Oil Used For?

Avocados are having their moment. Sure, you might have grown up putting butter on your toast, but that piece of bread is nothing without an avocado on top. The same goes for the ice cream you used to eat—apparently that’s supposed to have avocado too. And now the pesky fruit has even found its way onto the oil scene! What is avocado oil used for? Here’s a quick look.

 

The Basics

Before diving in, let’s start with a few reminders.

An avocado is the fruit of the Persea americana tree, found in tropical and Mediterranean climates and arguably most famous thanks to Mexico.

Avocado oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit, making it somewhat unique among edible oils, many of which are derived from seeds.

The extracted oil can remain unrefined (often referred to as virgin), thus maintaining a similar nutrient profile and color as its source. Alternatively, it can be refined to create desired characteristics, thus making it a bit more distant from the source. Variances in the starting point and refining method can result in finished products with varying properties.

 

Uses

Avocado oil has made a name for itself in several arenas, perhaps the most prominent being the culinary one.

The oil can be consumed raw or used as an ingredient in cooking. With regards to the latter, a couple features have made it desirable. The first is a relatively low-key flavor profile, making it adaptable to a wide range of cuisines. The second—particularly true for refined varieties—is a high smoke point, also known as burning point, which if achieved can lead to the production of unhealthy compounds.

The high smoke point—sometimes upwards of 500°F—allows for the oil’s use in frying, baking, and other endeavors that call for high heat.

Refined versions of the oil have also been used in various lubricants and cosmetic products.

 

The Hype

Edible oils are not actually necessary for life to proceed. The natural fats in things like nuts and seeds would be more than sufficient to continue trudging along.

That said, for those times you just can’t do without oil, it’s worth knowing that they’re not all created equal.

In the case of avocado oil, perhaps the closest comparison is olive oil, a dietary fixture that has earned itself a reasonable reputation in health circles over the years. Like olive oil, avocado oil is rich in monounsaturated fats (like oleic acid) and antioxidants (like vitamin E and lutein).

While potential health benefits are largely extrapolated from animal data, these might include an improved cholesterol profile, improved blood pressure, a reduction in the severity of inflammatory disease, and the preservation of skin and eye health. Of course, these benefits are most likely to appear when a healthier oil is substituted for a less healthy product. In other words, taking a teaspoon of avocado oil like cough syrup is unlikely to add years to your life.

A few quirks should be noted. A study from 2020 suggested that a reasonable percentage of avocado oil on the market was adulterated with other oils. As such, sticking with reputable brands makes sense. Once you find such brands, you can probably expect to pay a bit more than you would for an equivalent volume of olive oil. And if you’re truly looking to optimize any potential health benefits, you may want to stick to the unrefined variety, which, as above, comes with a sacrifice in terms of smoke point.

 

So what is avocado oil used for? Basically whatever you want.