Avocado Oil vs Olive Oil: Which Is Less Inflammatory?
Avocado Oil
Olive Oil
Olive oil is less inflammatory than avocado oil, though only just. Both sit near the bottom of the scale, both are pressed from a fruit rather than a seed, and both are mostly the same monounsaturated fat.
Olive oil edges ahead on the peppery kick you feel at the back of your throat when you taste a good extra virgin. That sting comes from oleocanthal, which works on the same enzymes that painkillers like ibuprofen target, and avocado oil has none of it. Avocado oil earns its keep elsewhere: it has the highest smoke point of any common oil and almost no flavour of its own. Keep both bottles, one for dressings and everyday cooking, the other for searing and roasting.
Side by side
| Avocado Oil | Olive Oil | |
|---|---|---|
| Inflammation Score | Low · 2/10 | Low · 1/10 |
| Category | Oils & Fats | Oils & Fats |
| Serving size | 1 tbsp (14 g) | 1 tbsp (14 g) extra virgin |
| Key nutrients | Oleic acid, Vitamin E, Lutein, Beta-sitosterol | Oleocanthal, Hydroxytyrosol, Oleic acid, Vitamin E |
| How often | Daily, 1-2 tbsp, mostly for cooking | Daily, 1-2 tbsp, most of it raw |
On the AIP diet
Avocado Oil
Avocado oil is allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol in every phase, elimination included. AIP takes out the oils pressed from seeds, and this one comes from the flesh of a fruit, so there is nothing in it to remove. Its job in an AIP kitchen is heat: it handles the roasting and searing that a good olive oil is wasted on, and it brings no flavour of its own to the dish.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol in every phase, elimination included. It comes from a fruit rather than a seed, which is exactly why it survives the cull that removes sunflower, sesame, canola and the other seed oils. In practice it becomes the default fat of an AIP kitchen alongside coconut oil and avocado oil, so it is worth spending a little more on a bottle you actually enjoy.
What each one brings
Avocado Oil
- About seven tenths of it is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that sits low on the scale
- Highest smoke point of any common oil, so it survives searing and roasting
- Pressed from fruit rather than seed, so it fits AIP and other strict diets
- Almost no taste of its own, so it works where olive oil would clash
Olive Oil
- Contains oleocanthal, behind the peppery sting, which blocks the same enzymes as ibuprofen
- Improved insulin levels and how well the body handles blood sugar in pooled trials
- Rich in oleic acid and vitamin E, and stands up to a hot pan better than most oils
- Takes the place of butter and refined seed oils, so every spoonful replaces something worse
Watch out for
Avocado Oil
- No legal standard behind the name, so bottles vary wildly in what they hold
- In testing, only about four in ten held the oil the label promised
- Lacks the peppery compounds that put olive oil a point lower on the scale
- Around 120 calories a tablespoon, and easy to pour more than you meant to
Olive Oil
- In trials on mostly healthy adults, the inflammation markers did not change much
- Light, pure and refined olive oil have had the protective compounds stripped out
- Calorie dense at roughly 120 calories a tablespoon, so it adds up faster than people expect
- Heat, light and time destroy the phenols, so a clear bottle by the hob is the worst place
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