Avocado Oil
Why avocado oil is anti-inflammatory
Avocado oil is anti-inflammatory, and it is close to olive oil in almost every way that matters. About seven tenths of it is oleic acid, the same monounsaturated fat, pressed from the flesh of a fruit rather than from a seed. It scores 2 out of 10 on the inflammation scale. Olive oil sits one point lower, and the gap is its peppery compounds, not the fat.
Avocado oil beats olive oil at one thing: heat. It has the highest smoke point of any oil in the supermarket, around 250°C or 480°F. Pushed past that point, an oil stops being the fat you bought and turns into something your body has to clear. Avocado oil stays intact in a pan hot enough to sear a steak.
The catch is what actually ends up inside the bottle. There is no legal standard for what can be sold as avocado oil, so nobody is checking. When bottles from store shelves were tested, only about four in ten held the oil the label promised. The rest were cut with something cheaper or had already gone off, which is the opposite of what you are paying for.
So buy it for the pan, and buy it with care. Look for a date on the label, pick a dark bottle, and finish it within a few months of opening. Keep extra virgin olive oil for salads and for anything you are not heating. Between the two you have the whole kitchen covered.
Avocado Oil on the AIP diet
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.
Benefits
- 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
Watch out for
- 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
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Frequently asked
Is avocado oil inflammatory?
No, it is anti-inflammatory, and it scores 2 out of 10 on the inflammation scale. It is almost all monounsaturated fat, the kind that sits at the bottom of that scale wherever it turns up, and there is nothing else in the bottle. No sugar, no refined starch, no damaged fat.
Is avocado oil better than olive oil?
For high heat, yes. Avocado oil takes a hotter pan than olive oil does, so it is the one to reach for when you are searing or roasting. For everything else olive oil wins, because extra virgin carries peppery plant compounds that avocado oil simply does not have. Most kitchens are better off with both.
Can you cook with avocado oil at high heat?
Yes, and that is the main reason to own a bottle. Around 250°C or 480°F is more than searing or roasting will ever ask of it, so it does not break down the way delicate oils do. Use it for the pan and the oven.
Is avocado oil allowed on the AIP diet?
Yes, including the strict elimination phase. The rule that removes sunflower, canola and sesame oil is about seeds, and avocado oil comes from the flesh of a fruit. In practice it becomes the AIP fat for anything that needs a hot pan.
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