On every list of superfoods, avocados sometimes seem too good to be true. Vitamins. Minerals. Antioxidants. Good fats. Fiber. Oh, and they’re delicious, too. Is it really that good for you inside and out? Consider these six amazing benefits of avocado for skin.
In this article, we’ll explore the foundation of the avocado’s goodness, how your skin can benefit, and some easy ways to put this superfood to work for your family’s skin.
First, let’s take a quick look at how the avocado has earned its reputation.
Table Of Contents
- What Makes Avocados Amazing
- 6 Amazing Avocado Benefits
- How Avocado Can Help 7 Skin Conditions
- Give Your Skin An Avocado Boost
What Makes Avocados Amazing
Avocados boast a long list of nutrients. They’re a significant source of vitamins K and C and folate, as well as B5, B6, E, and potassium.
They also contain lots of minerals and nutrients we need in small but critical amounts, such as magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorus, as well as Vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3.
When it comes to its protein and carb make-up, seven of the avocado’s nine grams of carbs are fiber, which is great for digestive and overall health. Finally, there’s the secret behind the avocado’s luscious, silky deliciousness: fat.
What could be a red flag turns out to be a green light. Of the 15 grams of fat in a serving, 10 are monounsaturated fat, a good fat that can help lower LDL cholesterol.
Many of the health benefits of eating avocados have direct implications for skin health. But the same elements make it a natural choice for applying directly to your skin for amazing results, too.
Let’s look at six avocado benefits for your skin, then seven specific skin conditions where these benefits will really make a difference.
6 Avocado Benefits For Skin
1) Hydrates And Moisturizes
Hydrating is a good thing, right? But the word can be a tad misleading. It literally means to take in or hold onto water. But the key to hydrated, moisturized skin is, in fact, oil.
A layer of oil on your skin helps keep your skin from drying out.
Skin that holds onto water is moist, supple, and resilient. Maintaining a healthy skin barrier is super important, and oil like that found in avocados can play a key role in maintaining this important line of defense.
At the same time, avocado supplies nutrients that keep supple skin healthy. The vitamins A, D, and E that avocados contain can help keep your skin moisturized. And the linoleic and oleic acid are strong forces for keeping your skin in tip-top shape.
You can get all these benefits in a balanced emollient, like our Multi-purpose Balm with 3 Avocado Extracts. EWG-verified, it’s the perfect, safe solution for dry skin for the whole family.
2) Reduces Inflammation
In addition to aiding hydration, avocados can also help eliminate inflammation in the body.
Inflammation can come from any number of skin problems, such as psoriasis, hives, or rashes. Fortunately, the amazing avocado can help. Ingesting avocado oil can specifically help mitigate the effects of inflammation.
Additionally, Avocado Perseose can preserve the unique cellular wealth of your little one’s skin. A natural biomimetic active ingredient extracted from avocado, our patented Avocado Perseose works in perfect affinity with skin for optimum efficacy and tolerance.
3) Helps Prevent Skin Damage
When you’re outside, you’re being bombarded with harmful radiation from the sun. Of most concern, perhaps, are its ultraviolet (UV) rays. Your skin is your primary line of defense against this radiation, but it, too, can be damaged by too much sun exposure.
The good news is avocados contain lutein and zeaxanthin, and both help protect from this kind of radiation.
4) Improves Skin Elasticity
Elastic skin stretches and recedes while staying smooth in appearance. But loss of elasticity can result in marks, lines, and wrinkles in your skin.
Recent studies suggest that the right intake of fats — especially healthy monounsaturated fats — can increase skin elasticity. Lucky for us, avocados are rich in those healthy fats, which is a skin win!
5) Provides Nutrients For Soothing And Healing
What’s your skin need to heal and feel better? Time to let its natural processes do the job, of course, and building blocks to do the work.
Chief among these building blocks are vitamins, minerals, and certain compounds, like healthy fats and oleic acid, all of which avocados can provide.
6) Improves Overall Skin Health
Balancing moisture, keeping inflammation in check, providing a natural barrier to external toxins, maintaining skin elasticity, and promoting healing are all parts of having healthy skin.
But avocados can also boost the production of other key elements for healthy skin, like collagen. An ounce of prevention in every drop of avocado oil.
But what if your skin is a bit inflamed or you’re having a flare-up? This superfood may be just what you need to get it under control.
Let’s take a look.
Specific Avocado Benefits For Skin Conditions
1) Dry Skin
Avocados contain a B complex vitamin commonly called biotin. Applied to the skin’s surface, avocado oil’s biotin can help alleviate dry skin.
2) Eczema
If you’ve ever had eczema or know someone who has, you know how uncomfortable and irritating it can be.
According to the National Library of Medicine, eczema can also be known as dermatitis and covers several kinds of skin swelling. Dry, itchy skin and rashes are its hallmark. It may be triggered by irritants, such as soaps, fabrics, and chemicals in personal care products.
Scratching outbreaks only worsens them, causing your skin to swell and itch more. Extracts from avocado can help relieve eczema symptoms by hydrating your skin and reducing the itching.
But eczema isn’t a simple condition to remedy. Make sure to use the right moisturizer (like emollients) and monitor your environment to identify possible irritants you can avoid.
3) Acne
Chocolate, greasy foods, and oily or dirty skin are all common acne-causing myths. Clogged pores and hair follicles are actually at the root of the problem. And irritating your skin (too much scrubbing or removing its protective oils) can make matters worse.
The oils in avocado can help keep your skin properly protected and minimize irritation and inflammation. This, in turn, can lessen or prevent breakouts. Avocado oil also has antimicrobial properties thanks to its lauric acid, which can help when it’s used as a cleanser.
4) Peeling Skin
If your skin becomes too dry, it can begin to peel. Infants can be particularly susceptible to newborn peeling skin. The solution? Keep your skin — and your baby’s — well-hydrated.
Avocado oil is a natural way to provide this hydration while also helping the skin heal itself.
Avocado products can also naturally exfoliate your or your little one’s skin, helping remove dead cells and unclog pores. At the same time, they can nourish skin and give its rejuvenation a kickstart.
5) Sunburn
For some reason, we may not treat sunburn with the same degree of concern as we do other serious skin burns. Only when the pain becomes intense do we begin to pay attention.
Thankfully, avocado oil can help relieve sunburn symptoms by helping damaged skin restore its moisture, soothing skin, and providing an oily layer of protection.
Of course, prevention is better than treating sunburn’s aftereffects. But make sure your prevention is safe and natural. Safe sun protection includes mineral sunscreens, like our SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen Lotion.
6) Dry Scalp
Dandruff, dry scalp, and cradle cap are scalp issues that avocado can help relieve.
It can reduce dryness and improve overall skin health, leading to a healthier scalp and a happier you.
7) Signs Of Aging
All those powerful nutrients, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds in avocado may play an important role in keeping your skin young.
Oleic acid, for example, may fight inflammation and help prevent wrinkles. And Vitamin C may also prevent wrinkles and dark spots. In addition, the antioxidants in avocado may also protect DNA and provide healthy aging protection.
Give Your Skin An Avocado Boost
Avocado is a superfood that earns its stripes, but it’s also an equally qualified skin savior, as we’ve seen with these six avocado benefits for your skin. It’s safe for you and your entire family — babies, too! — and can help treat or prevent a host of skin issues.
At Mustela, we know this very well. That’s why avocado extracts and, in particular, our Avocado Perseose are key ingredients in most of our products. We use Avocado Perseose in our skincare ranges because of its amazing benefits for all skin types: normal, sensitive, dry, and eczema-prone.
Put the tips in this article to work and reap the benefits that avocado has to offer!