Avocados offer remarkable benefits for skin health

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: avocado, skin health, health news

(NaturalNews) Avocados are Mother Nature's skin moisturizer. With their healthy fats and phytonutrients, they offer remarkable benefits to human skin -- both when eaten and when used topically.

Here, we present a collection of supporting information about avocados from some of the top authors and personalities in the natural health industry, including David "Avocado" Wolfe himself.

Check out the quotes below, then pick up some avocados for yourself. They just help you save your own skin!

Avocados and healthy skin

For an excellent skin complexion, rub one or more of the following items against the skin two to four times a week: papaya pulp, avocado, cucumber, spirulina, fresh noni fruit and/or aloe vera. For dry skin, rub hempseed oil, jojoba oil and MSM lotion directly into the skin. This will alleviate dryness quickly. Or use avocado on the skin directly. Avocado oil is similar to our skin's oil.
- The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe

Treat yourself to an avocado facial. Beauty, they say, is only skin deep. Luckily, avocado has moisturizing power to help make your skin more beautiful. For years, people have used avocado as a natural facial treatment, especially for dry skin. It's easy to do in your own home. Just remove your makeup and wash your face with warm water and soap or your favorite cleanser. Mash some avocado and mix it with a little milk or oatmeal and apply it to your face. Leave it there for 10 minutes, then rinse it off with lots of water.
- Eat and Heal (Foods That Can Prevent or Cure Many Common Ailments) by the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing

Eating half an avocado every other day would probably help your own cholesterol drop some. A rather remarkable twofold approach towards relieving the itchy misery of psoriasis is by eating half of an avocado daily and applying an extra-rich cream of chamomile flowers extract to the skin. The oils in the avocado will work internally towards the surface of the skin, soothing deep muscle inflammation. The oils in CamoCare Soothing Cream help the skin to literally repair itself from the damage done by psoriasis.
- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs by John Heinerman

There's more to avocado than guacamole. Its oil is actually patented as a treatment for some forms of dermatitis and arthritis. According to Aubrey Hampton, author of Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care, long-term treatment with avocado oil helps relieve eczema. I'm not surprised, as avocado oil is rich in vitamins A, D and E, all of which help maintain healthy skin. I suggest applying it directly to any itchy, red or irritated areas.
- The Green Pharmacy: New Discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and Conditions from the World's Foremost Authority on Healing Herbs by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Avocado oil has been used extensively for its ability to heal and soothe the skin. This use is based on the high hydrocarbon content of the pulp and oil, which may help dry skin. Avocados are frequently included in health diets, and recent evidence suggests they are effective in modifying lipid profiles. In a randomized study, women chose either a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids enriched with avocado or a high complex-carbohydrate diet. After 3 weeks, the avocado diet resulted in a reduction in total cholesterol level from baseline (8.2%).
- Guide to Popular Natural Products by Ara Dermarderosian

Throughout Central and South America the avocado is not only consumed with great relish, but also highly regarded for its extremely nourishing properties. It is a favored saying among the Maya Indians inhabiting the Yucatan Peninsula and the highlands of Guatemala that where avocados grow, "hunger (or malnutrition) has no friends." Too many of us think only of avocados in the traditional Mexican sense of guacamole. But among the Mayan the avocado is considered to be a food which keeps the joints of the body moving freely and the skin young and supple.
- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Healing Juices by John Heinerman

The expressed oil of the avocado seed nourishes and maintains skin tone. It softens rough, dry, or flaking skin and, massaged into the scalp, improves hair growth. Avocado is very nutritious and makes an excellent baby food. Indigenous to Central America, avocado is widely cultivated for its fruit in tropical and subtropical areas, including Israel, Spain, and South Africa. It is propagated from seed. The leaves are harvested as needed, and the unripe fruit is picked when fully grown.
- The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants by Andrew Chevallier

A naturally fatty fruit, avocado is also rich in vitamins, and the green pulp left attached to the peel has the highest concentration. Scrape off the pulp, and apply it directly to the skin. The abundant oils lubricate and soften the skin - the most basic step in preventing wrinkles.
- Uncommon Cures For Everyday Ailments by Bottom Line Books

Honey, avocado, eggs, fresh fruits, oats, cream of wheat and nutritional yeast are a few other possibilities for a facial mask. So are ginger, papaya, pineapple and cucumber, which have skin-softening enzymes. Yogurt, sour milk, vinegar, apples, citrus fruits and wine contain AHAs, which are particularly important for a mask because they loosen the tight bond that holds the old surface skin (they also restore the skin's natural acidity).
- Herbs for Health and Healing by Kathi Keville

Use any heavy oil for dry skin, such as avocado or wheat-germ, and a light oil such as almond or sunflower for oily skins. The essential oils of clary-sage, lemon, lime, sage, or thyme are cleansing and suitable for all skin types. Other good options would be rosemary, chamomile, lavender, or geranium.
- The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

Mashing an avocado and rubbing it into your hair for five minutes after washing will add luster to your hair; rinse afterwards. In South Africa, an avocado mask made of mashed avocados, honey, and lime juice is applied to the face as a moisturizing treatment to counteract the drying effects of the hot sun.
- Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

Every part of the avocado has been used at one time or another to tackle a few of life's inconveniences. Throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America, the avocado has been put to use in unique ways. A powder made from avocado seeds has been used to control dandruff. Some people have chewed the seeds to reduce toothache pain, and even the skin has been used as an antibiotic for intestinal parasites and dysentery. The flesh has long been used to condition dry hair and as a soothing shaving cream.
- 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life! by David W. Grotto, RD, LDN

Use olive, avocado, or almond oil to cleanse the skin. Pat the oil on, then wash it off with warm water and a soft cloth. Use a facial loofah occasionally with the oil and warm water to remove dead skin. Use liquid creams and lotions (not solid creams) that contain nutrients and natural ingredients to keep your skin from becoming too dry. Do not use cold creams, cleansing creams, or solid moisturizing creams. These are hardened saturated fats that become rancid rapidly and then create free radicals, which can cause premature wrinkles.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Olive, wheat germ, safflower, sesame, almond, apricot kernel, and avocado oils are closer in composition to the natural secretions of the skin. Most of them are also rich in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that aids in skin-cell renewal. Some manufacturers have also replaced synthetic coloring and scents with herbal extracts and powdered flowers, such as rose, iris, orange blossom, lavender, and chamomile.
- Menopause Without Medicine: The Trusted Women's Resource with the Latest Information on HRT, Breast Cancer, Heart Disease and Natural Estrogens by Linda Ojeda

The avocado got its name from the ancient Aztec word for "testicle." Maybe that's why men once thought eating avocados would boost their virility. In earlier times, avocado pulp was used as a hair pomade to stimulate hair growth and to help heal wounds. Native Americans treated dysentery and diarrhea with its seeds. Even today, its oil can be found in many cosmetics.
- Eat and Heal (Foods That Can Prevent or Cure Many Common Ailments) by the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing

The same vitamins make avocado good for the skin. To help reduce the itching, dryness, and inflammation, apply the mashed fruit directly to patches of eczema, or (if green's not your Avocado color) apply the oil.
- The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White, M.D.

Soap the entire body with a nonabrasive, emollient soap or avocado oil. Dip a large non-nylon brush, hemp washcloth, or loofah into hot water and scrub the skin for 2 to 5 minutes in circular motions until the skin is red and the body feels invigorated. End the bath with a warm shower, gradually reducing the water temperature until it becomes cool.
- The complete Book of Water Healing - Using the Earth's most essential resource to cure illness, promote health, and soothe and restore body, mind, and spirit by Dian Dincin Buchman, Ph.D.

The mild oil pressed from the luscious avocado is known to be soothing to the skin. Avocado oil is used for gourmet cooking, so look for it in well-stocked grocery stores as well as health food stores. To magnify the moisturizing effects of the oil, use it when your hands are still a bit damp from washing, Dr. Bihova says. The oil will form a protective seal that will retain the moisture that your dry digits are so thirsty for.
- The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Over 1,200 New Doctor-Tested Tips and Techniques Anyone Can Use to Heal Hundreds of Everyday Health Problems by the Editors of PREVENTION

To soften and nourish the skin, mash half of an avocado and apply it to your face. Leave it on until it dries, then rinse off with warm water. Avocado contains essential fatty acids and other nutrients that help prevent premature wrinkling. To tighten and refine pores, whip up the white of an egg with a pinch of alum and apply it to your face as a mask. After fifteen to twenty minutes, rinse it off with lukewarm water. Wrinkle lines from the lips toward the nose may be due to a deficiency of vitamin B2 (riboflavin).
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Paul Neinast, who runs a famous beauty salon in Dallas, Texas, combines peach with papaya, banana and avocado in a blender until well purged. This facial mask is then applied and left on 30 minutes, after which it is rinsed away with tepid water. Then he will saturate several cotton balls with any polyunsaturated oil (sunflower oil is good to use) and gently rub the skin in a circular motion. This keeps dryness out, moisture in and gives the skin more elasticity. The face may also be rubbed with a little juice from some freshly pressed green grapes before the oil is applied.
- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs by John Heinerman

Through our interpreter, I learned that they were using avocado oil to keep their skin from getting burned by the hot, glaring sun and the rough elements of wind and rain. They even rubbed some on their lips to keep them nice and moist. Some of the Chorti women seemed to be in their late 20s or early 30s. Imagine my utter astonishment when my interpreter told me that most of them were in their mid-to-late fifties! Now I'm a pretty good judge of age because of my training in anthropology, but their constant use of avocado oil sure fooled me about how old I thought they were.
- Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs by John Heinerman

A recipe for curing dermatitis combines avocado, aloe, and vitamin E cream. The fruit is also valued for constipation because the skin and pulp are seen to be good as cathartics. The seed is always saved because boiled in a tea it may be used as a poultice for bruises or sores. The powdered seed of avocado may be purchased at certain supermarkets in Arizona.
- Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West by Margarita Artschwager Kay

Mexican avocado leaves contain 3.1% of an essential oil that is 95% estragole and 5% anethole. The pulp oil is used as a massage oil, in creams, lotions, and hair products. The seed oil has been patented for use in treatment of sclerosis of the skin.
- Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West by Margarita Artschwager Kay