Using Avocados for Skin Health
Diana | Jan 04, 2010 | Comments 0
Avocados have many health benefits as a food and as a topical skin cream ingredient. They are full of healthy fats, natural fibers, vitamins, and phytonutrients. Let's look at how you can use these great fruits to benefit your skin.
Nutritional Benefits
Eating avocado lowers cholesterol, adds vital nutrients and minerals to your body, and is good too! Avocados are rich in vitamins A, D, and E which are all great skin care benefactors. The phytonutrients in avocados are also beneficial to your skin's lipid profiles, increasing their elasticity and health.
Topical Benefits
The benefits of using avocado on your skin are more well known and have been a part of many traditional cultures for centuries.
For dry skin sufferers, natural oils such as hempseed or olive oil are of great benefit to the skin. Adding avocado pulp to the mix, stirring it like guacamole, enhances these benefits, soothing painfully dry skin and adding essential nutrients and oils. Avocado oil is very close to the oils your skin naturally produces.
For dermatitis and eczema treatments, the above use has shown remarkable benefit for the sufferer. Avocado oil is a prime ingredient for many eczema, arthritis, and dry skin creams and remedies.
For deep tissue benefits, when used as a topical cream, avocado pulp can be mixed with chamomile flower extract (a few drops per mashed avocado half) for a soothing, deep-tissue massage. The chamomile helps loosen muscles just under the epidermis, creating a more relaxed massage and topical treatment.
Used as a facial, avocado has more benefits. With a clean face, use mashed avocado pulp spread in a layer over your face. Add milk or oatmeal to the mush for bonus effects. Leave it on your face for ten minutes or so, rinse it off with clean water, and you'll feel great. Done two or three times weekly, you'll notice a fast improvement in your skin's tone and softness as well as a reduction in wrinkles.
Finally, the skin of the avocado can be peeled and placed (pulp-side down) on your face or hands and left until partially dried. This helps pull excess oil from the skin while adding some vital nutrients. The skins have a high hydrocarbon content, as do the oils, which helps skin find a better balance of oil versus dry.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways that avocados can be used to benefit your skin care routines. They can be mixed with virtually any natural skin care remedy to boost the benefits to your needs.
Got a favorite avocado recipe? Let us know by commenting!
For professional skin care information, please consult with your dermatologist.
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Filed Under: Tips for Healthy Skin Care
