One of the most important parts of keeping your heart in great shape is prioritizing a healthy diet. In addition to limiting your intake of harmful, artery-clogging foods, that also means incorporating nutritious, antioxidant-rich ingredients into your meals on a regular basis. One crucial thing to consider is the type of oil you’re consuming. While vegetable oils can be highly inflammatory, posing a risk to your heart, there are a few other options that you could switch to in order to lower your cholesterol and your risk of heart disease—including some lesser-known choices.
While you may already know all about the heart-healthy benefits of olive oil, there’s another great option that could be even better in certain cases: avocado oil. We checked in with health experts Jesse Feder, RDN, CPT from My Chrons and Colitis Team and Sarah Alsing, MS, RD from Delightfully Fueled to learn all about the benefits of this oil. Find all of their expert insight below.
Avocado oil for heart health
"While olive oil is known for its heart health benefits, avocado oil is lesser-known and used with just as many heart health benefits," Feder tells us. According to him, this versatile oil is high in both antioxidants and healthy fats—specifically polysaturated and monounsaturated fats. All of this can do wonders for your heart.
"Another benefit is avocado oil is quite low in saturated fats which are bad for our cholesterol," Feder points out. This is one great advantage over harmful vegetable oils. In fact, he says, "Avocado oil contains slightly more healthy fats and slightly less saturated fats compared to olive oil." Incredible!
Alsing echoes this, pointing out that not only do the monounsaturated fats in avocado oil help keep your heart protected against disease, but there are also tons of other healthy nutrients at play. "It is also a good source of vitamin E, which prevents blood clots and boosts blood flow," she explains.
While olive oil is usually a great option, avocado can be even better for some recipes. As Alsing notes, "it also has a higher smoke point, which means it can be used in cooking at higher temperature." The more you know!
Of course, warding off heart disease will take more than just adding one type of oil to your diet; it's important to make healthy choices every day to keep your cardiovascular system functioning as best as possible over time. However, your diet plays a major role, and swapping inflammatory oils such as canola and other seed oils for avocado soil is one great choice that can pay off in the end.
