Avocado oil, unlike butter, offers a vitamin-rich option for cooking and is much lower in calories. If a recipe requires butter, substitute equal parts avocado oil for the same portion of butter.
Healthy eating and avocados go hand in hand. Whether it's calories, fiber, saturated fat or cholesterol, avocados have more of what you want and less of what you don't want.
Bottom line: Olive, canola and safflower oils are healthier choices overall than butter and most margarines. Use them as replacements for butter and margarine in most of your cooking, but watch the amounts – those fat calories can add up fast.
Both olive oil and avocado oil are considered good fats and are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids, which can help improve heart health. On the other hand, olive oil is slightly more nutritious on the whole because it contains more potassium, calcium, iron and vitamins.
Both of these fats have health risks. Some guidelines for healthier cooking: Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or margarine.
When it comes to baking, substituting butter for oil is simple. Most cake mixes call for oil, but butter will bring in amazing flavor. To substitute butter for oil in baking just melt the butter, measure it, let it cool, and add it as you would the oil.
In short, butter beats vegetable oil because butter is a “whole, fresh food” and vegetable oil is not, says Ken Immer, president and chief culinary officer of Culinary Health Solutions. However, he points out that butter contains heart-unhealthy “bad” cholesterol, while vegetable oil does not.
Excess consumption of avocado oil may lead to allergic reactions like itching, redness, eczema, and hives for some skin types. Therefore, you should always consume it in moderation. In addition, if you are allergic to vegetable oils, you should avoid using avocado oil.
Avocado oil is a heart-healthy oil, high in oleic acid, which is an unsaturated fat. It contains vitamin E and also helps the body absorb other fat-soluble vitamins. Avocado oil is a good source of monounsaturated fat which has been linked to reducing LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol.
Margarine often tops butter when it comes to heart health. Margarine is a blend of oils that are mostly unsaturated fat.
Margarine. This is made from vegetable oils. It has unsaturated fats, which help promote good cholesterol levels. Butter has more saturated fat, which is the less healthy fat.
When swapping out butter for avocados, a 1:1 ratio will work perfectly. Replace 1 cup of butter with 1 cup of pureed avocados. Here are some of the most popular California Avocado Dessert recipes that you can try: Dark Chocolate California Avocado Mousse Recipe.
Avocado is a great replacement for higher-calorie toast toppings. "An ounce provides just 45 calories, compared with 203 calories per ounce of butter," adds Yawitz.
“Usually, I would recommend that ½ to one avocado a day is reasonable,” she says. She notes that since avocados are a pretty significant source of healthy monounsaturated fat, they make you more satisfied and are harder to overdo because they tend to fill you up.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
If you are looking for a diet to lose weight, you must pick a cooking oil that has the least amount of saturated fat in it. Coconut and canola oils are your best bets.
We generally try to reach for monounsaturated fats when pan-frying. These healthy fats are liquid at room temperature (as compared to saturated fat like lard, butter and coconut oil that are solid at room temp). Our favorite healthy fats for pan-frying are avocado oil, canola oil and olive oil.
Avocado oil has the highest smoke point of cooking oils, from 470-500°F, making it by far the safest oil for high heat cooking. Virgin oils are the least safe for cooking as they have an extremely low smoke point. For example, virgin avocado oil has a smoke point of 350°F.
#1. Not Good For Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women. Avocado may seem like it's good for every situation, but the truth is that it should be avoided by pregnant and breastfeeding women. Avocado reduces milk production and has even been known to damage the mammary gland.
Research also suggests avocado oil has an anti-inflammatory effect, reducing CRP. It's also a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E. Kitchen tips: Avocado oil has a mild flavor and a higher smoke point than most plant oils, so it performs well for high-heat cooking such as stir-frying.
Scientists around the world simultaneously showed that saturated fat—the kind in butter and lard—increases both “bad” LDL cholesterol and “good” HDL cholesterol, making it similar to carbohydrates overall but not as beneficial to health as polyunsaturated fats from nuts and vegetables.
The Best Options
The most heart-healthy options are neither butter nor margarine, but olive oil, avocado oil, and other vegetable-based spreads. 7 In baked goods, consider substituting applesauce, nut butters, or squash purees for butter.