Benefits of Using Avocado Oil on Hair

The benefits of eating avocados are well known, but not many people know that avocado oil also has many health benefits, especially for your hair. Extracted from the pulp of the avocado fruit, avocado oil is packed with all the nutrients and vitamins that you need for your hair to grow strong and healthy. The high-fat content, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, and the high amount of vitamins and minerals present in avocado oil make it a perfect ingredient for your skin and hair. Read on to find the many benefits of using avocado oil on hair.

You can use avocado either as the fruit or in the form of oil for your hair. Avocado oil is rich in the following:

• Minerals
• Biotin
• Vitamins A, E, and B-5
• Essential fatty acids

While eating avocado will also work and make your hair strong, but the topical application of avocado oil helps promote hair health and hair growth. Adding more avocado to your diet or changing over your cooking oil to avocado oil will also help you reap the benefits.

Treating your hair with avocado oil helps you benefit from the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are present in the oil.

A study done in 2015 and published in the International Journal of Trichology ⁽¹⁾ found that the minerals that are found in avocado oil help in sealing the cuticle cells. This helps prevent breakage of the hair strands, making your hair strong.

Some of the other benefits of avocado oil are discussed below:

Avocado oil makes the skin on your scalp remain well hydrated. A well-hydrated scalp also makes your hair appear healthier. If the skin on your scalp is flaky or dry, then massing avocado oil into the scalp before washing and conditioning your hair will help deal with the dryness of the scalp.

Avocado oil, when used on the scalp, also helps reduce dandruff. When you moisturize your scalp skin with avocado oil, it helps prevent it from flaking and drying out, thus preventing and also reducing the appearance of dandruff. ⁽²⁾

If your hair is dry and brittle, it causes the strands to break easily. When you coat the hair strands with a thin layer of avocado oil, it makes the hair strands become more flexible. This helps prevent hair from breaking when you brush your hair or when you are tying your hair.

You need to also treat your hair gently in order to prevent breakage. For this, keeping your hair untangled is also necessary. Instead of tugging on your hair with a brush, it is better to untangle your hair by brushing the ends of the hair first. Also avoid using elastic bands for tying your hair and tying your hair too tightly as this also causes damage to the hair roots or hair strands, leading to breakage.

Keep in mind, though, that if you have damaged hair from heat treatments, bleaching, and relaxing hair, then using avocado oil is unlikely to help undo severe damage. However, avocado oil will help prevent any further damage from happening as it lubricates and protects the hair strands.

If you frequently have problems with tangled hair (quite common in curly-haired people), then avocado oil might be the perfect solution to your tangling woes.

Applying avocado oil to the ends of your hair will help untangle them. Coat the ends of the hair by using your fingers. Apply just a small amount of oil to ensure that your hairbrush glides through smoothly.

It is also better to use a wide-toothed comb to gently comb out the tangles until the hair starts to detangle thoroughly. You can then follow up with a hairbrush or a smaller toothed comb to continue combing your hair.

Many people often neglect to protect their hair from environmental damage. Environmental damage may include exposure to sunlight, pollution, chlorine, and seawater. All these factors can cause damage to your hair and also dry out the hair shafts.

Applying avocado oil to hair helps protect it from many of the effects of environmental damage. For example, coat your hair with a thin layer of avocado oil before you go for sunbathing or swimming in the sea. If you are uncomfortable with the oil getting onto your skin, then you can always tie it up or plait it.

Whenever you are out in direct sunlight, it is essential to protect your hair from damage caused by UV rays. You can protect your head with a hat and never forget to wear sunscreen to protect your skin at the same time.

Even after applying avocado oil, you should also make it a point to rinse out your hair after it has been in contact with chlorine or seawater. This helps prevent your hair from drying out.

The monounsaturated fats present in avocado oil makes it an ideal solution for people who have dry or sensitive skin. Avocado oil is able to penetrate through the first layer of the scalp to the second layer, which provides a more profound moisturizing treatment to the scalp.

Avocado Oil is extremely versatile: Avocado oil is lighter than other oils that are used on hair. This allows you to apply this oil not just to your scalp, but throughout your hair without having to worry about build-up or clogging of your pores on the scalp. It also does not weigh your hair down as castor oil does. Due to this, avocado oil is an excellent choice for people who have medium to low-density hair or those who have medium to low porosity. At the same time, the oil is also perfect for those who have a high density of hair as well as high porosity.

Avocado oil moisturizes and strengthens your hair: Avocado oil is a powerhouse of oleic acid and monounsaturated fats. This is, in fact, one of the few oils that is able to penetrate deep into the hair shaft and provide moisturization to your hair rather than just sitting on top of the hair and only coating and weighing down your hair. Oleic acids and monounsaturated fats also strengthen the hair shaft from within, thus preventing hair breakage.

Avocado oil can help treat psoriasis of the scalp: Psoriasis of the scalp causes the skin of the scalp to become flaky and dry. Avocado oil is able to easily and quickly penetrate the surface of the scalp and provide moisturization to the skin. This help relieves psoriasis. Gently massaging avocado oil into your scalp with your fingers also helps soothe the skin, thus relieving the itchiness that often accompanies psoriasis.

The best way to use avocado oil to reap the benefits for your hair is to simply massage pure avocado oil into your scalp with your fingers. Massage it on the edges of your hair and massage it all over the surface of the scalp. This will help moisturize the scalp, encourage the growth of new hair, and also strengthen the roots of the hair.

Avocado oil also helps boost blood flow to the scalp and also unclogs blocked follicles, which is excellent for fighting against hair loss.

Studies done on animals have suggested that essential oils of peppermint ⁽³⁾ and lavender ⁽⁴⁾ are excellent for promoting hair growth. A recommended thing to do here is to use avocado oil as a carrier oil for these essential oils to gain maximum benefits from all the oils. You can do so by mixing an ounce of avocado oil with just a3 to 4 drops of lavender or peppermint essential oil.

It is also possible to purchase avocado-based hair masks from the market and use that for deep conditioning of your hair. You can also make these hair masks with avocado oil at home yourself.

While topically applying avocado oil to your health is going to be highly beneficial, but eating avocados are known to be better for maintaining your overall health and for giving you healthy hair that is strong from the inside. According to a survey done in the United States, eating avocados are known to provide you with overall better health and also lower the risk of many diseases. ⁽⁵⁾

Similarly, in 2012, a study done by Nutrition Science Solutions ⁽⁶⁾, found that consumption of avocados helps promote heart health, digestive health, and also contributes to healthy aging.

So eating avocados will not only benefit your hair, but it is just what you need for maintaining overall good health.

Remember that the best way to care for your hair is to wash and condition your hair regularly and keep it trimmed and free of any split ends.

References

1. Dias, M.F.R.G., 2015. Hair cosmetics: an overview. International journal of trichology, 7(1), p.2.
2. Nhstaysidecdn.scot.nhs.uk. (2019). [online] Available at: http://www.nhstaysidecdn.scot.nhs.uk/NHSTaysideWeb/idcplg?IdcService=GET_SECURE_FILE&dDocName=PROD_262658&Rendition=web&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&noSaveAs=1 [Accessed 26 Sep. 2019].
3. Oh, J.Y., Park, M.A. and Kim, Y.C., 2014. Peppermint oil promotes hair growth without toxic signs. Toxicological research, 30(4), p.297.
4. Cavanagh, H.M.A. and Wilkinson, J.M., 2002. Biological activities of lavender essential oil. Phytotherapy research, 16(4), pp.301-308.
5. Fulgoni, V.L., Dreher, M. and Davenport, A.J., 2013. Avocado consumption is associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake, and lower metabolic syndrome risk in US adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2008. Nutrition journal, 12(1), p.1.
6. Dreher, M.L. and Davenport, A.J., 2013. Hass avocado composition and potential health effects. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 53(7), pp.738-750.

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