Lime Essential Oil and Avocado : Green Goodness

If your standard way of taking lime is, “Pass the tequila!”, let’s explore other ways of using lime that will help you unwind without taxing your liver.

While we’re at it, we’ll give you plenty of excuses to add the fibre and healthy fats of avocado into your every day.

To top it off, we’re including an awesome Zero-Dairy Avocado Lime Cheesecake recipe that ties it all together.  Wait ! Avocado in a dessert?  Sounds weird?!  We hear you, but before you screw up your nose, we urge you to try today’s recipe and then see how you feel about it. And while it doesn’t contain tequila, it does include a lovely natural ingredient that comes from the same plant.

So let’s get cracking, and I’m not just talking about pepper (which makes a mighty fine quick-and-easy addition to your avo, along with a sprinkle of Himalayan or Celtic salt).   Here’s the rundown on the benefits of some of today’s recipe ingredients.

Lime Essential Oil : Increase Your Zest for Life

Lime is a citrus oil, and as we discussed in our post on Citrus Essential Oils for Liquid Sunshine, it will uplift your spirits and help you relax and unwind at the same time.

Cold-pressed from the rind of unripe limes, lime essential oil can be inhaled directly from the bottle and diffused for everyone at home to enjoy. Try it as an after-school and after-work mood enhancer.  For help on the run, Young Living Stress Away™ Roll-on is fantastic and includes lime essential oil and vanilla absolute: guaranteed to give you an island getaway moment of escape to restore your frazzled senses.

When guaranteed pure, lime essential oil can be added to food and drink if indicated on the label.  Please only ever use lime essential oil this way when it’s clearly marked on the bottle that it’s safe to do so.  Young Living Lime essential oil is.  (Please click here to order.) And we’ve included it in today’s recipe.

Blue Agave Nectar : Low GI Sweetness

Did you know where Tequila comes from?  Not potatoes, not corn, not wheat or grapes. Tequila is made from nectar of the blue agave plant.  And Blue Agave Nectar is a natural liquid sweetener that makes an excellent alternative to others.

While it does contain fructose (naturally-occurring fruit sugars), it has a low glycemic index and you’ll need less agave for sweetening than standard sugar, so that’s also a help.

Awesome Avocado: A+ for Nutrition

This fruit has thankfully gone from being maligned for being high in fat to being championed for being high in fat.  Hooray!

The key difference is that fats are no longer all lumped together under the heading of Bad Fats.  Boo Hiss to saturated fats but you can embrace the rest (in moderation, as with everything).  Indiscriminate fat deprivation is not doing you favours.  On the contrary, it can have the opposite effect, as a balance of good fats in your diet is essential to health.

Avocado is rich in monounsaturated fats (a key part of the Mediterranean diet) which are known to help support a healthy heart and brain, along with reversing insulin resistance and regulating blood sugar levels.

Avocado fats are made up of approximately 71 percent monounsaturated fatty acids, 13 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids and only 16 percent saturated fatty acids.

Monounsaturated fats are also fantastic for hair, skin and nails.  Keep avocado oil in your pantry and you’ll always have a beautiful option for a DIY moisturiser: add skin-nurturing essential oils like rose, roman chamomile, lavender, frankincense and sandalwood and your skin and spirits will feel heavenly.

Avocado’s smooth, cream texture and high fat content makes it a perfect healthful inclusion in desserts and a great substitute for dairy.

Half an avocado contains a decent serve of calories (113 calories/472kJ), but it brings such high nutrition with it, those calories are earning every bit of their keep.  Avocado includes these key nutrients:

• Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) including oleic acid which helps with the uptake of carotenoids
• A great source of the aforementioned carotenoids, including zeaxanthin and lutein, great for supporting eye health
• More potassium than bananas and the highest protein and lowest sugar of all fruits plus loads of fibre, making them a no-brainer addition to your smoothies
• Fat and water soluble vitamins (A, E, K and B, C respectively) and trace minerals of magnesium, iron and copper to go along with its potassium
• Rich in folate
• Anti-oxidant phytochemicals to combat free radicals (think of these as the equivalent of anti-rust for our bodies)
• Anti-inflammatory phytonutrients (‘phyto’ is the Greek word for plant, and phytonutrients are chemicals that protect plants from threats)

By now, you’ll surely be champing at the bit to whip up this dessert, laden with healthful plant fats and an essential oil flavour boost like none other.  Here goes.

Zero-Dairy Avocado Lime Cheesecake with Essential Oils

Recipe adapted from Bare Root Girl

CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup pecans, optionally pre-soaked (see method first to determine your action plan)
• 1 cup almonds, optionally pre-soaked (see method first to determine your action plan)
• 8 fresh dates, washed and de-seeded
• ¼ cup coconut oil or butter
• Optional 2-3 drops Young Living Nutmeg essential oil*
• ¼ tsp Himalayan or Celtic salt

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 5 ripe medium avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 tbsp lime zest or 1 dessertspoon lime zest plus optional 3 drops Young Living Lime essential oil*
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup Young Living Blue Agave Nectar or raw honey
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt

METHOD

* Important Note:  It is imperative to only ever add essential oils to food or drink when it’s clearly marked on the bottle that it’s safe to do so. 

For a more easily digestible crust, pre-soak the almonds for 8 hours and the pecans for 2 hours.  This will also make for a softer, chewier crust.

For a crunchy crust, don’t pre-soak the nuts

• Lightly oil a 22cm/9” springform pan
• Combine all crust ingredients in a large food processor
• Process until the ingredients stick together when pinched.  It will look crumbly
• Press the crumb mixture into your springform pan and chill for 15 minutes
• Place the chopped avocados into your food processor and add the remaining cheesecake filling ingredients
• Whaz until smooth and pause to scrape down the sides as necessary to ensure all the mixture is lovely and creamy
• Pour the cheesecake filling into the chilled crust, smoothing the top out or adding a bit of a rustic swirl for a less prim and proper look.  Chill until the filling has firmed, which will take at least 30 minutes

Serve with a scoop of organic Greek yoghurt — or coconut yoghurt if staying true to the ‘dairy-free’ recipe to the end.  A handful of berries of your choice is a beautiful finishing touch.  Enjoy!

Not all oils are created equal.  Far from it.  Quality varies immensely, so please ensure you are choosing a brand with complete transparency from seed to seal, such as Young Living.  Discover why we love them so much in this short video.

Essential oils are potent, so as always, please follow directions on the bottle and the usual guidelines for safe use of authentic essential oils.

Enjoy the good oil daily.

The information on this site does not constitute advice. Please consult with your health practitioner. When using any of the products mentioned throughout this site, please be sure to read the labels and follow their suggestions for safe use. We make commissions from sales via many of the products we recommend but we only suggest products we genuinely enjoy and want you to benefit from.