Difference Between: Cold Pressed Oils vs Refined Oils
Health is the most precious treasure we possess. To live a healthy life, it is necessary we eat healthily. Oil is the basic ingredient in our food thus, we need to be careful while choosing it. Oilseeds can be naturally pressed to extract oil. May it be sesame seeds, coconut, groundnut or olive. This topic we learn Cold Pressed Oils vs Refined Oils. We try to prove which one is better and why?
Cold Pressed Oil:
Oilseeds can be naturally pressed to extract oil. May it be sesame seeds, coconut, groundnut or olive. You can extract oil from these just by pressing and it’s a natural process.
The natural process involves “Chekku”, “Kolhu” or “Ghani”. These are regional words used in India to describe machines that make cold-pressed oil. Heat is not applied during this extraction method and it’s completely natural without using any chemicals. This natural method of extracting oil is called as cold-pressed.
In olden days, cows were used to grind oil seeds, but in modern times mechanical oil pressing machines are used.
cold-pressed oils healthy:
A study conducted at London’s Imperial College School of Medicine in 2004 concluded that cold-pressed oils have a greater amount of nutritional value, higher Omega 3 (anti-inflammatory) fatty acids, and more antioxidants. Most cold-pressed oils are rich in vitamin E, which has anti-inflammatory and healing properties. They are also rich sources of oleic acid that help boost your immune system. All these oils, when cooked on low heat, are excellent oils; however, they lose all the nutrients once exposed to too much heat.
Should you be cooking with cold-pressed oils?
Olive, sesame, sunflower, canola and coconut oil can all be used for cooking, however, these cold-pressed oils shouldn’t be used in a huge quantity or shouldn’t be exposed to a lot of heat. While it is generally recommended to cook with cold-pressed oils as they not only give a rich flavor to the food but are also healthy; however, cooking with these oils may be slightly tricky. These kinds of oils don’t really mix well with heat, which is the sole reason why they are not extracted through heating techniques. These oils have a lot of unsaturated fats which tend to degrade when exposed to heat. Oils like sesame oil and olive work best when sprinkled over the cooked food.
If you plan to switch to cold-pressed oils, make sure you are not heating them too much, use them on top of salads, bread and cooked meats for a combination of flavor and health.
Refined oil:
Other seeds that cannot be extracted naturally are rapeseed, sunflower, soybean, etc. These vegetable oils weren’t present until the 1950s. These oils are now available and are chemically extracted, so they need to be refined. Our bodies aren’t meant to consume chemically extracted refined oil.
This chemical process destroys nutrition. It alters the molecules that are not favorable and makes it unhealthy for us to consume. This chemical process yields an oil that is unhealthy but looks consistent in terms of the odor, color and shelf life.
This natural food is exposed to multiple chemical processes. So, certainly, it isn’t healthy. Research has revealed that the consumption of refined oils leads to chronic diseases. When the oil is extracted chemically it leads to inflammation in our body.
Refined oil making process involves filtration of oil through various chemicals and heat, then the final output looks light and shiny. This mechanized process makes the oilseed devoid of natural ingredients that our body needs on a daily basis. In fact, such oil has a lot of fat and is devoid of nutrition.
As mentioned earlier seeds like soybean, corn, sunflower, etc cannot yield oil through natural techniques of extraction. Only a chemical refining process can yield oil from these. Refined oil extraction gives a higher yield. Refined is also neutralized for color, taste, and odor. Low quality of seeds is used in this refining process.
While cold-pressed oil, good quality of seeds need to be used, otherwise consumers will immediately identify the low quality of seeds.
Cold-pressed oils retain the healthy antioxidants that help to fight free radicals that cause our cells to damage. Most cold-pressed oils are Vitamin E rich, which has anti-inflammatory and healing qualities. Also, cold-pressed oils are rich in oleic acid that helps to boost your immune system. These oils are healthy when cooked on low heat. But when they are cooked on too much heat they lose their nutritional value.
So, what options do we have? What oils should we use?
Sesame, coconut, sunflower and olive oil can be used for cooking but, their use should be limited. Generally, it is advisable to use cold-pressed oils when you cook as their nutritional value is good. But, sometimes it’s tricky to cook in these oils as cold-pressed oil doesn’t react well with heat. This is precisely the reason why they are not extracted by heating techniques. Cold-pressed oils have a high level of unsaturated fats, which get killed under high temperature thus, it becomes unsuitable to consume.
When you choose to switch to cold-pressed oil, you should choose the appropriate oil based on the temperature requirements. Ensure that you don’t heat the oil too much. It’s best to use a bit of the oil to sprinkle on cooked food as its healthy and tastes delicious too.
At Navmi https://www.navmi.co.in/ we endeavor to manufacture and supply organic, natural foods to our consumers. May it be oil, honey, milk, oil or ghee- every product is chemical-free. We care for your health. So, visit our site to know more about our products.
Stay tuned in to know more from the world of health and nutrition on our blog https://www.navmi.co.in/category/oils/
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