Cold pressed organic oils: why are we talking about them?
In order to guarantee a healthy and balanced diet, it is important to have organic oils obtained from seeds, grains and legumes in our diet. The important thing is that they are cold pressed and unrefined organic oils obtained from industrial processes.
How are organic oils extracted?
Extraction of organic oils, both in seed oils and in olive oil or other fruit, can occur mainly in two ways:
- Mechanical processes at temperatures that do not change the properties of the oil, cold press method.
- Processes involving the use of chemical processes and solvents that cause chemical and physical transformations of the oil. So refining…
Differences between extraction methods of organic oils
The necessary premise for understanding the effect of different extraction methods is this: The seeds and fruits from which organic oils are extracted are rich in nutrients that are very important to our health: minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, amino acids, fibers, flavonoids, phytosterols and other micronutrients.
By mechanically extracting the oil with the cold-pressed method, we preserve all other nutrients by eliminating proteins, fibers, some minerals and some vitamins.
Refining processes remove most of the vitamins and minerals, phytosterols and other beneficial micronutrients. In most cases, some of the essential fatty acids are also changed, resulting in harmful molecules (the famous “trans” fatty acids) to our body.
Most of the organic oils on the market are refined.
Extracting oil from seeds by mechanical processes is much more difficult and therefore more expensive than refining: most of the oil that is distributed on a large scale is therefore refined, so it is not recommended for those following a healthy diet.
Cold extraction of organic oils
Fortunately, many organic oil producers still use cold extraction methods. Thanks to them, we are able to enjoy the benefits of many cold-pressed organic oils, which naturally have great nutritional value. The use of these vegetable oils in the kitchen has numerous advantages for maintaining health. To name just a few; It has many benefits such as protection of blood vessels that remain more flexible and permeable, antioxidant and preventive effect of free radicals, efficiency of the functioning of bile, bladder and kidney system, prevention of excessive cholesterol and many other benefits.
Which cold pressed organic oil should you choose?
As long as it is organic and cold pressed, we must choose the best oil for us. The ideal is to alternately consume as much organic oil variety as possible.
There are many organic oils that we can use to protect our health. We can choose them according to the health features we need. In general, the best vegetable oils are of organic origin and are obtained by cold pressing the seeds or fruits of the plants from which they are derived.