It is easier to fool people than convince them that they have been fooled. While is not certain whether Mark Twain said but it is a point to ponder. Nevertheless, we should continue to strive to bring truth to people with a hope that one day truth shall prevail.
There is growing evidence that refined Oil has a deleterious effect on human health. They arrived on scene some 100 years back and now have quickly become a global phenomenon. There is nothing vegetable about vegetable oils. Extracted from seeds, they are unstable in nature and therefore quickly become rancid. Prior to being introduced as food, they were used as machine lubricants and as oils in lamps. Once electricity became pervasive, an alternate use of oil had to be found. In 1911, Procter & Gamble introduced a fat shortening (similar to Dalda) under the name Crisco, a short form of Crystallised Cotton seed oil. This was the beginning of the entry of large Corporate into the big fat business. Campaign were set to motion to popularise refined vegetable oils and at the same time healthy animal fats, something on which human being subsisted for thousands of years, were demonised. This is what I call case of double jeopardy. A perfect healthy fat was replaced by high injurious ones. But what is wrong with refined oils?
I am sharing couple of points for you to serious reflect and do further research to take a call on a very important aspect of health:
Reason #1: Since vegetable oils were introduced at the beginning of the last century, there has been steady decline of human health. The average age of has gone up but not necessarily the health. There is a strong correlation between the growing per capita consumption of vegetable oils and the growth of many diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, Autoimmune diseases and several other, some negligible, most of which had negligible presence. One could argue that Correlation is not necessarily the Cause. That’s true. However, this aspect seen in conjunction with other can help us connect the dots.
Reason #2: There is nothing Vegetable about the Vegetable oil. They are derived from seeds like corn, canola, soyabean, cottonseed, sunflower, grapeseed etc. These are not rich in oils. You need large quantity of these seeds to get the oil out of them. Oil is obtained not by just simple pressing (virgin oil) but thru very intense chemical & heating processes. They need to be degummed, refined, bleached & deodorized to produce cheap clear oil. Apart from the degeneration of the oil, the traces of the chemical agents which are very harmful for the body, still remain in the final product.
Reason #3: These refined oils are polyunsaturated oils which are unstable in nature, When consumed, they become part of the body at cellular level. This puts oxidative stress on the body which simply means that cell begin to get damage when they come in contact with Oxygen. Since we inhale oxygen with every breath, chronic inflammation sets in and aging is accelerated with every breath. Since not inhaling oxygen is not an option, you may like to consider other option i.e. to shun the consumption of refined oils.
Think about it. Which other natural food do we consume which needs to deodorized before you can consume it? The odourless, colourless vegetable oils may be convenient for cooking but not so convenient for health of the body. Consensus is beginning to emerge that refined vegetable oils may be worse than sugars for health. Time to bring back healthy saturated fats such as ghee, butter, extra virgin coconut & as well as extra virgin olive oil, mustard oil, sesame oil back as a mainstay for your cooking. Time to wake-up and take charge.