Why you want cold- or expeller-pressed oils

You might have seen in some grocery stores that some cooking oils say "cold pressed", others say "expeller pressed", but most say nothing at all. The vast majority of cooking oils sold commercially, like Wesson, Mazola and practically all store brands, are extracted in a way that makes you think twice about buying them.

According to MissVickie.com,

The oil is separated from its food source with hexane or other petroleum solvents and then boiled to drive off the toxic solvents. The oil is next refined, bleached, and deodorized, which involves heating it to over 400°F. The oil extracted this way still contains some undesirable solvent residues, while the amounts of many key nutrients (especially vitamin E) are significantly reduced. Antioxidants or preservatives such as BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) or BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are then frequently added. The resulting product lacks flavor, aroma, pigments, and nutrients.

Typically oils that looks very light and clear in color have been processed in this way, called chemical or solvent extraction. The process strips out anything good in the oils and replaces it with chemicals. It's no wonder cancer is so widespread with "unknown" causes.

It's really hard to avoid these types of oils because they are so cheap and they are also used in practically all pre-packaged foods that contain oil. I've only seen snack foods from health food companies that specify they use expeller-pressed oils. I don't remember which they are now, but next time I see them, I'll post about it.

I'll go more in depth about cold-pressed and expeller-pressed oils in the future, but for now I'll summarize by saying these are more natural methods for extracting oils from the seeds. You retain the nutrients without introducing any foreign chemicals. Doesn't that sound so much better for you?