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One more random reader question this week for Real Food Wednesday – my readers give me such great post ideas!
Hello Kelly,
I started reading your blog and really like it. I was wondering what the general opinion is of grapeseed oil? I had switched to that before I started reading your blog. I have read many of your articles, but I didn’t see grapeseed oil anywhere in them.
My reply:
Good question! I had to look up the answer to be sure and found this on the Weston A. Price site:
Question: Is grapeseed oil a good choice? We hear so much about it. I have read that grape seed oil has a very high smoke point so it is a good oil to use for cooking.
Answer: Grapeseed oil contains phenols that raise the smoke point. However it is very high in omega-6 fatty acids, so it not a good choice for our diets–we need to avoid excess omega-6 fatty acids as much as possible. Also, grapeseed oil is industrially processed with hexane and other carcinogenic solvents, and traces will remain in the oil.
Read more Q & A’s from the Weston A. Price site: “Some typical questions and misconceptions on fats and oils.”
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Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering about this too. Much appreciated.
Lisa’s last blog post..Flower LEFTOVERS *Works for Me Wedsday*
Thanks. I like the concise info.
I have used grapeseed oil for several years, although much less recently. I always use it for frying falafel because I think it is the best choice in terms of smoke point and flavor. I used to use it exclusively in baking, but now I use coconut oil. I decided to use less of it because of what I read at Weston A. Price. However, they’re not right when they say grapeseed oil is always solvent-extracted. It is possible to purchase cold-pressed grapeseed oil, such as the grapeseed oil from Napa Valley Naturals. This company presses the oil out of the seeds leftover from wine making. I don’t know whether I’ll continue to use it – but I’m content with the cold-pressed form of it for the little I do use it.
~Wardeh
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS’s last blog post..Goat Milk Stand and Trial Milking
If you can find good quality grapeseed oil that is cold or expeller-pressed, from what I know, it should be okay to use it in moderation. Even though we should avoid excessive Omega 6s in our diets, if you have removed all Omega 6s from what you are eating in the form of processed, chemically-treated, and refined foods, you will need some good Omega 6s to create a healthy balance. I wondered the same thing about this several years ago, and my nutritional therapist who follows Weston A. Price confirmed to me that this was true, so I stopped worrying about it and encourage my readers to consume it this way.
Raine Saunders’s last blog post..Make-Your-Loved-Ones Happy Breakfast
Great topic, Kelly.
I’d wager that no one in the industrial world has an Omega 6 deficiency, even if actively avoiding all high omega 6 cooking oils such as soybean, corn, grapeseed, peanut, etc.
We only need a very, very tiny amount the omega PUFA acids, less than 4% of our calories (some estimate only abut 2% of calories), so even if avoiding industrial omega 6 oils for the most part, it’s very, very easy to get more than enough omega 6 FA from other sources – nuts, seeds, and certainly if eating whole grains with the oily germ.
Nearly all commercially raised animal products contain an more omega 6 than they should if they are exclusively grain-fed. Eating commercial beef, eggs and chickens is a big source of omega 6 FA, because the “all vegetarian feed” of corn and soy contribute far too much omega 6 in commercial feed rations. Even “organic” poultry/fowl is overly high in omega 6 FA content, unless the birds are also allowed access to their naturally omnivorous diet from pasture/ponds and bugs, slugs, snails, etc. which provides omega 3s for balance.
Grapeseed oil is the only vegetable oil in our house, and I use it only occasionally. Most often, however, we use butter and coconut oil. The high smoke point of grapeseed oil (not to mention other touted benefits) is encouraging. In terms of oil usage, some subsist wholly using grapeseed oil and claim to reap vast nutritional benefits. I will never trade it for my butter and coconut oil, but “moderation in all things” seems to ring true here.
Just my two cents!
I wondered about this, too. It seems like I see it more and more at the grocery store. Thanks for the info. How about good ol’ olive oil? That is my go-to oil.
Bridget’s last blog post..A baker’s best friend…Works For Me Wednesday
As many of the above, I also use coconut oil (in baking) and cold pressed evoo (not to cook with), but have also occassionally used vegenaise made from grapeseed oil…the other options are cold pressed canola or soy vegenaise. I don’t use soy for various health reasons and strongly doubt the health claims for canola oil (we do not use it)…but, I am also concerned re: grape oil (the solvents used and the Omega 6 content. Does anyone know of an alternative, truly healthy, non-soy mayo…or do any of you know any more reasons to shy away from vegenaise?
wow – I did not know that. I guess I haven’t been curious to go research it myself. We use grapeseed oil on our popcorn because of the neutral taste.
We don’t use it at all although I do think I have some lurking in my cupboard from eons ago when I used it for mayo because I couldn’t handle the flavor of straight EVOO mayo. My take is this: it’s extremely high in omega 6 and we don’t really need any more of those floating around our plates also it is not a traditional oil like olive oil is.
Jenny @ NourishedKitchen’s last blog post..49 Reasons to Be a Vegetarian – A Rebuttal
I’m asked about that a lot too and was told by a nutritionist that it was healthful. Your post makes great sense – thanks for researching it!
Annie – Hip Organic Mama’s last blog post..Salsa & Chips, it’s not so simple anymore
Great post! Our farmer, Liz Young, at http://www.NaturesHarmony.com says if she can’t make a fat herself, she doesn’t want to eat it! Good advice. We just had a great simple meal of kale fried in fat rendered from pastured heritage pork and shad roe fried in duck fat rendered from pastured duck. MMMmm good! I have to check out Mr. Linky, figure out what it means to stumble, and know how to twitter. I do know real food, though!
Rachelle, have you seen this mayo post?
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/09/which-mayonnaise-should-you-buy.html
Also, I’m posting more on mayo soon.
ive never heard of grapeseed oil. what is it?
Jenny’s last blog post..By the Lake
Hi Jenny, here’s some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_seed_oil
Does anyone know anything about pomace oil? I know that higher end restuarants use this in place of olive oil since it is cheaper.
I’ve never heard of it…
I just wanted to post an update on something I recently discovered about myself that relates to this topic. For the last 3 years I have maintained an extremely healthy diet, so much that people are constantly in disbelief at the way I eat. I was told to avoid Omega 6s by a well-trained nutritional therapist when I first started my diet. I’ve been seeing another nutritional therapist from time to time, who happens to be my next door neighbor and who studied under the first NT when she was studying for her credentials. Both of these individuals ascribe to WAPF principles.
For some time I was using a small amount of the organic, unrefined, cold-pressed grapeseed oil mixed in with EVOO for salad dressing, as we make all our own homemade dressings. When I read this post, I hesitated about using grapeseed oil and stopped for a few weeks.
Yesterday I went to see the NT and she tested me for the fish oil I was using and I was weak on it. The tests she uses are muscle-testing, a form of applied kinesiology, which have been always been DEAD on each time I have been tested for anything – whether it be a dietary supplement, substance, or food. This puzzled her, so she tested me on multiple healthy Omega 6s like sesame oil, evening primrose oil, and sunflower oil. Guess what??? We discovered that I have become DEFICIENT in Omega 6s! Why? Because I AVOID pretty much all Omega 6s in my diet. My diet has been so rigid that I have now been getting TOO many Omega 3s and NOT ENOUGH Omega 6s. According to WAPF, “Cancer as well as heart disease can be prevented by taking a ratio of at least 1:1 up to 2.5:1 unadulterated parent omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids plus specific vitamins and minerals.” So apparently the ratios in my diet have been off – which was the point I had made earlier in my other post on this thread. I just wanted to make sure the distinction was made between eating the right Omega 6s and the wrong ones – and that if you have no Omega 6s in your diet, you can become deficient in those, just like many people in industrialized countries do with Omega 3s. So I’m adding a bit of Omega 6s to my diet – organic sunflower/sesame oil/evening primrose oil – which also has Omega 3s (flax oil), Udo’s brand. I’m living proof!!
Raine Saunders’s last blog post..Being a Food Activist in a World Driven by Tradition, Control, & Profit
Hi Raine, thanks for making this point and sharing what you’ve learned!
Kelly
Concerning pomace, I understand it is the dregs of what they come up with when processing olive oil, so, to be avoided :/
Blessings!
Ann
Thanks, Ann!