Sat, Jul-31-04, 20:20
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Senior Member
Posts: 1,514
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Plan: TSP/PPLP/low-cal/My own
Stats: 250/209/150
BF:
Progress: 41%
Location: Sacramento, CA
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by eepobee
i've done some looking around and i couldn't find much in the way of recommendations for or warnings against consuming sesame oil. i've been in south korea for over three years and have become a big fan of it (called cham gee reum here). so what's the story with sesame oil?
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I posted this about why olive oil and coconut oil are not lumped in with other vegetable oils in another thread in the General Low-Carb Forum. Sesame oil is a polyunsaturated oil.
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Generally, "vegetable" oils are oils that are primarily polyunsaturated. That's why olive oil isn't usually lumped in there -- it's mostly monounsaturated -- and coconut oil is mostly saturated. I prefer to think of them as polyunsaturated oils.
The reasons polyunsaturated oils are a problem are:
1. They are high in omega 6 fatty acids, which, while essential, in large amounts cause inflamation and a host of other ills. Polyunsaturated oils also have omega 3 fatty acids, which are also essential and counteract the effects of omega 6s, but they are found in very small amounts except in a few vegetable oils like flax seed and in the polyunsaturated oils in meat fats, especially in cold-water fish. The omega 3s from meat sources are easier for our bodies to process and it's theorized that about 1/3 of people don't have the enzymes to process the omega 3s found in vegetable oil sources. We should be getting about even amounts of omega 3s and 6s. However, the average daily diet is comprised of about a 20 to 1 ratio (6s to 3s) of omega fatty acids.
2. They spoil easily unless they are processed. When they are processed to avoid turning rancid and still retain their liquid state, they are damaged and that causes peroxidation that promotes excessive free radicals. These oils are easy to identify. They are the ones in the grocery store that once you open them you don't have to store them in the refrigerator (corn oil, canola oil, safflower, sunflower, etc.). If you have to refrigerate them, they haven't been processed and so are somewhat healthier -- although I still don't like them because of their high omega 6 content.
3. When they are processed to become solid or semi-solid (Crisco, margarine, many baked goods, etc.), the process used is hydrogenation. Hydrogenation turns them into trans-fatty-acids. Trans-fats cause cancer, heart disease, and a host of other health problems. Even our government says we should severely limit trans fats, even lower than saturated fats.
This is all paraphrased from a lot of different sources and expressed how I understand it. So if it's not entirely accurate... I hope this helps.
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To process oil to keep it from turning rancid it is heated to a very high temperature. Therefore, toasted sesame oil has the same problems as regular sesame oil. This is also why polyunsaturated oils are not good for cooking as this also causes the peroxidation problem.
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