RAW FOODERS AND EXTRACTED OILS
The following was written and released on the old veg-raw e-mail list, in
July 1995. It discusses attitudes and experiences of raw-fooders, re: using
extracted oils. This article is a combination of material from 2-3 separate
posts on veg-raw.
I'm curious about the experiences other raw fooders have in using oils. I find
extracted oils to be difficult to digest, so normally don't eat them directly.
Instead of eating oils directly, I find it best (for me) to eat oily foods such
as avocados, coconuts, soaked nuts, sprouted sesame and sunflower seeds.
However, some raw oils are excellent for the skin and hair when used for
massage, and some oils have specific medicinal uses. Refined/cooked oils, other
than castor oil or medicinal oil/herb blends, should be avoided.
Some raw fooders refuse to eat oils on the grounds that they are incomplete or
processed foods. Others recommend consuming certain oils - flax, sometimes hemp;
for example, both N.D. Santillo and Gabriel Cousens recommend eating flax oil.
One of the problems with oils today is that most of them are cooked and/or
refined. Genuine extra-virgin olive oil is usually raw and it is an unrefined
oil. However, the term "extra-virgin" has a legal definition (specifying the oil
pH) that allows some unscrupulous producers to take "pure" olive oil, adjust the
pH with lye, and sell it as extra-virgin. So, be careful when buying extra
virgin olive oil. Jaffe Bros., a well known mail order company, carries an
excellent raw, unrefined sesame oil. Crude flax oil is available in health food
stores, but it spoils quickly and is very expensive. Hemp oil is available but
if made in the U.S., is made from heat-sterilized (cooked) seeds, and is very
expensive. Crude sunflower oil is available in some areas. Crude safflower oil
is available but its use is not recommended, as it is very drying to the skin.
Try using olive oil as hair conditioner for a week - apply some to head and hair
about an hour before shampooing. You might not want to use commercial
conditioners again, as the oil is very soothing and makes your hair beautiful.
(Caution: dripping oil can stain clothing, carpets, furniture.) The one oil
that is usually available only as refined oil is castor oil (some castor oil has
minimal processing). Crude castor oil is available in India, and is highly
purgative. Almond oil is often refined as it is usually made from tropical,
bitter almonds (rather than the sweet almonds grown in temperate zones), and
the skin of tropical almonds is very high in tannins and other alkaloids -
hence refining is appropriate.
** Reader comment: flaxseed oil turns rancid in a few hours, other oils take
** only a little while longer to turn rancid. All oils are rancid!
Paavo Airola claims that flaxseed oil goes rancid in only 4 hours. I recall
seeing a comment by Udo Erasmus, author of "Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill",
that flaxseed oil is nutritionally worthless (fatty acids degrade) only 15
minutes after extraction! This suggests that the best way to get essential fatty
acids from flaxseed is to soak the seeds overnight in water (in refrigerator)
and add them to sprout milk (in blender). As flaxseed oil is very expensive,
using soaked flaxseed is a much cheaper alternative.
Some raw fooders are very negative on oils and claim that all oils are rancid.
Certainly, your nose and taste buds can readily detect rancid oils and nuts/
seeds. The truth is that most extracted oils are stable for months; it takes
several months for most oils to actually turn rancid. Here, I mean specifically
that the oil does not go rancid, as detected by your nose and/or taste buds,
very quickly (assuming good storage conditions). There are some oils that go
rancid quickly - e.g., flax as mentioned above.
Further I would note the use of oils in Ayurveda. Oils are heavily used there
for medicinal purposes. One use that stands out is the cleansing therapy called
Pancha Karma. In Pancha Karma, large amounts of vegetable oils are eaten for
days (usually sesame oil), which is then followed by several days of oil massage
(during which time no oils are eaten). Pancha Karma includes many other
components, such as herbs, diet, enemas, purgation, etc. Anyway the point here
is that oils are used in of all things, a cleansing program, one that works
extremely well. (I know several people who have done Pancha Karma and it helped
them greatly). So I think the fear of oils and belief that all oils are rancid
and bad is misplaced and inaccurate.
Gabriel Cousens wrote an article in "New Frontiers" magazine a few years ago
defending raw "fats" (oils, oily foods), saying basically that raw fats are OK
and some are good, cooked fats are not so good (and of course hydrogenated fats
are, in effect, plastic and are very bad for you).
Further, Your brain tissue and the myelin sheath that coats the nervous system
are both predominantly fatty tissue. (However, one does not need to eat fat to
produce fatty tissues.) The point here is that you actually need some fat in
your body!
In closing I would repeat that although eating extracted oils is bad for many
(very hard to digest), they can be very good for your skin and hair. If you have
dry skin, a sesame oil massage once a week might reduce that problem. It can
also increase your flexibility (in yoga and other exercises).
Tom Billings
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