Tom:
>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.

I have mentioned in passing my limited experiments with extracted oils, but
never in much detail. Of course, I ate them instincto (looking for a stop).
I found that EV olive oil had a stop, probably "late" but still definate. A
rising  peppery taste (unpleasant) usually occurred after a couple
spoonfuls. The stop is somewhat reminiscent of the quicker stop with whole
olives, though whole olives semm to have a more "tannin-like" stop (ala
acorns) along with the peppery flavor. After a couple months using EV olive
oil a couple times per week on salads, and (interestingly) just after my
second "dose" of raw butter, and (interestingly i the context of of four or
five pounds of fatty wild salmon per week, olive oil suddenly tasted
_horrible_, like furniture polish. This has been true for a month now and I
am hardly even sniffing it weekly anymore. I dont know what to make of it.
However, I had no trouble digesting it, straight or with veggies.

We have a bottle of "extra virgin" sesame oil which has never
smelled/tasted good enough to swallow.

Cod liver oil (Twinlab's Dale Alexander brand, probably fish oil more than
cod liver oil but I'm not sure--and probably farmed! :() has a very clear
taste change, though I could care less about it when I have a good source
of fish as I do presently.

>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.

First I've ever heard of this. Depressing, but it makes sense given the
huge disparity in prices in EV olive oils. Still, I can't say I've ever
suspected a cheaper brand wasn't "right". EV olive oil never tasted the
same way twice, even the same brand.

>** 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!

>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.

I'm not clear what you think on this Tom. Was the reader comment someone
else speaking?

>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!

RAFfats may be the primary macronutrient of importance these days, if for
no other reason than most of us grew up w/o consuming any. And perhaps
RAFfat is useful in detoxing/renormalizing one's metabolism after years of
cooked animal fat (and refined/superheated) veggie oils.

>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).

I'm pretty excited that raw olive oil and butter both are now unattractive
to me after a short time of consumption. Perhaps one day avos will fall off
as dramatically. We'll see, but in the mean time I am eating limited avos
only on days that I have no RAF...

Cheers,
Kirt