Weezl and friends Phase 3 - sitting pretty with Kitty

maltesers_2

NualaBuala wrote: »

Yes Sami_Bee, rapeseed oil is a good source of omega 3, it's not added in. Here's a link to good info about it: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/omega3.html


Edit: hope you guys don't mind me jumping in about that, it's something I'm quite interested in.

Me too!

But Vegsoc also says:

Although rapeseed oil is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids, it should not be heated and preferably only used as cold-pressed. Both essential fatty acids can easily generate free radicals once they are subjected to heat, light and oxygen. For cooking it is better to use oils high in mono-unsaturated fats such as olive or groundnut. For the same reasons flaxseed oil is best purchased in dark bottles and stored away from heat or light.

Apricot

Weezl - because I am very lazy, any chance of a search box on CFR website?
So I can search one ingredient and see what recipes come up?

I don't know how difficult it is to do but when im looking for a recipe on any site I usually just search by an ingrediant.

Allegra

princessleah_ wrote: »

Weezl - because I am very lazy, any chance of a search box on CFR website?
So I can search one ingredient and see what recipes come up?

I don't know how difficult it is to do but when im looking for a recipe on any site I usually just search by an ingrediant.

Hello Princess Leah The question has been asked a few days back, and here's what Weezlie had to say about it at the time:

I think a search box would be very useful. At the mo, I lack the skills to make one, but I'm going to have a think about the best way. If you or anyone reading who cares about the project are willing to offer any techno advice on that I'm very willing to take it

weezl74

maltesers wrote: »

Me too!

But Vegsoc also says:

Although rapeseed oil is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids, it should not be heated and preferably only used as cold-pressed. Both essential fatty acids can easily generate free radicals once they are subjected to heat, light and oxygen. For cooking it is better to use oils high in mono-unsaturated fats such as olive or groundnut. For the same reasons flaxseed oil is best purchased in dark bottles and stored away from heat or light.

hello! long time no see

we looked into this a lot, trying to find a definitive answer to the temperature at which the good omegas in rapeseed oil breakdown. Most sources suggested that an oven-baking temp, gas 6 or below preserved up to 95% of the good omegas. That said, I still wanted to play it super safe, and so the amounts in both planners which are UTTERLY UNHEATED (not shouting, emphasis ) ie just drizzled raw into hummus or mayo etc in both shirl and kitty's planners is still enough to fulfil this family's omega 3 needs.

Obviously tho this was a lengthy bit of research I have no dietetics qualification, and so if anyone looks into this for themself and is unsure, then obviously they are very welcome to add in fish or whatever else they like. In fact I'd be surprised if any of our devotees are able to follow exactly because our lives ages and stages are all so very different to follow it to the letter.

weezl74

additional thoughts (sorry had to change a nappy)

I understand that the issue with heating the oils is that an oil which is rich in omega 3 will have a lower temperature smoke point (ie where u will begin to see a bluish sheen, and a faint black smoke) when you get to that temperature. This is said to be both the point where the omegas break down.

very little of the oil in the cfr recipes is heated in this way, and none of that oil (as in my post above) has been counted for omega 3 purposes.

this quote:

Omega 3 Cooking Oils
There are several types of omega 3 cooking oil available, from canola to pumpkin seed to walnut to flaxseed. How do you know which one to choose? Here are six things to consider when choosing omega 3 cooking oils.

1. Purpose: What are you going to use the oil for? The higher the omega 3 content of an oil, the lower its smoke point. The smoke point is the temperature at which the oil starts to break down into other—sometimes toxic—substances. Oils that are very high in omega 3, such as flaxseed oil, are best added to foods after cooking. They make wonderful salad oils. Oils that have less omega 3 in them, such as canola oil, can be used for saut!ing—rapidly cooking things at relatively low temperatures. Omega 3 oils are not suitable for cooking methods that require high heats.

sourced from this site explains better what I mean: http://www.mind1st.co.uk/Cooking-Oils-Amount-of-Omega-3.asp

weezl74

allegra, I don't suppose with your fabby referencing memory you can remind me when it was (ie where in which fred ) that we did the research on heating the oils and what amount needed to be raw?

Allegra

Fred the First, about 10 days into the project. No time to look for the pertinent bits of the discussion atm, but the start of it is round about here, if anyone does have the time to spare atm

maltesers_2

Hi again! Been off fighting cancer for a while with radical radiotherapy.

Sorry but I'm neurotic about vegetable oils and free radicals. Unfortunately all cheap vegetable oils are heat treated in production so the damage is already done before we touch it.

Asda's vegetable oil may be 'pure rapeseed oil' but it is refined NOT cold pressed.

This came from a advertiser's website but is geneally accepted as what happens in mass production.

"Refined rapeseed oil can be found in many mixed vegetable oils and is used in a wide variety of prepared foods and ready meals. This oil is worlds apart from the oil we produce however, refined oils are produced from seeds that are crushed at high temperatures, with solvents used to remove every last drop of oil from the seed. The oil is then distilled to remove the solvent, bleached to remove the colour, then treated with a mix of chemicals to remove the flavour and odour. The result is an oil that is indistinguishable from any other oil; an oil with none of the character of natural, pure rapeseed oil.

I'm also sorry to inform you that Elmlea 'cream' has a very high percentage of trans fats (hydrogenated fat) far far more than recommended as acceptable so should come with a health warning.

mardatha

Can you tell me what that means about Elmlea ? if nec in a PM ? We just started the Bernstein diet and his recipes use a lot of cream - Elmlea is the cheapest eh ...:(

weezl74

maltesers, I hope you are feeling as ok as is possible to despite the invasive intense treatment.

As I say, I am completely happy for everyone to make up their own minds in connection with this oil situation, but so that people can be in posession of the facts we took into consideration, I have been using Mccance and Widdowson nutrient database as my reference point, as it uses ingredients from uk supermarkets. Also I contacted the dietetics department here in cardiff to check which database they use and they named this one as chosen by the vast majority of NHS dieticians.

Here are my findings, whilst I agree with your link above that some of the omega 3 fatty acids are lost compared to the cold-pressed method, there is 9.6% omega 3 in the cold-pressed oil, vs 6.5% in standard vegetable oil blends.

However, since this is only a loss of a third (the difference of a teaspoon per person per day) of the fatty acids, I personally am still happy to see the oil as the key deliverer of the required amounts of the omega 3.

My issue mainly with the source above is that the claim is made by someone trying to sell us the more expensive cold-pressed oil, rather than using widely available nutritional objective (non-advertising) sources.

edited to add: for the database to dowload and look at yourself, also a full explanation of the data sources used: http://www.food.gov.uk/science/dietarysurveys/dietsurveys/