OILS AND FATS – REFINING AND SOLIDIFYING
Oils and fats have not escaped being tampered with either. By being refined and solidified, and by having emulsifiers added, they have received a bad name, and rightly so. Not only polyunsaturated fatty acids, but the whole structure of natural products with all their known and still undiscovered qualities, has been thrown off balance. Every oil or fat, left as nature made it, would provide us with what we need to meet our nutritional requirements. It is only when we interfere by introducing chemical and technical methods in the manufacturing process that damage is done and loss of value ensues. More often than not these interferences cause health problems. Of course, oils have been refined, and their taste improved, for many years, but simpler methods were used in the past. Oil was refined by means of wood ashes, because their alkaline substances removed some of the excess acid in the oil, thereby improving its taste. A further advantage of the old methods was that large quantities of oil were not stored, but a fresh supply was pressed from time to time. Oil-bearing fruits keep longer than the oil once extracted.
It is especially harmful when fats are hardened by electrolysis, as metal salts are used in the process. Although this method destroys much of the goodness in the natural product, this is not the only bad result. The traces of metal salts remaining in the oil can cause further damage to health by acting like poisons in homoeopathic potencies. Scientific research, as well as information disseminated by groups promoting a more natural way of life, have accomplished a great deal of good by encouraging greater awareness of these problems in recent years.
*1055/28/1*
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