Part Five: 'Minor' Ingredients in Oils

Besides EFAs, oil-soluble 'minor' ingredients present in seeds and fresh, unrefined oils deserve attention. They are MINOR in the amounts present in oils (about 2%), but MAJOR in their benefits to health - SMALL in the ingredient list, but BIG in their results. Their power should not be underestimated.

Unrefined (natural food trade) oils packaged in brown glass contain these minor ingredients. Refined (supermarket, colorless, odorless, tasteless) oils have lost most of the minor ingredients by degumming, refining, and bleaching.

'Minor' ingredients, found in unrefined seed and nut oils, can:

• lower cholesterol, and block cholesterol absorption from foods
  
• improve cardiovascular function
  
• have powerful anti-cancer properties
  
• improve digestion, and stimulate pancreatic enzyme production
  
• improve liver and gall bladder function, and increase bile flow
  
• act as anti-oxidants & stabilize EFAs against oxidation (rancidity)
  
• act as anti-inflammatory agents
  
• protect visual function, and improve brain (CNS) function
  

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Hundreds of different 'minor' ingredients (phytochemicals) are found in different oils. For instance, the benefits of traditional extra virgin (green) olive oil on health are based on its 'minor' ingredients, which improve liver and gall bladder function, digestion, and cardiovascular function.

Extra virgin olive oil is a poor source of EFAs-no omega 3s and only about 10% omega 6s. 88% of what extra virgin olive oil contains-saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids-are unnecessary because the body can make them from sugar and starch. If these were health-making, eating white sugar or white flour should be able to keep us healthy.

The other major benefit of using extra virgin olive oil is that it has not been destructively processed, and therefore does not contain the kinds of toxic molecules one finds in colorless, odorless, tasteless oils found so abundantly today.