Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Healthy, Environmentally-Sustainable Oil?



Recently I made the switch from using olive oil to mostly using Grapeseed oil. I was curious about the flavor, but the flavor is great...kind of earthy and nutty, but light. It's very pleasant. Many cooks prefer it because it has a high smoke point, meaning you can cook at higher temperatures without the oil smoking too much.

Grapeseed Oil requires no new farmland, water, or other natural resources because it uses the grape seeds from the wine-making process. This means that it's environmentally sound and sustainable.

Also, grapeseed oil is 75% Omega 6 fatty acid and contains the most heart-healthy mono and poly-unsaturated fats among all the vegetable oils. It has half of the saturated fat of olive oil, as well.

Oils are often quite expensive but I bought a bottle of grapeseed oil the size of a wine bottle for only US$7.00 at Whole Foods. That's less than most olive oils.

1 comment:

Shelle said...

Oooh! That's REALLY good to know! I might make a switch from veg. oil to grapeseed. Not a huge fan of olive oil. It tasts SO heavy to me.