More than a decade ago, Bhavani (Holly) Lev of Organic India from Lucknow – one of the producers of the finest range of organic tulsi teas worldwide – asked me if I could locate some “cold-pressed” edible oil for her. I tried, I couldn’t.

Today the situation is vastly different and one can get a range of edible oils in the market that are “cold-pressed.” Of all these oils, organically produced cold-pressed oil is the most expensive solely because of its stupendous health endowments, flavour and richness. Now what exactly is cold-pressed oil?

Earlier, when life was simple and we were sane, we would produce our edible oils in contraptions called “ghanis”. The ghani was nothing but a long cylindrical chamber carved out of wood, housing a giant pestle and powered by a bullock on auto-pilot. Oil seeds in the cylinder were gradually crushed by the rotating pestle till most of the oil came out through openings at the base. The residue was called “oil-cake” and this was good meal for the bullock and for the cows at home since some oil remained in the residue and the cows returned it in the form of fatty milk.

The interesting thing about ghanis – still be found operating in several places – is they do not pre-heat or heat up the oilseeds they process. The oil they generate is therefore the original “cold-pressed” oil. If it is not sent onwards for “refining”, it remains one of the most perfect of edible oils available.

I have found that every time we depart from our traditions and our time-tested ways, we invariably depart from science and from practices that are unshakeably sound for health.

The other way of removing oil from oilseeds – the “modern” way – is heating them. You first crush the oilseeds, then heat the pulp, thereafter submit the hot mass to a lot of pressure. This extracts practically all the oil (leaving nothing for the bullock or cow except tasteless cud). However, since more oil is extracted, the oil is cheaper.

Modern oil expellers may heat oilseed pulp to 230 degree C which effectively scars the oil for its life. There are, of course, oil expellers which do not apply any external heat to the oilseeds. In such cases, the action of the expeller working on the pulp or the oilseed will generate some heat. Provided the heat does not exceed 27 degree C, European norms allow such oils to be sold as “cold-pressed” which is fine.

After oil is extracted from the oilseed through the modern method, it is further “refined” in plants. Paralleling what happens with the “processing” of white sugar and white wheat flour or maida, the oil refining process invariably removes all the good things in the oil. Some of the elements destroyed by “refining” processes are omega-3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Also added during refining are chemicals to keep the oil from going rancid so that supermarkets can keep it longer on their shelves. That’s the main consideration for refining it appears.

Educated, middle class urban consumers take easily to words like “refined,” as it implies the oil is more sophisticated, superior, civilised, modern, whatnot. Nutritionally speaking, refined oil is not only a poor cousin to unprocessed, cold-pressed oil, it is harmful for another reason. Advertisers glorify these refined and superrefined oils as “safe”, so one naturally loses one’s guard against consuming too much oil and indulges oneself instead!

Where does one get cold-pressed oils? Most of the output of traditional ghanis comes to the Khadi and Village Industries (KVIC) stores. Buy it from there. Or from organic or green shops.

I encourage my friends to source good things in life like organically grown cereals or cold pressed oils and hand these out as gifts and presents in place of the items that you are normally forced to buy even when you’re not sure whether they’ll be appreciated. A good bottle of unprocessed (or unrefined) cold pressed edible oil (coconut, groundnut, olive, til or mustard) is a priceless gift. You can give it to family, friends and relatives and feel good because you are taking care of their hearts as well.

(Prevention Magazine, May 2010)