I was wondering what you guys thought of the soy bean oil in commercial salad dressings? Since soy protein contains estrogen contributing phytochemicals, does anyone know if soy bean oil contains any of these same substances?
This is an area that, frankly, I had not really considered before.
So, anyone feel like shareing their favorite homemade sald dressing recipes using EFA oil(s)?
Thanks,
Crowbar
I second the wondering about soybean oil.
I’m not sure about estrogens, but after reading some of the stuff here about fats, and the importance of the ratios of omega-3s, 6s, monounsaturated, and saturated fat in the diet, I’d be concerned about the excessive amount of omega-6 in the soybean oil.
I dunno if I could take the taste of EFA oil in salad dressing- rather just take it as a shot, but olive oil is a great choice as a base for homemade dressings and mayo and whatever else they like to make with soybean oil. The monounsaturated fat is definately something you want in your diet. If you don’t like a strong olive oil flavor there are varieties that are very light and basically tasteless.
Nick
You can use EFA’s such as Udo’s or Flax oil just fine in your salads. I use Udo’s, although it’s a bit expensive (I’ve got a good source however).
One word of caution. Don’t premix large quantities. The acid in the vinegar will cause the oil to oxidize prematurely, losing much of the benefit of the oil.
TD
[quote]crowbar524 wrote:
Since soy protein contains estrogen contributing phytochemicals, does anyone know if soy bean oil contains any of these same substances?[/quote]
It doesn’t. Those concerned about phytoestrogens can feel perfectly safe in using fluid extracts of soybeans, including soybean oil and soy sauce.
Soybean oil has trans fat! Avoid them at all costs! It’s extremely cheap to make so that’s why you see them EVERYWHERE in thousands of food products. You’d have to look really hard for salad dressing with olive oil instead of soybean oil so I opted for making my own italian dressing which is cheaper that way. Vegetable oil is basically soybean oil, corn oil, etc and have very high ratio of omega 6s to 3s so avoid them. Stick with extra olive oil for majority of uses like salad, baking, frying, etc. Save flax seed oil or others for straight up consumption to ensure that you consumed entirely. It’s a waste on salads and others cuz you won’t get all of them. I don’t like the way flaxseed oil tasted in my protein shakes so i just use shot glass for that. Another excellent oil/fat is virgin coconut oil/butter which is extremely stable and healthy and can be used in place of vegetable oil for cooking or baking. Butter is a good alternative to vegetable oils although it’s hard to find grass feed based RAW butter which is much better than the grain feed pasterized types.
[quote]Tungsten wrote:
Soybean oil has trans fat! Avoid them at all costs![/quote]
Does it really? To a significant degree?
And I mean soybean oil that hasn’t been partially hydrogenated. If it’s liquid soybean oil, as in a salad dressing, is there trans-fat?
I haven’t yet read anything that would lead me to get too worried about oil that hasn’t been through the hydrogenation process.
As a practical matter, I rarely eat processed products with soybean oil anyway, but I like to keep up on all the secret trans-fat stashes that the food producers have devised.
Nick