EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE POWERS OF SUNFLOWER OIL
When you look outside, it can sometimes be easy to lump all of nature into one category. Everything that is of the planet is part of nature, and it’s a beautiful thing. Of course, every individual substance and compound is different from the next, and they all have different properties and compositions that make them unique.
Many of those natural substances have very significant health benefits, whether that be for the hair, skin, or body. In fact, many of the plants you see everyday produce powerful natural substances that can change the way you look at natural skin and health care.
WHAT IS SUNFLOWER OIL?
Everybody knows what a sunflower is; in fact, it may be one of the most popular types of flowers. When something becomes so incredibly mainstream, it’s easy to get used to seeing it in a certain light. With that said, sunflowers are actually very powerful plants that can be used to create an oil that can provide many significant health benefits.
While not all sunflower oil is the same, it is generally a very healthy oil that can be used for many different purposes. You may have even seen a version of it listed as an ingredient in many of the foods you eat.
Sunflower oil, or sunflower seed oil, is extracted from the seeds of the sunflower plant, scientifically or botanically known as Helianthus annuus. Its popularity today can be attributed to its use for cooking purposes, both heated and raw. The oil is very healthy, mostly due to its low levels of saturated fats and high levels of unsaturated fats.
With that said, you need to be careful of what sunflower oil you consume, as some may have been processed in ways that could make it harmful to your body.
Sunflower seed oil, much like the flower itself, has a color that ranges from deep to pale yellow, depending on how the oil was extracted from the seeds of the flower. It has a very mild taste, which is why it is such a popular cooking oil in comparison to other heavier vegetable oils.
Many people describe the taste of sunflower oil as “fatty.” With that said, its smell and taste are affected by how the oil is extracted, as well as by any processing it has gone through and the temperature at which it has been cooked. Unrefined oils tend to have a stronger smell and taste.
Sunflower seed oil can be extracted in one of two ways, either through cold pressing or chemical extraction. Of the two, cold pressing is the better extraction method to get the most out of the oil in terms of its natural health benefits. In cold press extraction, the seeds are pressed together until the oil is released.
On the other hand, chemical extraction employs the use of various chemical compounds that help pull the oil from the seeds. This method generally produces an oil that is more stable when exposed to heat, but it dilutes the health benefits of the oil.
THE NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF SUNFLOWER OIL
Sunflower seed oil is rich in many healthy fats, which is what gives it most of its significant health benefits. These healthy fats include palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, and oleic acid. There are also high levels of lecithin, tocopherols, carotenoids, and different vitamins, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E found in sunflower oil. In addition, the oil is also rich in calcium, zinc, iron, copper, and proteins.
THE BENEFITS OF USING SUNFLOWER OIL
The high concentration of many different nutrients that can be found in sunflower oil makes it a significantly beneficial oil to use in both health and skincare practices. With that said, it’s important that you check where your sunflower seed oil came from and how it was processed.