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Hemp Oil, in recent years, has become the ever-so-popular seed oil used to treat all sorts of ailments such as epilepsy, eczema, joint pain, and a whole lot of other diseases.
However, the question is, can I cook with hemp oil?
Let’s look at the information below to learn about the uses of hemp oil and its benefits!
Is it Ok to Cook with Hemp Oil?
Hemp oil properties are not only used for remedies. It is packed with health-boosting nutrients like omega-3 and omega-6 fats, along with vital amino acids. It is derived from extracting the oil from the hemp plant, which is a cannabis plant that contains almost no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Although THC is an ingredient that gets people stoned, it contains cannabidiol (CBD) which helps with most illnesses.
The extraction process involves cold pressing the hemp seeds and removing all forms of CBD, making it ok to use in various recipes or applications.
Many people add the oil to their favorite dishes giving them a distinguished nutty taste. Like olive oil or other healthy nut oils, hemp oil is becoming one of the best available options.
What Happens if You Heat Hemp Oil?
There are many ways to use hemp oil, but heating it at high temperatures should be avoided entirely. Hemp oil has a low smoke point, meaning it will burn at temperatures of 330 F or higher.
Remember, it’s not the typical vegetable cooking oil you use daily to fry your chicken or cook veggie dishes. Therefore, it is best used in cold or slightly warm food dishes.
However, please don’t fret, as serving it this way still gives you that wholesome taste that is neither overpowering nor changes the consistency of recipes.
The trick is to know how to use it. After that, it will become a staple ingredient in many recipes. Remember, high-temperature cooking with hemp oil is not recommended. It can mess up the nutritional content and change the dish’s taste.
Can You Use Hemp Oil in a Stir Fry?
While it is not advisable to stir fry with hemp, you can add it as a garnishing ingredient for extra flavor. Prepare your stir fry by adding in your peanut or other vegetable oil. Then, add in your veggies and cook until crisp and tender.
After that, add your preferred cooked meat, ginger, and crushed garlic, your selected sauces (soy sauce, broth, honey, etc.), and turn down the heat while it simmers.
The final touch before serving is to add your cooked rice noodles, sesame seeds, spring onions, and a drizzle of hemp oil.
You will receive the full benefits of the nutrients in unsaturated fats, which will help reduce cholesterol, heal damaged cells, and reduce inflammation. Plus, the positive part is that hemp oil has a remarkable amount of protein and iron.
This way, you not only gain by eating healthy, but your body will get sufficient minerals and vitamins from adding hemp oil.
How Do You Use Hemp Oil?
There are many other beneficial ways to use hemp oil. Although the list is endless, here are a few valuable tips.
- You can use hemp oil in your favorite day-to-day dishes or other delicious recipes you may want to try.
- Make a salad with a delicious dressing by adding the oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar with a dash of lime, and drizzle over.
- Roast veggies or potatoes and toss with hemp oil before serving.
- You could make pretty good smoothies with hemp oil. Add all the ingredients for a smoothie and blend it with a dash of hemp oil. The smoothie will give you the energy to go the extra mile with the added nourishment.
- It is advisable not to use hemp oil for baking. It is best to do no-bake protein bars or no-bake cookies instead. If you have to bake at a temperature higher than 330 F, the oil will burn, altering the taste of your baked goods. Along with all your ingredients for making protein bars, you can add hemp oil to combine the final product.
- Apply it topically to your skin. You can use it to treat several skin conditions, such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema, or use it as a nourishing moisturizer for your face. With the richness of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which include omega-6 and omega-3, the benefits are endless.
- It can be consumed to help you with various chronic diseases. When ingested, hemp oil can help treat cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, joint pain, cancer, and inflammation, to name a few.
- The nutritional content of hemp oil is rich in linoleic acid. Research shows that consuming it helps lower cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and blood pressure.
Browsing the internet for recipes featuring hemp oil is easy. Many sites offer countless options. So, you can try a different recipe every other day.
Should Hemp Oil be refrigerated?
As with many food products, we are advised to refrigerate once opened. However, this doesn’t necessarily work with oils, especially hemp oil. It doesn’t need to be kept in a refrigerator but rather in a pantry or grocery cupboard that is cool and dark.
There are many pros and cons to the storage of hemp oil. Different people have different views on prolonging the life span of the oil. Some agree that refrigerating hemp oil will extend its shelf life, especially if you buy it in bulk.
The discretion is entirely up to the individual on how long they tend to use or keep it.
Which Oils are Good for Cooking?
Oils are used for cooking on a daily basis by many people worldwide. However, which ones are good choices for cooking? Seeing that oil can be used to prepare a variety of dishes, using the best ones is beneficial to your health and the taste of your food.
When choosing oil to cook with, there are several things that you should take into consideration. These include the changes in the oil once it’s heated and whether the taste and health benefits remain the same. The reason that this information is vital is that cooking oils differ in heat tolerance.
While some oils have a very high smoke point, there are others that don’t.
For the oil to maintain its stability, cooking at a temperature higher than its smoke point can prove dangerous. Therefore, it is advisable to not never use oils at higher than the recommended smoke points.
Here is a list of good cooking oils after taking everything into consideration:
- Olive Oil – has many positive health benefits and is good for cooking. Although it has a lower smoke point of 350 F compared to other oils, it is used in many recipes.
- Avocado Oil – is excellent for deep frying as it has a smoke point of 520 F. It is also good for your health as it contains oleic acid which is great to maintain heart health.
- Sesame Oil – is often used in Asian cuisine and has a smoke point of 420 F. Aside from enhancing the taste of your dish, it also has several health benefits. It is high in antioxidants that are beneficial to heart health.
- Safflower Oil – has a smoke point of 510 F, making it great for cooking. It also has several health benefits as it is low in saturated fats. Most people use it in their cooking because of its neutral flavor. It is excellent for all-around cooking especially for frying, adding it in sauces, and barbequing.
With that said, the oils that you should avoid for high-heat cooking include walnut oil, palm oil, fish oil, algae oil, and flax oil. The reason for this is that they have very low smoke points.
Conclusion
Whichever way we see it, Hemp Oil has some advantages and disadvantages. From the countless health benefits and remedies to the vast number of recipes, the popularity of this product is increasing daily. Many scientific tests have been conducted to give the benefits of using hemp oil.
However, there are a few words of precaution as well from these scientists.
Hemp oil may not always agree with some people, and having potential dangers to its uses. Some risks include irritability to the skin when applied topically. These symptoms can be from an allergic reaction. Another issue is experiencing diarrhea from consuming it, as some have complained of an upset tummy.
Recommendations are that it should be introduced in small amounts into your diet.
Remember, every individual has a different reaction to using hemp oil. The best advice to follow is that of a knowledgeable health care provider who has studied hemp oil’s uses and possible dangers.
They could provide all the information to enrich your mind along with the dosage that provides the best possible outcome of the benefits of hemp oil.
Photo Credits :
Cbd photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
Fresh food photo created by luis_molinero – www.freepik.com
