Microthought #
5: Cottonseed Oil
The other day I was listening to a doctor on TV talking about
health and the right foods to eat. I was impressed when he pointed out
that we have two big enemies; #1 Fats and #2 lack of exercise. But
I was shocked that he didn't mention chemicals that are put in our food.
Some labels on food read like "who's who in a chemistry book."
Then he talked about the oils that we consume. He
mentioned corn oil, soybean oil, olive oil and a few others. It seems
that all of them have fat including the best one of all which is Olive oil (the
oil of God's people). But he never once mentioned cottonseed
oil. I wondered why.
Which brings me to my subject. As an old cotton farmer from
Mississippi, I have wondered for a long time about the widespread use of cottonseed
oil for human consumption. Cotton is a hot weather plant and highly
susceptible to insects such as the boll weevil and boll worms. Back in
the old days farmers used some of the most potent chemicals known to man on
their cotton crops to control these critters and as far as I know they still do
today. But, one might say, what does that hurt, after all cotton is grown
for making clothes. Some of the finest clothes are made of cotton.
The cotton grower reasons, "What harm
could come from harsh chemicals applied to a plant grown for making
CLOTHING?" On this score the farmer is right. So, all during
the growing season he sprays for insects when needed. However, is
cotton really a vegetable? If it is, and since we consume tons of
cottonseed oil, then maybe we should be eating the fluffy white fibers
too?
Cotton is harvested by machines and in order for machines to pick
the cotton from the plant the leaves have to be removed. Defoliating
chemicals are applied to the plant to knock the leaves off before the machines
can pick the cotton. At harvest time the cotton is white and fluffy and
if the chemical gets on the leaves it gets on the cotton
too because the defoliant is sprayed from airplanes and blown all
over the plants and all through the field. It seems logical to me that
these chemicals can soak right into the seed after being sprayed.
My dad owned a cotton gin which is a facility for separating the
seed from the lint. Then the lint cotton is baled and shipped to
textile mills for making clothing, and the seed are shipped to oil mills.
As I remember it, the oil mill crushes the seed making three products (1)
cottonseed oil, (2) cottonseed meal and (3) cottonseed hulls. Cattle
farmers used to feed cottonseed hulls and cottonseed meal to cattle.
Maybe they still do. If so, when we eat beef we may be getting a
residue from those chemicals. Most people never think of
the potential danger present in cottonseed oil because of the chemicals
sprayed on the plant while it's growing.
It seems logical to me that since we eat corn, then corn oil is
OK. We eat olives, so olive oil is OK. The same is true of peanut
oil and soybean oil. But do we eat cotton? Can you imagine eating
that wad of cotton that comes out of a vitamin bottle? Can you
imagine a fluffy cotton soufflé? Of course not! So why should we
consume the oil from its seed? Do you think cotton is a vegetable?
I don't, but that's my opinion. What's yours?
My wife and I read the labels on everything we purchase to
eat. If the label says "and/or cottonseed oil" we don't
buy it. When you start looking, don't be shocked when
you find it almost impossible to find products WITHOUT cottonseed
oil. But they're there if you'll just look hard enough.
In addition to cottonseed oil, we've read about aspartame
and canola oil. What about Sodium Fluoride in your drinking water and
your toothpaste? You have to go to a health food store to find a
toothpaste without Fluoride. Many think all of these things
are OK since the FDA has approved them all. But are they really good
for us? The average American consumes all of these things daily. Do
you suppose these things have anything to do with why so many people are
getting sick?? It's for you
to decide.
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6/14/2001