Daily Tip

Is sesame oil nutritionally different from sesame seeds?

Yes, sesame oil is nutritionally different from sesame seeds. Any oil will be vastly different in terms of its nutrient content than the food from which it was derived. That is because the oil is only an isolated portion of the whole food. For example, sesame oil does contain the fatty acids found in sesame seeds as well as the vitamin E, phytosterols, and (sometimes) lignans, but it doesn’t contain any of the other vitamins, minerals, or amino acids that sesame seeds contain. You’ll get worthwhile amounts of the minerals copper, manganese, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc from a tablespoon of sesame seeds, but you won’t get any of them from a tablespoon of sesame oil. You’ll also get vitamin B1, fiber, and the amino acid tryptophan from the seeds, but not from the oil.

The above nutritional rules apply to all whole foods (versus isolated food parts, like oils). You will always receive superior nutrition from whole, unprocessed foods—one of the main reasons I emphasize them so heavily in my book, The WHF.

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