About
Credé Natural
Oils
Credé Natural Oils, based in Somerset West, is South Africa’s leading
manufacturer of cold-pressed natural and organic oils. Since 1989, we have
been pioneering the production and distribution of cold-pressed oils for food,
nutrition and cosmetic purposes. Today, we are South Africa’s most trusted
brand of natural oils, and continue to offer high-quality, innovative oil products
at affordable prices.
 Credé Natural Oils was founded in 1989 by Jutta and Helfried Credé, a German
couple that had settled in South Africa a few years earlier with their seven
children. The original purpose of the business was to produce and distribute
cold-pressed jojoba oil, made from the jojoba beans grown on the Credé’s
pioneering jojoba farm, outside Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. In those days,
cold-pressed oils were largely unkown, and no established producers existed
in South Africa. Over the years, in response to increasing demand from health
shops, Credé Natural Oils moved well beyond jojoba oil. First
to follow were sesame, sunflower, peanut and canola oil. Flax, borage, black
cumin, apricot
kernel and other oils were added later. Today, Credé Natural Oils sells
more than 20 different cold-pressed oil products, including the recently introduced
range of Organic oils.
Essential Nutrients
There are 48 essential nutrients that the human body needs. Essential nutrients
are substances that
The human body cannot function without
The human body cannot synthesize (make up) from other nutrients, i.e.
it must get the essential nutrient through its diet.
The 48 essential nutrients can be summarized as follows:
8 Amino acids (10 for children)
13 Vitamins
21 Minerals
2 Essential Fatty Acids
Water
Oxygen
Light
A Source of Energy
All people require an adequate intake of these essential nutrients to maintain
good health. Deficiency in essential nutrients can lead to health problems,
at which point a change in diet or supplementation of the missing nutrients
is recommended. While all 48 essential nutrients are important, we will naturally
focus here on the two essential nutrients commonly found in fish and plant
oils, the essential fatty acids.
Essential Fatty Acids
There are many different fatty acids, but only two of them are essential fatty
acids. The two essential fatty acids are:
Alphalinoleic acid (ALA – an omega 3 fatty acid)
Linolenic acid (LA – an omega 6 fatty acid)
The body requires an adequate intake of these two essential fatty acids to
maintain optimum health. When classifying fatty acids into essential fatty
acids and non-essential fatty acids, two misconceptions exist:
Omega 9 fatty acids are not essential, since they can be synthesized
by the body using ALA and LA.
Not all omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are essential. For example,
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosapentaenoic acid (DHA) are two omega 3
fatty acids found
in oily fish (salmon, mackerel, etc). However, since EPA and DHA can both be
synthesized from ALA, they are not considered essential.
Deficiency
It is easy to be deficient in ALA (omega 3) since it is very sensitive to destruction
by heat and oxygen. This means that little of the ALA in natural foods remains
in the heated, processed foods that many of us consume. Consequently, some
researchers estimate that as many as 95% of people consuming modern “Western” diets
are deficient in ALA. The symptoms of ALA deficiency are wide-ranging, and
include:
Poor brain function
Depression
Unhealthy skin, hair, nails
Arthritis
Increased LDL cholesterol
ADHD
There are also indications that ALA deficiency plays a role in the high incidence
of cardiovascular problems.
The issue of LA deficiency is less clear, since many nutritionists argue that
we already consume enough LA in our “modern” diets. This is possible
because LA is a more robust fatty acid than ALA, and can withstand heat and
processing a little better than ALA.
Supplementation
It is very common for nutritionists to recommend supplementing omega 3 EFAs
on a daily basis. The flax seed is the richest natural source of ALA, so flax
oil has naturally become a very popular way to supplement ALA. Other oils rich
in ALA include hemp oil and walnut oil.
One school of thought argues that people should focus on consuming fatty acids
in the correct ratios, which is why oil blends have become popular in recent
years. According to this line of thinking, the “optimal intake” of
omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids is in the ratio 2:1:1 respectively. Others argue
that, since we already consume enough omega 6 and 9 fatty acids in our daily
diet, further supplementation of these fatty acids is unnecessary. Instead,
they recommend using only flax oil.
Fish oils
Fish oils are a popular way to supplement fatty acids, usually in capsule form.
These oils are rich in EPA and DHA, which the body otherwise synthesizes from
ALA. Fish oils can be a useful way to supplement EPA and DHA, since it takes
a lot of ALA to form these more complex fatty acids. However, supplementing
only EPA and DHA means that the intake of ALA remains low. This in turn may
mean that fish oils are an incomplete solution to EFA deficiency.
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Cold-Pressed Flax Oil
Cold-pressed flax oil is
the richest natural source of omega 3 essential fatty acids with
the following known benefits:
• Lowers cholesterol
• Aids weight loss
• Boosts brain function
• Strengthens the immune system
• Rejuvinates skin, hair and nails
• Helps alleviate symptoms of ADHD
Read more...
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