Some of the important health benefits of vegetable oil in your child’s  include brain development, reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, home remedy for cold and congestion, improves metabolism and blood circulation, promote good oral health, cleans the liver and builds a strong immune system.

What is vegetable oil?

A vegetable oil is a triglyceride extracted from a plant. The term “vegetable oil” can be narrowly defined as referring only to plant oils that are liquid at room temperature, or broadly defined without regard to a substance’s state of matter at a given temperature. For this reason, vegetable oils that are solid at room temperature are sometimes called vegetable fats. In contrast to these triglycerides, vegetable waxes lack glycerin in their structure. Although many plant parts may yield oil, in commercial practice, oil is extracted primarily from seeds.

11 Amazing Benefits of  Vegetable Oil for Kids

Listed below are eleven health benefits for your child by adding vegetable oils in his/ her diet.

Brain development

Omega-3s are essential for the brain to grow properly. This is particularly relevant during gestation and childhood when the brain is undergoing periods of critical development. Vegetable oils like Flax seed oil (vegan) are rich in Omega-3s. They are also anti-inflammatory, which offers numerous health benefits throughout the body, helping support your child’s cardiovascular, endocrine and digestive systems.

Reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases in your child

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the most frequently found forms of fat in vegetable oils. Polyunsaturated fats help lower bad cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in your child. Further, the presence of vitamin E in the oils helps in preventing heart diseases and eliminating blood clots, which are the cause of heart ailments. In modern lifestyles, heart problems have become common since childhood, hence vegetable oils is a safe and secure way to keep such disease away from your child.

Home remedy for cold and congestion

Vegetable oils like mustard oil are a natural home remedy for all kinds of cold, nasal and chest congestion for your child. Just heat mustard oil with garlic in it till they turn black. Let it cool down. Strain and use it for a massage on your child’s chest, back and feet. It provides relief in case of chest congestion too.

Better metabolism

In the modern times where junk food is causing obesity since childhood, did you know that adding coconut oil to your child’s diet can save him from this risk. Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid. It is comprised mostly of saturated fats. Most parents ask their kids to go running when they hear saturated fats. This is mostly due to the lipid hypothesis, which is out of date and has been disputed again and again. Coconut oil is not dangerous for your health, especially for your heart health. Rather it will enhance the metabolism rate of your child and will keep him away from most generic problems of modern life like obesity.

Improve blood circulation

Mustard oil not only has benefits for adults, but also for babies and kids. It is used to give children massages which improve blood circulation and help with muscle and bone growth. At a tender age, babies require an accurate amount of attention and care, and mustard oil which is a vegetable oil, helps them to grow in the best way. Mustard oil can be used as a skin moisturizer for your children plus it can treat rashes and infections.

Natural treatment for asthma and other respiratory problems

If your child is suffering from asthma or other breathing problems, then tea tree oil is best for you. Tea tree essential oil is most popularly used as a breathing aid for bronchitis sufferers. Working as an effective expectorant, it helps to remove the blocked mucus from the air passage of your child which causes wheezing and coughing. Vegetable oils like coconut oil or almond oil are best options to treat such problems in your child.

Builds a strong digestive system of your child

Vegetable oils like almond oil and coconut oil are easy on the digestive system and will not produce an insulin spike in the bloodstream of your child. The medium-chain fatty acids can also be absorbed easily in his digestive tract, compared to longer chain fatty acids found in polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

Promotes good oral health in your child

One study found that massaging coconut oil on your gums for 10 minutes a day, for at least three weeks. It has a significant effect on reducing plaque and decay-causing Streptococcus mutans. This is a safe and secure way to treat most of the dental problems of your child.

Read More: Oral Thrush- Causes, Symptoms, Risk & Natural Treatment

Cleans the liver

The liver performs a very important function for our body. It is necessary to maintain the prominent liver health of your child, and olive oil helps you do that. It cleans all of the internal systems. But sometimes you will need to detox the liver itself, and you can do this with olive oil. To get the best results, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of 1/3 lemon in a glass, and then ask your child to consume it.

Improves the Immune System

The fatty acids in the olive oil play a great part in different immune functions. Among them, the regulation and support of the immune system and even the treatment of autoimmune diseases are at the top. Adding olive oil into your child’s everyday diet will help him build a very strong immune system.

Reduces inflammation

Castor Oil is a good anti-inflammatory carrier oil to use for your child. In general, you should use up to 4 drops of essential oils for every tablespoon of carrier oil. You can mix different essential oils together as long as you keep to these proportions. You can then apply this mixture to the affected area of your child and see how naturally the inflammations get cured.

Nutritional value of vegetable oils

Nutritional values of some of the vegetable oils are given in the below table:

3.5 oz. = approximately 800 calories / 100 grams of fat

The misconception about vegetable oils

As for the misconception that all vegetable oil is good for health, we come to the most important point of this problem. The explanation is simple, the health benefits of vegetable oil depends on the way it is processed. That is to say, the oils that are processed lose almost all the beneficial nutrients in which the original vegetable was rich. The reason for such processing is the huge demand for cooking oils in the market.

The most important thing that consumers should keep in mind is the fact that not all oils are equally healthy. In addition, one of the most important things, which we must bear in mind when deciding which one to buy, is that less processed oils are the healthiest. However, it is not necessary to mention again and again the health benefits of vegetable oil, compared to animal fat, of course, when used for culinary purposes. And that’s because saturated fats have been very unpopular lately.

Origin of vegetable oil

Oils extracted from plants have been used since ancient times and in many cultures. As an example, in a 4,000-year-old kitchen unearthed in Indiana’s Charlestown State Park, archaeologist Bob McCullough of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne found evidence that natives used large slabs of rock to crush hickory nuts, then boiled them in water to extract the oil. Archaeological evidence shows that olives were turned into olive oil by 6000 BC and 4500 BC in present-day Israel and Palestine.