Is frying an unhealthy method?: 5 tips to do it healthier
Food Alchemist Reflections #7. COOKING TECHNIQUES: WHAT DIDN’T YOU KNOW?
In a world that has been built by words and words that have been created by humans, where does nature take the lead? It is time for a change, re-think what has been already established by our words, and create a new paradigm that includes us as part of nature. How? Through Food. Food is our common treasure, the best indicator of our planet’s health. These words represent an out-loud thought from The Food Alchemist Lab that endeavors to take you on a trip around general and specific food topics → proposing solutions, destroying myths, and waking up your interest through impactful recipes. Because your curiosity is our trigger and, once you’ve shot us, nothing will stop us from bringing a better food system, the one that listens to nature’s voice.
1. FIRST THINGS FIRST
What makes a food healthy?
In general, we eat between three to five times per day, so we interact with food daily, and we create opinions and “recommendations” because we have searched on the internet. Other times, it also happens that a friend of a friend tells us that he had heard that people shouldn’t eat lettuce at night because it causes people to get fatter. However, he recommends that people eat three biscuits (cookies), full of sugar, refined flour, and refined fats, from brand X that contains superfood X before going to sleep.
Afterward, regular people don’t know who to trust even Nutritionists and doctors are no longer trusted due to people being overinformed with affirmations that lack scientific evidence. In the case of lettuce, there are no scientific articles that support the myth mentioned before. Nevertheless, there are different meta-analyses (the highest statistical power type of scientific articles) that relate the consumption of ultra-processed food with the increase of non-communicable chronic diseases such as obesity or diabetes, like in the studies done by Pagliai, G. (2021).
The problem is not the lettuce at night, the fried fish you eat once every fifteen days, the piece of bread you eat during lunch, or the number of pieces of fruit that you eat per day. The problem is the refreshing beverages you drink, the industrial biscuits or cereals you eat at breakfast every day, the alcohol you drink during the weekend, the industrial sauces you include in your dishes or the concentrated juices or broths you consume. This is the real problem: what we are not seeing every day is killing ourselves saying that it has healthy properties thanks to the 0.1% of a superfood within a food full of unhealthy ingredients.
2. How frying could be part of a healthy diet?
Fat is not the problem
We’ve thought for years that fat was the root of our health problems, so the food industry started to reduce the quantity of fat in all the ultra-processed foods displacing it with sugars, sweeteners, and other additives to label them as “Light.” However, current evidence indicates that no specific carbohydrate-to-fat ratio in the diet is best for the general population. Nor do all diets, and calorie sources, have similar metabolic effects on everyone. With attention to diet quality — and specifically a focus on reducing processed foods, including sugar and refined grains — many people do relatively well with substantial variation in macronutrient composition.
That means: quality is more important than quantity. It is not all about the calories we eat or the total fat we eat, but rather the type of fat we include in our diets and our primary energy sources. For example, Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a higher proportion of oleic acid and phenolic compounds than Refined Olive Oil because of the depuration process used to increase the stability and reduce the acidity of the oil (Ambrosewicz-Walacik, M., Tańska, M. & Rotkiewicz, D., 2012). If we often choose Refined oils, we will lose almost all the healthy properties related to decreasing the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Because of that, we should choose foods that are closest to nature and reserve only for occasional moments those that are not real and completely processed to be sweeter, creamier, more stable, or more beautiful.
Healthy immersion
The Food Alchemist Lab doesn’t want to confuse you, because of that we are going to show you different tips to improve your frying processes from both nutritional and technical points of view. First of all, you should know that depending on what we do before, during, and after frying, the fat percentage in the final product can change by up to 80%. This is why fried food could or couldn’t become healthier.
It is worth repeating that fried foods should not be eaten daily because of the higher temperatures used and their higher caloric content. However, fried foods, when fried properly, are not intrinsically unhealthy. So, how should we fry?
Choose Extra Virgin Oils
When oils are refined they lose most of their health benefits. In South Europe, where the Mediterranean Diet is the principal dietary pattern, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is the primary oil. Nevertheless, it is being displaced by refined oils and we must not leave this healthy habit. So, we have to use this oil (in Mediterranean countries) due to its health benefits.
It is true that the viscosity of EVOO is higher than refined oils and higher viscosity in oils is related to a higher oil absorption in fried foods. However, it is better to have a slightly higher quantity of EVOO than the presence of refined oils in our foods.
Fry without reaching the smoke point
On the other hand, some people say that EVOO is not the best for frying because it loses its properties faster (at temperatures of 150ºC for 12 hours there are significant differences of phenolic compounds, but I don’t think you will fry for 12 hours).
However, the smoke/burning point (when oil starts to burn, producing toxic compounds and losing its benefits) varies between 160–210 ºC (depending on the acidity level) and the frying process usually is done at temperatures between 150–180 ºC. So, this affirmation is not true at all. We should try to fry always between 170–180ºC, for short amounts of time to evaporate the internal water of the food faster and dehydrate faster the food surface without significantly losing phenolic substances or producing toxic compounds (Dobarganes C., Márquez-Ruiz G., Velasco J., 2000).
Surface/volume ratio and fat absorption
Depending on this ratio, fried foods could absorb more or less fat. Oil could get absorbed only on the surface of foods. Because of that, a fried potato, when it is thicker and properly fried, the internal texture is more similar to a boiled potato than to an avocado. The reason is that it has absorbed a lower quantity of oil (stick fried potatoes absorb 10% of their weight in oil while chips, which are thinner, only 35–40%) (Montes et al., 2016). So, if you want to have less oil in your fried foods, you should cut them thicker.
Drain properly after frying
This is a key point if you don’t want to ruin all that you have done before. At this moment, the negative pressure generated when we stop frying allows the oil around the food to enter where the water has evaporated. So, remove your food from the oil before it stops heating and drain it as fast as possible to finish your perfect fried food.
Choose properly what is close to it
Now, you have your perfect fried food ready. At this moment, you should choose the sides of your dish. How beautiful is eating a big salad close to fried fish or meat? Vegetables usually pair really well with fatty foods thanks to their freshness. In addition, fiber satiates us and prevents excess fat absorption. Try to eat fresh vegetables when you eat fried foods as they are the best nutritional and organoleptic pairing for fried foods!
3. RECIPE IN A NUTSHELL
It is the time to learn by doing. My colleague Leire will show you one of the snacks that we include in our gastronomic experiences: Fried Corn Taco with caramelized onion, shallot miso, walnuts, dry tomato cream and burrata. This recipe usually involves pairing a soup made of fresh corn, onion, coriander, and a spicy sauce with some greens. Remember that the Food Alchemist Lab usually does gastronomic experiences based on health, sustainability, and innovation!
4. REFERENCES
Ambrosewicz-Walacik, M.,Tańska, M. & Rotkiewicz, D. (2012). Comparison of the quality of two classes of olive oil: Extra virgin and refined oil. Polish Journal of Natural Science. 27. 229–241.
Dobarganes C., Márquez-Ruiz G., Velasco J. (2000). Interactions between fat and food during deep-frying. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 102 (2000) 521–528.
Ludwig, D., Willett, W., Volek, J., Neuhouser, M. (2018). Dietary fat: From foe to friend?. Science Journal, 362 (6416), 764–770. doi: 10.1126/science.aau2096
Montes O, Nicolás, Millar M, Iván, Provoste L, Rosa, Martínez M, Nicolás, Fernández Z, Débora, Morales I, Gladys, & Valenzuela B, Rodrigo. (2016). Absorción de aceite en alimentos fritos. Revista chilena de nutrición, 43(1), 87–91. https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-75182016000100013
Pagliai, G., Dinu, M., Madarena, M., Bonaccio, M., Iacoviello, L., & Sofi, F. (2021). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health status: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition, 125(3), 308–318. doi: 10.1017/S0007114520002688
