Popular Cooking Oils:
Know how healthy they are…
There are a variety of cooking oils available in the market today. It is but natural that one may get confused as to which oil should be used in salads and which should be used for cooking?
Many-a-times I get this question which oil is healthy? Which oil is the best one for cooking? So I am going to provide some information here about cooking oils that would help you choose the ones good for you. This is my take on the various options available and by the end of the article you I hope you get an idea on which oils may fall under the “good-for-you” category.
Okay, so it all begins with the type of fats present in the particular oil. Oil is nothing but fat which is liquid at room temperature. The various types of fatty acids present in it are saturated fatty acids (SFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). PUFAs consists of two parts omega 6 fatty acids and omega 3 fatty acids. Choosing an oil that contains maximum monounsaturated fatty acids are good for health. However, omega 3 fatty acids are also healthy and keep our hearts fit, while, also has a no. of other functions to perform in your body. It has functions similar to antioxidants. Also, the ratio of Omega 6: Omega 3 in oil is an important indicator of how good the oil is for your health. The ideal ratio is supposed to be between 5:1 to 1:1.
High amount of saturated fats may have adverse effects on heart health as they have shown to increase bad cholesterol which may put one at the risk of heart disease and stroke.
While monounsaturated fats are heart friendly and also have positive effects on your lipid profile (i.e. the cholesterol and triglyceride levels) as well as blood glucose levels.
In PUFAs, omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids are essential fats. That means theses cannot be produced in your body and you are dependent on food sources to acquire these. Omega 6 FAs are commonly available in many foods and oils, hence usually its daily requirement is met easily. While Omega 3 FAs are present only in a few foods and you should make it a point to include these foods in your daily diet.
Table 1
Table 2
Now coming back to cooking oils. The fatty acids composition of various oils is given in table 1 and table 2.
As per table 1 and 2, Olive oil contains the most MUFAs and thus is a good option. While the ratio of omega6:omega3 is not that great. While for mustard and rapeseed oil, MUFAs content is good and the ratio seems good too.
The saturated fat content of coconut is very high, almost 90%, which may contribute to increased cholesterol levels in blood if used in high amounts. Similar is the case with ghee, but ghee has a favorable omega 6: omega 3 fats ratio.
But this is the case when oils are at room temperature. A study also shows that once these oils are heated for cooking, the chemical properties change and some oils produce harmful substances which are detrimental for health especially heart health and may pose a risk for cancer as well.
The researchers found that the oils which have higher amounts of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and mono-unsatured fatty acids (MUFAs) produced much lesser dangerous substances. As opposite to oils containing more PUFAs such as corn oil and sunflower oil, created very high levels of oxidative products called aldehydes which are potentially harmful.
Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids are resilient to this high temperature‐induced degradation.
Hence as per this study, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, refined olive are better choices and can be used for cooking/frying; while sunflower oil, corn oils and other vegetable oils rich in PUFAs can be avoided.
However, the saturated fat content of coconut is very high, almost 90%, which may contribute to increased cholesterol levels in blood if used in high amounts.
While mustard oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil, ground nut oil contains more of MUFAs which are considered relatively stable to high temperature cooking and also have shown to have positive health effects.
Rice bran oil contains Oryzanol, a compound which is powerful in promoting heart health. The content of MUFAs and SFAs seems to be fairly healthy but omega 6: omega 3 fats ratio is not so great.
While Sunflower and Safflower oils are low on MUFAs and high on PUFAs mainly omega 6 which have shown to give out hazardous products due to their oxidation when subjected to high temperature while cooking and thus their independent and exclusive use can be avoided. The ratio of PUFAs is bad too!
All in all, presently, my take on cooking oils would be rotating different types of oil on half monthly or monthly basis or a combination of two — three oils can be used in a day to cook different meals. This can be done to get goodness of all edible cooking oils. Other food sources of omega 3 fats should also be included in the daily diet to meet the requirements such as walnuts or flax seeds or fatty fishes etc. rich in these fats. You can rotate between mustard oil, rice bran oil, olive (cooking) oil, rapeseed oil, groundnut, soyabean, coconut, palm oils, other edible oils with such fatty acid composition and pure ghee can also be used once in a while.
One more option can be the use of blend oils for cooking. They add up to the effectiveness of two/more oils. Such edible oils maintain a balance of fatty acids. For example a blend of rice bran and safflower oil or a blend of canola and flaxseed oil (flaxseeds being a vegetarian rich source of omega 3 fats) etc.
Strictly avoid using vanaspati ghee (hydrogenated vegetable oil) for cooking or baking, grilling, frying etc. because it contains high amount of trans fatty acids which are exteremely unhealthy. Studies have proven that intake of trans fatty acids is related to health issues such as heart diseases, breat cancer, reduced pregnancy duration, risks of high blood pressure during pregnancy, obesity, allergy, vision problems in infants, colon cancer, nervous system disorders and diabetes.
Things to Remember
Store the oils in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. That is to preserve the nutrients in them and avoid the losses due to exposure the light and air. This also helps in preventing rancidity (oxidation) of oils and fats. If at all they turn rancid avoid their use as they produce harmful substances on heating.
Also avoid reheating of oils, due to similar reasons mentioned above. Experts say that reheating of oils is associated to cancer. Also, it may be strongly related to heart problems. Hence the avoiding fried foods on street stalls, restaurants and fats food corners is recommended strongly.
Please Note
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References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4990724/
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/06/18/cooking-oils.aspx
http://journalofpreventivecardiology.com/pdf/Issue3/Cooking%20oils%20for%20heart%20health.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3t902pqt3C7nGN99hVRFc1y/which-oils-are-best-to-cook-with
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-4506.2001.tb00028.x
