Now we are hearing every where, reduce oil, reduce fat, it gives heart diseases and cholesterol. It gives us extra fat and obesity. It makes our life short and makes us old easier. Is it true? How much oil should we consume every day? It’s true, extra fat is the root cause of 90% of new generation diseases. It’s the case of sugar too. Oil makes our skin shine bright. It’s essential to perform many vital functions of our body. Good cholesterol can fight against diseases, heart problems and aging. Then why are we keeping distance from oil – the spice that adds extra taste to our food. Answer lies in its usage. Extra consumption of anything is harmful to the body, particularly when we are not giving proper exercise to our body. There lies its real danger. So, real solution lies in using oil in a moderate way and burn off those extra calories through manual work or regular body exercise.

Where is the real danger?

Trans-fats contents of cooking oils are not needed by our body and they can lead to many problems including heart diseases and cholesterol. It happens when they raise the levels of LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL levels. Low density lipoprotein also known as LDL is harmful to our health while High density lipoproteins (HDL) are most needed for our health. HDL helps our body to resist many diseases as well.

Edible oils consumed most

It’s to be noted that vegetable oils are best for health. We must avoid oil extracted from animals or synthetic fat as much as possible if we are health conscious. Among all oils olive oil is considered to be the best as it protects the heart. Canola oil is also popular nowadays. Sunflower oil, coconut oil, palm oil, mustard oil, sesame oil, ground nut oil, rice bran oil etc are most commonly used as cooking oils. Oil contains both saturated and unsaturated fat. Unsaturated fats help to reduce LDL and hence beneficial to our body while unsaturated fat is just reverse. 

Rice bran oil is the latest fashion

Tocotrinol, Lipoic acid and Orizanol – these three factors makes rice bran oil healthy. Lipoic acid helps to control sugar levels of blood while Tocotrinol helps in lowering bad cholesterol. It also keeps good cholesterol levels intact. Orizanol also helps in lowering LDL levels. New studies say – Orizanol protects females after menopause, lowering problems related to hormone variations.
Nowadays rice bran oil is widely used for deep frying. Smoking point of normal oils is very low comparing rice bran oil. If smoking point is low, chemical factors changes a lot while heating. But in the case of rice bran oil, as its smoking point is high, it remains the same even at higher temperatures.

Coconut oil protects you against heart diseases

Earlier it was believed that coconut oil is not good for health since it’s a saturated fat. But recent studies say that those people who regularly use coconut oil have fewer chances of heart attacks. Also, it’s good for skin and healthy teeth. Traditionally most people use coconut oil for nourishing their hair as well.

How much oil should we consume daily?

24-28% of our energy is provided by oils. That means we can use 20 gram oil per day. But if we consume excess it may lead to many problems including fat deposits inside blood vessels and obesity.

Reuse of oil is dangerous to health

It’s better not to use heated oil again. Even if you use it once more, you should filter it to remove the food contents completely. But never use it thrice. Also, while reusing it never add fresh oil to it. When oil is heated for the first time, it undergoes several chemical changes. Thus the properties of oil are changed. Its colour darkens, becomes rancid and thicker and develops many new factors harmful to health. So, when it’s heated again it’s only going to affect our health. Recent studies suggest not to use fried items from restaurants, bakeries etc. Experts ask us to keep away from fried packet items as well, because reuse of oil can lead to cancer and many other dreadful diseases. As restaurants are reheating the oil every time, by adding a little amount, it’s very harmful to our body. It’s seen that remains of oil used one year back can also be found in freshly prepared items in many restaurants and bakeries. Also bad cholesterol content is increased while reheating the same oil.

Which oils are most healthy?

All oils have both good and bad sides. Also, it’s to be noted that excess of even the most healthy oil is harmful to our health. Experts suggest not to stick to a particular oil. Instead, they ask to use different oils so that we get the benefits of all and harmful effects of a particular oil will be lessened. Unsaturated fats are less in coconut oil. It’s found in abundant in sun flower oil, rice bran oil, gingerly oil etc. Coconut oil contains 40% loric acid, most essential for children’s growth. Sunflower oil and cornflower oil contain omega 6 fatty acids while mustard oil and rice bran oil contain omega 6 fatty acids. That’s why food experts suggest using all oils alternatively. Olive oil, commonly used for dressing salads is considered to be most the healthy oil for cooking, yet it can’t be used for frying items as its smoking point is low. So, it’s to be noted that oils with less smoking point should never be used for frying.

How to reduce oil consumption?

• Instead of pouring oil to the frying pan use a small spoon.
• Keep in mind the measure of oil used every day in your dishes.
• Avoid deep frying as much as possible. If needed adopt shallow frying method. Steaming, baking, grilling etc can reduce your oil consumption a lot.
• While cooking vegetables, if you close the lid, it needs less oil. It retains its nutrients as well.
• While adding oil to your dishes, just think that you need a lot of exercises to burn off those calories. That thought itself can reduce oil consumption a lot.