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Introduction
Cooking oil is generally synthetic oil typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. If we consider scientific theories, oils are compounds of fatty acids and glycerol for that the liquid form is seen in room temperature. I mentioned the term saturated fats, to understand this term we need to understand what the types of fats are.
Information of fats
Fats are normally categorized in two different types along with their sub types. The major two types of fats are
Unsaturated fat can be classified into three types: such as
The major form of fat is Try glycerol which means one glycerol and three fatty acid chains. Unsaturated fats are considerably healthier in moderate use in comparison to saturated fats. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature and have high melting point. Pork and Cheese can be taken as examples of saturated fats. Food and drug administration made a recommendation which states that 10% or fewer of daily calories should be from saturated fat, and 20 – 35% of total daily calories should and monounsaturated fats.
Oils containing healthy and unhealthy facts
The US National Heart, Lung and Blood institute urged –
Saturated fats be replaced with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, listing Olive and Canola oils as sources of healthier monounsaturated oils while soybean and sunflower oils are good sources of polyunsaturated fats.
Oils should be used carefully according to their smoke point. Oil smoke point is the temperature at which the oil starts to break down on heat application. At this temperature the oil will start to smoke before it eventually catches fire with increased temperature. Oils having high smoke point such as sunflower, safflower, soybean, groundnut oils are amazing choice for deep frying.
Olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, has low smoke point and should be used for sauté, salad dressing, and should not be used for deep frying. These are basically monounsaturated fatty acids (known as the basic blocks of lipids or fats) which increase the good cholesterol including HDL and LDL. Other examples of monounsaturated fats including almond oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, and most nut oil can be consumed to maintain good health.
Omega fatty acids & Trans fats
Omega fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats come with four categories namely
It is determined based on the location of double bond carbon atom. Omega 6 has inflammatory effects whereas omega 3 has anti inflammatory effects. Most of the vegetable oils are rich in omega 6 and shortage in omega 3. The mechanism of human body allows consuming of 1:1 ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
Trans fatty acids are solid at room temperature, have a high melting point. It comes in two forms,
Natural Trans fats known as ruminant fats are found 2 – 5% in dairy products and 3-9% in beef and lamb. Moderate consumption of natural trans fats do not cause any harm to our health.
An artificial trans fat turns liquid oils to solid forms through hydrogenation. It increases the flavor stability and shelf life of the food. Some fast foods and baked items use artificial trans fats which increases LDL and decreases HDL. It increases heart risks and can also be a cause of blood vessel damage.
Conclusion
Oils are important part of our day to day life. To reduce the confusion of selecting the healthy edible oil you should know about factors like saturated fats, MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid) content, Trans fats, Omega 3 fatty acids etc. A research of scholarly articles on the internet, a quick consultation with your family doctor can help you out in this regard. I must end quoting an anonymous writer “Invest in your health today or on your sickness tomorrow”.
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