A healthy consumption of oils or fats is important for the healthy growth of skin and hair, and to enable the body to absorb vitamins.
As a general rule, fat and oil intake in a balanced diet should not exceed one third of our daily calorie intake allowance. Given the myriad of brands and types of cooking oil available in the market, selection could be intimidating. Knowledge of some oil basics is thus, useful.
Purchasing oil
Never purchase a certain brand of oil simply because of the attractive packaging, because it is cheap or because your own mother uses the same brand. Always read the oil labels first before purchasing as certain of oil constituents may be bad for health.
Different types of oil have varying amounts of constituents that may be good or bad for health. Hence, make sure you understand the oil jargon on the labels. The following is an idiot's guide to some common terms and their contribution to your health.
Mono-unsaturated fats
These are basically the good fats as they raise good cholesterol (low density lipoprotein or LDL). Monounsaturated fats can be found in vegetable, nut and seed oils such as soybean oil, peanut oil and sunflower seed oil.
Poly-unsaturated fats
Relatively healthy. However, these fats should be consumed in moderation because even though it lowers bad cholesterol (LDL), it has the tendency to lower good cholesterol (HDL) as well. These fats are commonly found in vegetable and seed oils such as corn, sunflower and sesame oils.
Saturated fats
Comes primarily from animal sources, including animal meats and dairy products. However, tropical oils such as coconut and palm contain an even higher amount of saturated fats. These fats should be avoided as much as possible as they raise the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) in our bodies, which may cause the hardening of arteries, high blood pressure, and ultimately lead to heart diseases and strokes.
Cooking with oil
The fact that certain types of cooking oil are more suitable for certain types of cooking may be surprising to some, but it is also true. Apart from how well the flavour of the oil complements the food and how healthy a certain type of oil is, we have to take their smoke points into consideration too. The stage at which your oil begins to burn (where it will start to emit smoke and acrid odours) is called the smoke point. It is advisable to cook at temperatures within the limits of the oil's smoke point as oils that have gone beyond their will impart an unpleasant flavour to foods and spoil their flavour. The higher the smoke point, the better suited the oil is for frying.
Continue with Essential Oils - Oil Types.
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