Most people use cooking oils in everyday life. The more knowledgeable we become in understanding the complex world of oils as culinary explorers, the more prepared we are to increase our eating experiences and our protection of health by avoiding the absolute worst.
Many are concerned with the question of how to choose a healthy oil. Actually, when it comes off the grocery shelf, it is literally only half the story about the healthiness of that oil. It's also important to think about the healthiness of the oil when it has been heated up for cooking.
Cooking Oils
The reason most people use cooking oils regularly is that, with any one of them, you would find the possibility of cooking all types of dishes: meat, eggs, vegetables, sauces, and some grain dishes.
A lot of attention has focused on exactly how to choose a healthy oil, but only half of the story is about how healthy an oil is when it comes off the grocery shelf.
Also important, in terms of considering which oil to use, is whether or not the oil is still healthy to eat after being heated during cooking.
This is because cooking oils have a smoke point or a temperature beyond which they are no longer stable. If you are going to cook at temperatures higher than their smoke point, then you should not use that cooking oil.
5 Worst Cooking Oils
1. Soybean oil
Soybean oil is highly utilized, yet not without controversy. It raises the most eyebrows due to its elevated omega-6 content. With that in mind, health-conscious people may want to rethink soybean oil's place in their pantry. Like various other vegetable oils, soybean oil is highly refined.
It goes through a considerable amount of process involving numerous chemicals to extricate it from corn and make it into oil. Well, with this production process, soybean oil becomes more prone to becoming oxidized, and when we have a lot of oxidized compounds present in our bodies, we put ourselves at risk for multiple diseases.
Among them are heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
2. Sunflower oil
Innocent-looking sunflower oil conceals a dark secret: it is full of omega-6 fatty acids. This is a very common cooking oil; however, its effect on health due to usage should be put under the microscope.
Sunflower oil is unhealthy also because it contains high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids cause inflammation in the body, which results in health hazards like cancer and heart disease.
Another reason why sunflower oil can be bad for our health is that there is a greater emission of aldehyde, unlike the other natural cooking oils, when it is heated. Aldehydes are really toxic chemicals that can put a person at risk of developing different kinds of health conditions.
3. Partially hydrogenated oil
Partially hydrogenated oil is found in processed food and is the primary source of injurious trans fats in a person's diet.
These man-made trans fats are created during an industrial process that hydrogenizes liquid vegetable oils to solidify them.
The AHA says that trans fats raise your levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol and lower the levels of your "good" HDL cholesterol, increasing the risk of stroke and developing heart diseases.
4. Rice bran oil
Rice bran oil boasts an unusually high smoke point and is full of vitamin E, but there's a dark side to it for human health. With its very high content of omega-6 fatty acids, its excessive consumption may provoke an imbalance in the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio within the human body, resulting in inflammatory processes and other pathological conditions. Additionally, the extraction process involves dangerous chemicals such as hexane, leaving behind residue that can be toxic.
5. Palm oil:
While being so cheap and pervasive, palm oil spells doom for health and the environment. High in saturated fat content, it enhances the amount of cholesterol levels in the body and causes heart disease if taken excessively. The cultivation of palm oil has been associated with deforestation, habitat destruction, and the threat of extinction faced by wildlife species.
Conclusion
Fats are an integral part of health. Adding healthy fats to meals and snacks can increase nutrient absorption, support heart health, and enhance flavour, all while adding to the satiety factor of your food.
Equally important is the choice of the right kind of fats; this includes cooking oils. Whereas some oils are more appropriate for higher-heat cooking and may also have conferring health benefits, others could be detrimental to your health when used too much.
Once in a while, reach out to nutrient-dense olive oil; research shows it helps cut the risk of diseases and even death. As a matter of fact, olive oil is among the healthiest foods for your heart, loaded with antioxidants and vitamins.
