Are you confused about cooking oils?

Written by Dr harold Gunatillake
FRCS, FICS, FIACS, AM(Sing) MBBS-Health writer

When you visit the super-market you could see the varieties and brands of cooking oils, and you wonder what’s best for your type of cooking for taste, ease and health-wise. A few decades back there was not much of a choice and less confusing too. In Sri Lanka, it was coconut oil and butter were popular for cooking, baking, stir and deep frying, whilst in the Mediterranean countries olive oil was the choice for cooking, stir frying, in salad spreads and even bread-toast. Deep frying is unusual in those countries. In Canada, the choice was Canola standing for Canadian oil’ as it was most manufactured in Canada. In the old days it was called rapeseed oil, used for industrial purposes. One of the poisonous acids in canola was Erucic acid a fatty acid that caused heart damage in some rat studies. A bunch of Canadian scientists removed this acid from the original rape seed through a process of selective breeding techniques to create seeds that contained less of these harmful acids. Today the rape seed crops are genetically modified and have become most popular oil for cooking even in Asian countries. In Sri Lankan super-markets it is freely available and cheap, too in large plastic containers and as popular as coconut oil for cooking. It is processed oil

Canola oil has about 7 percent of saturated fats and higher in poly-unsaturated fats, contains the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids
Today the manufacturers call it the ‘world’s healthiest cooking oil” although some experts disagree.

For cooking Asian foods it is very popular and safe health-wise. It is considered a polyunsaturated oil of omega -3 types healthy anti-inflammatory oil.

You could cook food without using oil under dry heat. This is a technique where heat is transferred to the food without using water or oil, at a temperature of 300degF or hotter. Bread is browned by toasting through dry heat leading to the development of complex flavours and aromas that can’t be attained with moist- heat cooking techniques and water and oil. Pizzas are also cooked in a dry heat oven.

Generally using oils for cooking is extremely important because without the healthy ones, our bodies cannot function properly. This discussion is all about making healthy choices.

How cooking oil becomes harmful

From the health point of view cooking oils can be divided into the Omega 6 pro-inflammatory oil and the anti-inflammatory omega-3 oil and omega-9 oils
Look always for higher values for omega-3 and lower values for omega-6, on the label. When the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids are higher that should be your choice.
Omega-6 fatty acids or oils support improved brain function, normal growth and development. They also caused inflammatory diseases including-cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, macular degeneration, inflammatory bowel diseases, asthma, and cancer and so on. So they are referred as pro-inflammatory
Sources of omega -6 types of fatty acids are nuts and seeds, vegetable oils from soybeans, cottonseed, corn, sunflower, and safflower oils.

These pro-inflammatory cooking oils (omega-6) are freely available in the supermarkets and the consumption of them has increased. Both omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids are an essential source of energy found in animal and vegetable fats and oils. The ratio in the past was 1; 1 and that balance reduced the harmful pro-inflammatory effects of omega 6 oils.

These days omega3 oils are hard to find and the consumption of pro-inflammatory omega 6 types of cooking oils have increased to unbelievable unhealthy levels as much as a ratio of 6:1. It is this imbalance thought to contribute to the inflammatory diseases and the risk of developing diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Omega-6 type of oils is extracted from vegetable oils as mentioned before and used in most processed and fast foods. Linoleic acid is the most important of the omega-6 acids.

Most vegetable oils (omega-6 types) contain Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHA and BHT) considered artificial antioxidants preventing oxidising of food or spoiling as we call it. These compounds are supposed to cause cancer in the bodies in our kidneys, liver, causing immune problems and behavioural problems in kids.

Back in the old days, before processed foods, omega-3 fatty acids and oils were abundant in many foods. Free- range animals and poultry grazed which gave them a rich supply of omega-3, passed on to eggs, milk, and meat was available for human consumption.

Omega-6 types of oils are not considered bad for human consumption and omega-3 are good. It is the balance of both that keeps us healthy.

Avoid over-processed foods cooked in vegetable oils. Use olive oil which is healthy and mostly a monounsaturated heart healthy oil. Sources of omega-3 fatty oils are from sardines, herrings, mackerel, walnut, flaxseed, and canola. Using canola and flaxseed oils are healthy for cooking.

When you choose cooking oil you need to consider how refined the product is. Coconut oil is available in the refined form, very clear and hardly any coconut smell. It is best to choose virgin coconut oil which is stone compressed without heating or adding chemicals. It would be the best choice for Asian cooking. It is frozen like at room temperature being saturated oil, and best kept in a wide open mouth vessel for easy scooping.

Similarly, when you choose olive the virgin oil in dark bottles should be your choice, though expensive. It is popular cooking oil for Sri Lankans living abroad.
Next, you need to consider the smoking point of the oil. Again, coconut oil, olive oil and canola have high smoking points like many others, and are most suitable for Asian cooking. Knowing the smoking point is important because cooking above the limits can produce toxic fumes and free radicals.

Lastly, you need to consider the content of the oil, knowing the proportion of the ratio of mono, polyunsaturated and saturated fats are in the chosen oil.
For Asian cooking, you do not have to get confused regarding the use of cooking oils, because there is one good God given saturated oil-i.e. coconut oil considered a most healthy cooking oil, today. It would not increase your bad blood cholesterol, and it has so many other health benefits you read these days from various sources.
In the late nineteen nineties, when we declared that coconut oil is the healthiest oil for consumption and cooking, nobody believed us and alleged that we were giving wrong health information. The goodness of coconut oil had to come from the west for our people to accept it.

Further, oil from vegetable oils needs to go through many stages before extraction such as pressing through grinders, adding chemicals and carcinogenic catalysts and so on. Margarine is such a product from vegetable seeds and now considered hydrogenated artificial oil made to look like butter, creating much harm within the workings of the body cells. It is not a true fat but a plastic trans-fat you should avoid like the blazes.

Vegetable oils are damaging to the reproductive system and the developing bodies of unborn babies and children. It increases the potential for mutations within the genes. Having more omega 6 fatty acids in the mother’s milk affects the immune function of their babies.

Avoid soybean oil for cooking. It has 9% of all calories from the omega-6 fat linoleic acid (LA) alone.

Peanut oil has 16.9 percent of saturated fatty acids, and 46.2 % of mono-unsaturated fatty acids, 32% of omega 6 fatty acids and 44.8 % of omega 9 fatty acids. No omega -3 oils. The smoking point of peanut oil is 450F. Deep frying your food in peanut oil will give your meal a light, somewhat nutty flavour. Use it for Chinese cooking. It is a healthy oil as it is considered mainly a mono-unsaturated oil, though hasn’t got any omega-3 fatty acids.

Rice Bran Oil: has 19.7% of saturated fatty acids, 39.3% of monounsaturated fatty acids, 33.4 % of omega-6 fatty acids, 1.6% of omega-3 fatty acids and 39.1 of omega 9 fatty acids. Not suitable oil for daily cooking.

Sesame Oil has 14.2% of saturated oil, 39.7% of monounsaturated fatty acids, 41.75 of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 41.3 % of omega 6 types of fatty acids, 0.3% of omega 3 types, and the ratio 137:1 with omega-3 oils and the smoking point is 450F. Unhealthy oil only to be used for flavouring

Sunflower oil has 10% of saturated fatty acids, 45.4% monounsaturated fatty acids, 40.1% of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 39.8% of omega 6 fatty acids, 0.3% of omega 3, 45.3% of omega 9 fatty acids and the ratio of 199:1 with omega 3, smoking point 450F most popular unhealthy oil used freely among Sri Lankans. It is sold as vegetable oil.

Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are essential oils, because they are not formed in the body. Omega-9 fatty acids are not essential because the body can produce them from other unsaturated fats. The best known member of the Omega-9 family is oleic acid. Oleic acid is present in olive oil.

Conclusions

Avoid processed foods made from ingredients labelled as ‘partially hydrogenated’ Play safe by using coconut oil, olive oil and canola oil for your daily cooking and others rarely for special dishes only.