When it comes to choosing the right oil for the family,you are totally confused as there are a variety of oils in themarket along with claims their manufacturer advertises. You have to make a choice from the traditional ghee,mustard oil,coconut oil,gingelly oil on one hand and on the other hand are Vanaspatti, groundnut oil and a number of vegetable oils such as Sunflower oil, Saffflower oil, Corn oil,Canola oil, Soyabean oil, Cottonseed oil,palm oil and Rice bran oil.
WHICH TO CHOOSE?
Before attemting to choose the best healthy one, let us know some of the facts.
All cooking oil is pure fat obtained from plant or animal . All cooking oils are made up of a combination of
fatty acids, which may be a) Saturated fatty acids - SFA, b) mona-unsaturated fatty acids - MUFA,
c)poly-unsaturated fatty acids - PUFA
Saturated fats - found in animal fats - raise LDL cholesterol in blood and at the same time reduces HDL
cholesterol. Vegetable oils/plant oils -like palm and coconut oil are very high in saturated fats. These are
good for infants and children only.
Mono-unsaturated and poly- unsaturated fats lowers total and LDL cholesterol.
MUSTARD OIL
A study by the Harvard School of Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and St.John
Hospital,BLR found that chances of heart disease drop by 70% when mustard oil if used for cooking.
Mustard oils nutritional value compares well with that of Olive oil.
RICE BRAN OIL
The oil is extracted from the germ and inner husk of rice. This oil is abundant in antioxidants such as tocopherol, Oryzanol and tocotrienol. Oryzanol reduces bad cholesterol but not good cholesterol,
Tocotrienol a powerful natural vitamin E has anti-cancer properties. A study published in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition says rice bran oil lowers cholesterol. Bad LDL cholesterol went down by 7%,
whereas good HDL remained unchanged. This oil has an ability to counter ageing.
Given below is a comparative list of fatty acid composition of various oils with WHO recommendation.
Recommendation by WHO for SFA:MUFA:PUFA is 1.0:1.5:1.0
OIL FATTY ACID PERCENT
SFA MUFA PUFA
WHO Recommendation 28.6 42.8 28.6
Mustard oil 6 67 27
Cottonseed 28 22 50
Sunflower 12 21 67
Soybean 16 24 60
Palm 51 39 10
Olive 14 77 9
Canola 6 58 36
Corn 13 20 62
Coconut 92 6 2
Groundnut 20 50 30
Rice Bran oil 18 45 37
The oil used for frying should withstand the high temperature without breaking down.
The oil used for cooking should have a ideal balance between mufa and pufa
Select an oil rich in omega-3 fatty acid.
Avoid trans fats, which are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. They cause weight gain and excess abdominal fat- risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. These oils lower D HDL cholesterol which takes HDL cholesterol to the liver , where it is broken down and excreted. At the these oil increases LDL cholesterol, which clogs the arteries.
The best is to use a variety of oils judiciously. A combination of oils ensures intake of all essential fatty acids. The oils can be rotated over the months.
YOU CAN CONSIDER
1) For Cooking : Mustard oil, Canola oil
2) For Frying : Rice Bran oil, groundnut oil.
Raghu Natrajan
No comments:
Post a Comment