Cooking Oil

W.J.Pais Food Information - Health Issues
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Refined oil, coconut oil  etc.

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Cooking oil is purified fat of plant or animal origin, which is liquid at room temperature.

Some of the many different kinds of edible vegetable oils include: palm oil, olive oil, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, argan oil and rice bran oil. Many other kinds of vegetable oils are also used for cooking.

The generic term "vegetable oil" when used to label a cooking oil product refers to a blend of a variety of oils often based on palm oil, corn, soybean or sunflower oils.

Oil can be flavoured by immersing aromatic food stuffs such as fresh herbs, peppers and so forth in the oil for an extended period of time. However, care must be taken when using garlic and onions to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum (the bacterium which causes botulism) in this medium.

 

The Bad Fats
Saturated Fats Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Trans Fats Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
The Good Fats
Monounsaturated Fats Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
Polyunsaturated Fats Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.

Therefore, based on the above classification, the "ideal" cooking oil should contain higher amount of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and with minimal or no saturated fats and trans fats.

The following "bad" oils contain high percentage of trans fat or saturated fats. Some, such as coconut oil, even contain more saturated fats than animal products!

 http://www.healthcastle.com/cooking-oils.shtml

Trans fat is found in numerous foods - commercially packaged goods, commercially fried food such as French Fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn as well as in vegetable shortening and some margarine. Indeed, any packaged goods that contains "partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils", "hydrogenated vegetable oils" or "shortening" most likely contain trans fat.

Before the invention of trans fatty acids, we cooked food with lard, palm oil or butter etc which are high in saturated fat. Researchers found that saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol (the Bad cholesterol) which may increase the risk of heart disease.

http://www.healthcastle.com/trans.shtml

Risk Assessment Tool for Estimating Your 10-year Risk of Having a Heart Attack The risk assessment tool below uses information from the Framingham Heart Study to predict a person

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From Wikipedia

Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature (saturated oils such as coconut and palm are more solid at room temperature than other oils).

Some of the many different kinds of edible vegetable oils include: olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, pumpkin seed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, argan oil and rice bran oil. Many other kinds of vegetable oils are also used for cooking.

The generic term "vegetable oil" when used to label a cooking oil product may refer to a specific oil (such as rapeseed oil) or may refer to a blend of a variety of oils often based on palm, corn, soybean or sunflower oils.

Oil can be flavored by immersing aromatic food stuffs such as fresh herbs, peppers, garlic and so forth in the oil for a period of time. However, care must be taken when storing flavored oils to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum (the bacteria that produces toxins that can lead to botulism).

Health Issues

The appropriate amount of fat as a component of daily food consumption is the topic of some controversy. Some fat is required in the diet, and fat (in the form of oil) is also essential in many types of cooking. The FDA recommends that 30% or less of calories consumed daily should be from fat.[1] Other nutritionists recommend that no more than 10% of a person's daily calories come from fat.[2] In extremely cold environments, a diet that is up to two-thirds fat is acceptable and can, in fact, be critical to survival.

While consumption of small amounts of saturated fats is essential, initial meta-analyses (1997, 2003) found a high correlation between high consumption of such fats and coronary heart disease.[3][4] Surprisingly, however, more recent meta-analyses (2009, 2010), based on cohort studies and on controlled, randomized trials, find a positive[5] or neutral[6] effect from shifting consumption from carbohydrate to saturated fats as a source of calories, and only a modest advantage for shifting from saturated to polyunsaturated fats (10% lower risk for 5% replacement).[6]

Mayo Clinic has highlighted oils that are high in saturated fats, including coconut, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Those of lower amounts of saturated fats, and higher levels of unsaturated (preferably monounsaturated) fats like olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocado, safflower, corn, sunflower, soy, mustard and cottonseed oils are generally healthier.[7] The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute[8] and World Heart Federation[9] have urged saturated fats be replaced with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. The health body lists olive and canola oils as sources of monounsaturated oils while soybean and sunflower oils are rich with polyunsaturated fat. Results of research carried out in Costa Rica in 2005 suggest that consumption of non-hydrogenated unsaturated oils like soybean and sunflower are preferable to the consumption of palm oil.[10]

Not all saturated fats have negative effects on cholesterol.[11] Some studies indicate that Palmitic acid in palm oil does not behave like other saturated fats, and is neutral on cholesterol levels because it is equally distributed among the three "arms" of the triglyceride molecule.[12] Further, it has been reported that palm oil consumption reduces blood cholesterol in comparison with other traditional sources of saturated fats such as coconut oil, dairy and animal fats.[13]

Saturated fat is required by the body and brain to function properly. In fact, one study in Brazil compared the effects of soybean oil to coconut oil (a highly saturated fat) and found that while both groups showed a drop in BMI, the soybean oil group showed an increase in overall cholesterol (including a drop in HDL, the good cholesterol). The coconut oil group actually showed an increase in the HDL:LDL ratio (meaning there was more of the good cholesterol), as well as smaller waist sizes (something that was not shown in the soybean oil group.[14]

In 2007, scientists Kenneth C. Hayes and Pramod Khosla of Brandeis University and Wayne State University indicated that the focus of current research has shifted from saturated fats to individual fats and percentage of fatty acids (saturates, monounsaturates, polyunsaturates) in the diet. An adequate intake of both polyunsaturated and saturated fats is needed for the ideal LDL/HDL ratio in blood, as both contribute to the regulatory balance in lipoprotein metabolism.[15]

Oils high in unsaturated fats may help to lower "bad" LDL cholesterol and may also raise "good" HDL cholesterol, though these effects are still under study.

Peanut, cashew, and other nut-based oils may also present a hazard to persons with a nut allergy. A severe allergic reaction may cause anaphylactic shock and result in death.

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