Healthy cooking starts with healthy ingredients, and fats are no exception. Oils are generally made of mono- and polyunsaturated fats that promote good health by decreasing inflammation and improving blood lipid levels. Choosing oils over butter, margarine or lard is just the beginning. Learning which oils are best suited for different cooking methods will help you get the most health benefits, and best flavor, from these fats.
Smoke Point
Every oil has a smoke point, which is the point at which the oil begins to degrade. This process creates an unpleasant odor and taste. An even worse result of cooking an oil above its smoke point is the loss of nutrients and the production of harmful, possibly carcinogenic compounds. Choose the right oil for your cooking method.
High-Heat Cooking Oils
Though deep-frying and pan-frying are generally discouraged on a healthy diet, choosing the wrong oil can be just as detrimental. If you want to fry food, do so sparingly and use oils with a high smoke point. Peanut oil, avocado oil and green tea seed oils work best.
Moderate-Heat Cooking
Sauteing is a healthy cooking method that uses a moderately high temperature and only requires a minimal amount of fat. Canola oil is a good choice if you do not want to influence the taste of the food with the oil's flavor; this characteristic makes it well-suited for baking as well. Light olive oil, as the name implies, has a lighter, less fruity flavor than extra-virgin olive oil and can also be used for sauteing. If you are trying to branch out from the norm, macadamia nut oil is a tasty tropical oil to invest in.
Minimal Cooking
Many oils are only indicated for use in recipes that require little to no cooking. These oils come from nuts, including hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts; seeds like flax, pumpkin, grape and sesame; as well as fruits like olives, yielding the well-known extra-virgin olive oil. Use any of these in salads or as flavoring agents.
References
- Cleveland Clinic: Heart-Healthy Cooking: Oils 101
- Family Education: Healthy Cooking: Oils
- The Diet Channel: A Guide to Healthy Cooking Oils; Marissa Lippert; 2006
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good
- Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine: Beyond the Olive: Healthy, Delicious Alternatives to Olive Oil; Susan Lark; 2007
Member Comments