1. Go By the Numbers
When you pick healthy oils for frying meats, you should always look at the back of the label for the nutritional information. Check out the "fats" section and see how much saturated fat is in the oil you are using. Keep this number as low as possible. Keep away from things like margarine, shortening and oil that has trans fat listed on the label. These fats are "hydrogenated" which means they are chemically altered so their viscosity changed. Some studies from the American Heart Association show these trans fats raise the level of "bad" LDL cholesterol, along with their saturated fat and cholesterol partners in crime.
2. Go Liquid
Don't automatically go for the butter tub when frying. When you pick healthy oils for frying, you better your chances of not having a heart attack by making the choice a liquid one. Most experts recommend olive or canola oil as good substitutes for other cooking fats, such as the butter pat and lard. They also recommend stir frying instead of deep frying, because the quick heat limits the amount the oil breaks down. If you do deep fry, discard the oil each time you use it since this compounds the chemical breakdown problem. When you need a little flavor, try some lemon pepper seasoning with some sea salt. It's a great substitute for the butter bath. Adding a bit of olives to the frying oil gives a great Mediterranean feel as well.
3. Beware of the Trans Fat Trick
You want to pick healthy frying oils, but with all of the label tricks manufacturers play, you might be lost. Most vegetable and seed oils, such as corn, canola and olive oils, have less saturated fats and zero trans fats, unless they've been partially hydrogenated. Manufacturers list this on the ingredients label as "hydrogenated oil" or "partially hydrogenated oil." Beware, if you only check the nutritional label under the trans fat heading you may find "0." This is a little trick the used to make the buyer think they are buying something healthy. What they actually do is make the serving size so small that there is less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving, and when it's less than that they are not required to put it on the nutritional label. They may even tout this lie on the front of their label to get you to pick their product over another. Don't be fooled. If the label has a boast of 0g of trans fat, followed in tiny print the phrase "per serving," you know they are playing the trans fat trick on you.
Member Comments