The lowdown on fats: The good, the bad, and the oily
by Ching M. Alano
In your column entitled “Everything you’re dying to know about formalin,” you mentioned oxidative stress. I used canola and corn oil for frying after I learned that both of them reduce bad cholesterol, but unfortunately, they were mentioned by Dr. Angel S. Respicio Jr. as commercial vegetable oils to be avoided in order to stay healthy. By the way, what are cold pressed or expeller pressed vegetable oils? They were mentioned as good commercial vegetable oils. Can you please give some examples of these?
used to eat food fried in vegetable oils like canola and corn oil. For many years, we have been led to believe that vegetable oils are healthy because they are not “saturated like animal fats.” Truth is, the body needs both unsaturated oils (like vegetable oil, olive oil, nuts, avocado) and saturated oils (like animal fat, butter, and palm oil). The problem with the commercially available vegetable oils on the market today is that they were extracted above 400°F. At that temperature, menacing by-products called lipid hydroperoxides (LH) are formed. When vegetable oil is extracted without using heat, it is called expeller pressed or cold pressed just like our VCO (virgin coconut oil). According to Dr. Catey Shanahan’s article (“Heart of darkness,” westonaprice.org), these LH incite free radical cascades, in addition to deactivating enzymes. This makes them capable of causing tissue inflammation, resulting in skin rashes, heartburn, liver problems, arterial spasm, and blood clots or even cancer. Another toxic chemical identified by researchers at the University of Minnesota is HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-noneal). This is formed when vegetable oils are heated to frying temperature of 365°F. This compound is highly reactive with proteins, nucleic acids — DNA and RNA — and other biomolecules. Reports have linked it to several diseases, including atherosclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and liver diseases. Dr. Mary Enig mentions that excess use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the production of prostaglandins, leading to an array of problems ranging from autoimmune disease to PMS. Add to that, premature aging.
What is the bottom line? When cooking, avoid deep-frying a lot. According to Dr. Enig in her book Know Your Fats, natural fats and oils that are safe for most deep fat frying include coconut oil (like nutri oil), palm oil (Golden Fiesta?), lard, tallow, high oleic safflower oil, high oleic sunflower seed oil, and regular sunflower seed oil with added sesame oil and rice bran oil. We seldom deep-fry but when we cook with oil, we mix coconut oil, olive oil, and/or adobo oil. Yes, we save in a bottle of adobo oil or bacon oil like Grandma used to do, and they were healthy. If you are worried about using animal fat for frying because they are saturated, worry no more. Chicken oil is only 30 percent saturated, lard 40 percent, and tallow (beef) 46 percent.
I hope I have enlightened you. By the way (since you are from Bicol), did you know that pili nuts (canary tree) have the most monounsaturated fat content at 80 percent, followed by macadamia (73 percent)?
Dr. Angel S. Respicio Jr.
Nutrition adviser
The Sleeplab at Hawaii
Medical Center-West
Here’s more on the good, the bad, and the oily in this Q&A with Dr. Respicio, who separates fat from fiction:
What’s the healthiest cooking oil?
DR. ANGEL RESPICIO JR.: The most stable cooking oil commercially available in the Philippines today without toxic contaminants is coconut oil. According to Dr. Mary Enig, an expert of international renown in the field of lipid biochemistry, none of the processes (RBD-refined, bleached, deodorized) used to produce an edible coconut oil should alter the fatty acid composition or amount of medium chain saturates such as lauric acid. It is very useful for those with gall bladder problems because the medium chain fatty acids in coconut do not need to be acted upon by bile salts. Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties, normalizes cholesterol, and helps regulate blood sugar levels among diabetics.
But of course, the key to being healthy is to stay close to your daily allowance of fat.
How does coconut oil compare with the much-hailed (as the healthiest) olive oil?
You can not use olive oil for deep fat frying because the smoke point is low (138°C or 280°F). However, you can mix them together for light frying and sauteeing.
How many times can you reuse used oil?
Do not save oils that have become rancid, whether used or not, even if they are expensive. Free radicals and various breakdown products (i.e. lipid hydroperoxides, 4-hydroxy-trans-2-noneal, oxidized fatty acids, oxidized sterols, peroxides, acrolein, hydrocarbons, and aromatic compounds) are formed when cooking polyunsaturated vegetable oils at high temperature.
Any hot health tips on cooking with oil?
1. Cook adobo in its own fat.
2. Frying fish seems to alter the ratio of good to bad fats, leading to increased stroke risk and formation of blood clots (Newsweek, 2005).
3. Sesamin in sesame oil provides heat stability to olive oil.
4. The best oil to use for making popcorn is 100% coconut oil.
5. Don’t be afraid to cook with animal fat. Chicken oil is only 30% saturated, lard (from pork) 40%, and tallow (from beef or lamb) 46%.
That’s oil for now.
Source: Philippine Star