Difference between revisions of "Oil"
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== Oils and health factors to consider == | == Oils and health factors to consider == | ||
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| + | Oils are widely used in cooking, ranging from being simple condiments to being the key ingredient to cooking something a certain way. | ||
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| + | However, oils present three major downsides, that vary in severity according to the type of oil, amount used, and cooking way: | ||
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| + | '''Empty calories''' | ||
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| + | Oils have a very poor nutrient profile, consisting mainly of some vitamin E and some essential fatty acids.<br> | ||
| + | Similarly to sugar and white rice, they do not provide anything really useful, and while they do provide very little of a few things, they would be much better off replaced with other--more nutritious--foods. | ||
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| + | This is especially true when considering that oils are very high in calories, and that it is easy to use lots of them without realizing because of the ways they are used. For example, when mixing oils in a sauce or to stir fry some vegetables and coating them, you can easily use more than you realize by dropping a little extra oil, and going from 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp can be as simple as inclining the bottle of oil a bit too much or not seeing the quantity of oil precisely due to reflection of light on the pan.<br> | ||
| + | However small of an error this may seem, 1 extra tbsp of olive oil would already present an extra 119 kcal, which is a considerable amount--that is 119 kcal that would give you pretty much nothing, and make you less hungry for nutritious food (therefore, miss more nutrition and be more unlikely to get optimal levels of the nutrients you need), and/or add extra weight to you. | ||
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| + | This is not always a concern, as using oil sparsely and in controlled quantities would have a pretty much negligible effect--still net negative to do, but the conveniency of using oil would likely outweigh the damage after a certain point. | ||
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| + | It is important to note that food ends up not being an 'empty calories'-related problem if it actually allows you to eat healthy foods you would otherwise be unwilling to eat. That is, the calories of the healthy food + the oil used to cook it would still be far better than eating some unhealthy food instead.<br> | ||
| + | For example, it would be far better to eat some sautéed broccoli than to eat some white bread instead. Of course, eating steamed broccoli would be even better, but if by sautéing the broccoli you would eat more of them or you would need to sauté the broccoli in order to tolerate eating them (making them more tasty and palatable), then eating sautéed broccoli is better than not eating them at all. | ||
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| + | '''High saturated fat content''' | ||
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| + | Saturated fats | ||
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| + | '''Trans fats with high heat''' | ||
== Best oils for high temperatures (baking/frying) == | == Best oils for high temperatures (baking/frying) == | ||
Revision as of 21:47, 25 May 2021
Contents
Oils and health factors to consider
Oils are widely used in cooking, ranging from being simple condiments to being the key ingredient to cooking something a certain way.
However, oils present three major downsides, that vary in severity according to the type of oil, amount used, and cooking way:
Empty calories
Oils have a very poor nutrient profile, consisting mainly of some vitamin E and some essential fatty acids.
Similarly to sugar and white rice, they do not provide anything really useful, and while they do provide very little of a few things, they would be much better off replaced with other--more nutritious--foods.
This is especially true when considering that oils are very high in calories, and that it is easy to use lots of them without realizing because of the ways they are used. For example, when mixing oils in a sauce or to stir fry some vegetables and coating them, you can easily use more than you realize by dropping a little extra oil, and going from 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp can be as simple as inclining the bottle of oil a bit too much or not seeing the quantity of oil precisely due to reflection of light on the pan.
However small of an error this may seem, 1 extra tbsp of olive oil would already present an extra 119 kcal, which is a considerable amount--that is 119 kcal that would give you pretty much nothing, and make you less hungry for nutritious food (therefore, miss more nutrition and be more unlikely to get optimal levels of the nutrients you need), and/or add extra weight to you.
This is not always a concern, as using oil sparsely and in controlled quantities would have a pretty much negligible effect--still net negative to do, but the conveniency of using oil would likely outweigh the damage after a certain point.
It is important to note that food ends up not being an 'empty calories'-related problem if it actually allows you to eat healthy foods you would otherwise be unwilling to eat. That is, the calories of the healthy food + the oil used to cook it would still be far better than eating some unhealthy food instead.
For example, it would be far better to eat some sautéed broccoli than to eat some white bread instead. Of course, eating steamed broccoli would be even better, but if by sautéing the broccoli you would eat more of them or you would need to sauté the broccoli in order to tolerate eating them (making them more tasty and palatable), then eating sautéed broccoli is better than not eating them at all.
High saturated fat content
Saturated fats
Trans fats with high heat
