Tidbit Tuesday - Cooking with Oils
Hello,
Welcome to another Tidbit Tuesday where we aim to teach you something new about health, nutrition, lifestyle, training, and so much more, every week!
Today we are talking about using different Oils for cooking and eating!
Have you ever wandered down the aisles of your local grocery store, wondering what oils are best to purchase for consumption and which to choose for cooking.
You definitely aren't alone!
There are so many options available that it can be dizzying trying to decide. Just to name a few there are:
Canola
Avocado
Safflower
Soybean
Corn
Coconut
Peanut
Sunflower
But, why is this whole fat thing so important? Because you are fat. No, I don’t mean that YOU are fat. But you are, at a fundamental level, composed of fat. Your body actually uses fat from your diet to form and protect the most well-known aspect of your body: cells. Every living cell in your body has a membrane around it that’s responsible for allowing compounds in and out of the cell so it can function properly, like a well-oiled car engine.
This is why it is so important to choose the right fats and oils.
Some of the most commonly consumed are refined vegetable oils, seed oils, and omega-6 fats, all of which contribute to inflammation and chronic disease.
Oils consist of fatty liquid that is physically extracted from several vegetables and also some animal tissues, the most appreciated being olive oil for both taste and health properties, especially the extra-virgin category, mechanically extracted from olives at low temperature.
Fatty acids are susceptible to oxidative processes resulting in a wide range of volatile and non-volatile degradation products.
Therefore one of the major challenges for the oil processing industry is to maintain the high quality of the product after processing until use by the consumer.
However, the oxidative stability of edible oils not only depends on conditions during storage, but also the history of the raw material and the processing steps involved.
Forget “Best Used By” dates with oils.
They’re arbitrary and tell you nothing about how recently the olive oil was pressed. In addition to a “Best Used By” date, the top olive oil producers put a Pressing Date on the label (also known as the Harvest Date).
Preferably, you want to see a Pressing Date no older than six months prior to your purchase. In contrast, many “Best Used By” dates are set for two or two-and-a-half years out, way beyond the six-month window of maximum freshness and nutritional potency.
Oxidation processes play an important role in the deterioration of fats and oils, with the end result being the oils becoming rancid.
The products of the oxidation process can react with other ingredients in complex composed foods, such as amino acids or proteins, resulting in changes of texture or colour.
Therefore oxidation is very important in terms of the palatability, toxicity and nutritional value of edible oils. The most characteristic changes which become more and more obvious during the oxidation process are the development of an unpleasant taste and smell, but also changes in colour, viscosity, density and solubility take place.
All oils and fats oxidize during storage. The rate of oxidation depends primarily on inherent factors like fatty acid profile, minor components including moisture and other impurities and quality of processing, as well as external factors like storage temperature, air (oxygen) concentration, and light.
Just like heat and oxygen, light is also an enemy of oil.
Always buy oil in dark glass bottles, tins or other opaque containers. Clear glass bottles might be aesthetically pleasing, but they do not protect the oils from natural or artificial light. Inside your kitchen cabinet is your best storage option.
Always buy olive oil certified to be “extra virgin.” Grades such as “pure,” “light,” or “virgin” indicate that the oils did not meet international standards for “extra virgin” and typically have been chemically treated to mask defects. Also, ignore terms like “cold-pressed” and “first-pressed.” They are meaningless in today’s olive oil lexicon.
You may find that some oils have distinctive flavors, so try different types to discover which ones you like. Also, some oils are better for certain types of cooking than others, so you may want to have more than one type in your pantry.
You can usually use cooking oils just like solid cooking fats. For example:
Make your own salad dressings, marinades, dips and sauces.
Grill, sauté, stir fry, bake or roast foods.
Coat pans to keep food from sticking.
Spread or drizzle on foods for flavor.
“Season” cast-iron cookware.
Substitute for butter, margarine or solid fats in recipes.
Tips for cooking with healthy oils:
Any oil starts to degrade once it reaches its smoke point. So, if you accidentally let your oil smoke or catch fire, get rid of it and start over.
If oil smells bad, don’t use it. When an oil is stored too long it can become oxidized or rancid. It will have a distinct smell, and you should get rid of it.
Don’t reuse or reheat any cooking oil.
Buy cooking oils in smaller containers to avoid waste, and store them in a dark, cool place to keep them fresh longer.
Oils and fats supply calories and essential fats and help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K.
The type of fat is just as important for health as the total amount of fat consumed.
Read that again.
The TYPE of fat is just as, if not more, important than how much fat you consume.
For example, if your diet is high in damaged fatty acids like those found in corn oil, canola oil, safflower or sunflower oil, or if your diet is high in trans fats, or if the fish oil you’re taking is rancid and exposed to too much light and warmth, or if the steak you’re eating is a slab from a big ol’ corn and grain-fed cow, then those damaged fats are what get incorporated into the building blocks of your precious cell membranes, and your brain and nervous system become comprised of the foods that you eat and the foods that what you eat ate.
These damaged, highly reactive fats are found most notoriously in most brands of potato chips, french fries, fried packaged foods and pretty much any other food with fat that’s been heated at too high of a temperature for that fat to remain stable.
So the first step in any brain fueling strategy must begin with eliminating every source of overheated, over pressured vegetable oils and polyunsaturated fats, and replacing them with healthy fats and cholesterols, which, in contrast to processed oils, are some of the best fuels for the brain and are a perfectly natural human food.
So, which are the best to stock your cupboards with?!
If you're looking to drizzle it as a topper or dressing:
Macadamia
Grapeseed
Extra virgin olive oil
Use oils with a high smoking point for cooking, like:
Avocado
Coconut
Butter
There’s quite a few benefits to the consumption of oil for fats. It just needs to be in moderation because it is true that they are very calorically dense.
Happy Cooking!
Your Friend in Health & Fitness,
Coach Sean
