There is nothing called a good oil or a bad one. The key is to create balance between saturated and unsaturated fats, says Rachna Chhachhi
Eating fat and oil is important. It helps us absorb the oil soluble vitamins like A, D, E, as well as lubricate our joints and decrease inflammation. They also make our food tasty. However, there is always a phobia as well as confusion around which oils to use for what. If there is an imbalance between saturated and unsaturated fats, we end up increasing our inflammation and hence of the risk of getting deadly lifestyle diseases including cancer. So it is not that some oils are good and others are bad, it is the balance that we must keep to ensure that we can enjoy the taste of our food as well as keep our minds and bodies healthy.
Always remember the smoke point of an oil and use it below the smoke point. If you use an oil above it's smoke point, it becomes cancerous. Here are the oils and fats and their mysteries unravelled:
Sunflower, rice bran & mustard oil: These can be used for high flame cooking and deep frying. All of them have a smoke point of 227 degrees celcius. When we deep fry something, the temperature reaches around 177 degrees Celsius. This makes these three oils safe for deep frying and Indian cooking where a lot of masalas all sauteed on high flame and our typical tadka for the dal is put. Use them sparingly as the benefits of these for heart health and lowering inflammation are limited. They are neutral except for rice bran oil, which has heart protective qualities, as long as we consume them in limited quantities.
Extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils: A lot of people say that they do all their cooking in extra virgin olive oil. This is the most hazardous thing anyone can do from a health perspective, because extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of 160 degrees. When we cook in extra virgin olive oil, we are way above its smoke point, hence making this wonderfully anti-inflammatory oil inflammatory and cancerous in nature. The same applies to virgin flaxseed oil. Hence, extra virgin olive and falxseed oils should be strictly used raw, for salads or smoothies only. They should come in a glass bottle, not plastic, and should say cold press/extraction somewhere on the bottle. Extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, making them ideal for reducing bad cholesterol and inflammation inside the body. One should aim at 25-30 ml per day of these raw oils in salads every day.
Saturated oils: These include coconut oil, butter and ghee and their smoke points are 177 degrees. They should be used very sparingly as saturated fat can increase our triglycerides and cholesterol as well as the risk of stomach-related cancers and prostate cancer. A lot of people use butter, ghee or coconut oil for tempering spices on high flame, however, the smoke point for these oils is 177 degrees Celsius. This means that we are dangerously close to converting them into carcinogenic oils as they have already reached their smoke point of 177 degrees. A good measure is not more than 5 per cent of the total fat you consume.
A great way to balance your fat and oil intake is to use minimal oil for cooking.
The writer is Cancer Nutrition Expert & Brand Ambassador Geminiâ„¢ Rice Bran Oil