Healthy Cooking

Cooking for Health and NOT Taste

Dieting or healthy food choice doesn’t mean eliminate fat completely from your diet. Each nutrient has its unique significant role so also fat. Oils and fat should be apart of our diet but its important not to cross the limit. Fat is a source of energy. Fat is necessary to carry the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K; it provides essential fatty acids. It acts as an insulating material to the body and organs. It adds flavor to our food that is the reason behind fatty foods being so tasty. Plant oils also contain a range of vitamins and phytochemicals that can be good for us.

Fats are of different types good as well as bad. We are advised to reduce the amount of saturated and trans fats we consume because they are bad for health and increase the cholesterols levels in the blood and thus being more prone to health risk associated with it. Butter fell out of flavor as a spread and cooking fat because it contains over 50 percent saturated fat. Monounsaturated fats are good for health. Olive oil is the best known for being high in monounsaturated fats, although macadamia nuts, avocado and canola oils also have a high level, so these are all healthy choices. Polyunsaturated fats split into two groups: omega-6 and omega-3 both are important for health.

Cooking with oil

When cooking with oil two things are important they are:

• Quantity
• Smoke point

Deep frying or even shallow frying is not recommended as the food soaks up a lot of oil and it makes the food very high in energy. If you use a seasoned heavy bottomed or non stick pan, you can get away with quite small quantities of oil to quickly brown or stir fry food. You'll need to choose oil that wont burn at a high heat that is one with a high smoke point. When you burn oils, you destroy their goodness; the antioxidants and the structure of the beneficial fatty acids are lost. Rice bran, avocado, soy and safflower oils have high smoke points that would be suitable for any high heat cooking like searing, browning or frying (the healthy economic option would be rice bran oil). Sesame peanut and canola oils also have smoke point over 200oC. Oil sprays or pumps are convenient alternative that could cut down on the amount oil used in your cooking.

Salad oils

For an oil that will add flavor choose olive, avocado or flaxseed oils. People watching their weight may be tempted to stop using any oil on salads but research shows that addition of extra virgin olive oil to salad increases the antioxidant content, and avocado oil enhances absorption of beneficial antioxidants lycopene and beta carotene from the salad. A good reason not to deprive yourself.

Avocado oil : High in beneficial monounsaturated fats; a very high smoke point (270oC) means it’s suitable for all types of cooking. It's flavorsome oil also suitable for salads.

Flaxseed oil : exceptionally high in beneficial omega-3 (ALA) with some omega-6; not suitable for cooking as it has low smoke point; subtle taste makes it a healthy alternative for salads.

Olive oil : high in beneficial monounsaturated fats, olive oil is heart healthy; choose extra virgin olive oil for its flavour and high levels of antioxidants; smoke point around 180-200oC so not suitable for high heat cooking. A flavour some oil for salads.

Peanut and sesame oil : high in both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; smoke point around 210-220oC; generally used only where their distinctive flavor are required.

Rice bran oil : high in beneficial monounsaturated fats; rice bran oil has also shown to lower cholesterol; with a mild flavor and high smoke point, this oil is suitable for both cooking or salad and its economic too.

Soybean oil : the most common oilseed produced in the world. Its versatility has made it popular (smoke point over 250oC) but with high omega 6 content even though it does not contain omega-3 you are better to choose something else.

Sunflower and safflower oils : like soy oil; these are very versatile with a high smoke point; very high omega-6 content with no omega-3 try rice bran oil instead.

• Avoid fried foods; instead grill, steam, or boil food to minimize fat content.
• Wash vegetables before chopping them to prevent loss of water soluble nutrients like Vitamin C, Riboflavin, thiamin and niacin.
• Avoid use of baking soda while cooking pulses and vegetables as soda inhibits the absorption of calcium.
• Avoid repeated washing of rice and pulses, as valuable nutrients are lost in the process.
• Preserve vitamins in food by cooking whole vegetables with their skin.
• Substitute cream with skimmed yoghurt, as it contains less fat.
• Seasonal vegetables and fruits have the highest nutrient content so include them in your diet as often as possible.
• Use non stick cookware and minimize the oil content in your food.