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Due to the great interest in the article by dietitian Zuzanna Kaczmarek “Ranking of frying fats”, we decided to refresh subject and add a few messages to it.
In the mentioned article it was written that you should fry on such fat, which has a high smoke point, low content polyunsaturated fatty acids and high acid content monounsaturated or saturated.
What is the point smoking?
This is the lowest temperature at which fat is heated begins to break down into glycerol and free fatty acids. At the time reaching this temperature, the fat begins to lose its nutritional value as well further heating it leads to the formation of acrolein, which is a carcinogen. The product fried in such fat takes on flavor burns and becomes harmful to health. That is why you should be big importance to the choice of frying fat.
Frying: oils cold pressed versus refined
Cold-pressed oils are more valuable, they contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. That’s why it is them should be added to e.g. salads and other cold food. However, they are completely unsuitable for frying. In addition to these valuable ingredients, such oils also contain a lot of free ones fatty acids. The more there are, the lower the smoke point, and so on they transform faster into carcinogenic acrolein. Therefore, it is absolutely forbidden to fry, for example, in extra virgin olive oilwhile refined olive oil is already a good frying fat.
Frying: fats vegetable
Vegetable fats are usually considered healthy fats, because they contain large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids. These acids incl. positively affect the work of the brain and nervous system, reduce the level bad, and increase the level of good cholesterol, which has a positive effect on the circulatory system. They are desirable in the daily diet. Unfortunately during the When heated, these polyunsaturated acids turn into trans fats.
It is also worth mentioning that the trans isomers are polyunsaturated fatty acids are formed during the oil hardening processes (i.e. during margarine production).
Izomery trans cause:
- increase in total cholesterol
- increase in bad cholesterol
- lowering the level of good cholesterol
- increase in insulin resistance
- increasing the risk of infertility
- increased risk of cancer (colon, prostate, breast)
It follows from the above information that for frying no should be used oils that are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (WKT). So we exclude the following oils
- linen
- corn
- sesame
- sunflower
- soybean
- from black cumin
- with walnuts
- from pumpkin seeds
- from grape seed
However, there are oils in which acids predominate monounsaturated or saturated. Such acids are less prone to oxidation, that is, changes that occur during frying. They are also characterized by a higher one smoke point. Oils are good sources of these acids:
- coconut
- palm
- rice
- olive oil
You can also include peanut oil and rapeseed oil, but with since they are also rich in PUFAs, they are only suitable for short-term use frying.
Frying: animal fats
Animal fats contain a lot of saturated acids fatty. They are also credited with having adverse health effects (likewise like trans isomers), however, they are resistant to unfavorable processes while frying. In the case of animal fat, its suitability for frying is therefore mainly determined by the smoke point. High smoke point is expected clear butter and lard.
Summary:
If you want to prepare a fried dish, choose one of the the following fats: coconut, palm, rice, refined olive oil, clarified butter or lard. However, remember that each frying is associated with an introduction to the body’s unwanted ingredients. By frying in the wrong fat you will deliver trans isomers or other carcinogenic substances into the body. Whereas by choosing a good fat for frying, you will get saturated acids in the body fatty foods that are not valuable and eating them frequently will also be had a negative effect on healthy. So you can fry on the right fat, but same frying should not be the main way of preparing your food.
Main photo is from: Photo credit: cottonseedoil / Foter.com / CC BY