Don't Spoil Your Oil

“Don’t Spoil Your Oil”

            Did you know that a healthy percentage of fat in your diet is approximately 25-35% depending on your goals? Did you know that there are 3 types of fat that make up this percentage? Did you know that getting a balanced amount of each type of fat can dramatically improve your health and even help you lose fat? Did you know that fats come in the form of things like animal fats, butter, oils, olives, and mixed nuts?

            Today we are going to learn a little more about oils. Personally, I am not the most confident cook in the kitchen; therefore I can always use more information regarding how to cook with oils and what types of oils to cook with. So, I decided to refer to my trusty resource of Precision Nutrition.

            *Because it is true that some oils can change with different cooking conditions, here are a few suggestions Precision Nutrition gives:

1.      Don’t use additional fats when pan-frying or grilling meat.

a.       Use a pan or grill with a non-stick surface, or if you absolutely must, coat the surface with a minimal amount of cooking spray (recommend: olive oil version of Pam spray).

                                                              i.      Doing this will decrease the amount of mutagenic (physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material) chemicals formed when frying meat in oil.

2.      Don’t use “mono” or “poly” unsaturated fats when pan-frying.

a.       Use a pan with a non-stick surface.

                                                              i.      If absolutely necessary, use a minimal amount of cooking spray (see above) but don’t use any more monounsaturated oil (corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil…etc) and avoid using polyunsaturated oils (like flax oil).

1.      These oils are not very heat stable and will become highly oxidized and lose their essential fatty acid content with cooking.

2.      And while extra virgin olive oil is used in cooking from time to time “in the smallest amount possible”, if you want to be really cautious you should consume this unheated as well.

3.      If a small amount of cooking spray won’t do the trick, cook with a tiny amount of butter or coconut oil, which are more heat stable.

3.      When baking, use small amounts of saturated fats and/or olive oil only.

a.       These are best to use for heat stability reasons.

4.      Don’t deep fry foods.

a.       Deep frying food, especially in hydrogenated fats, is the equivalent of inviting heart disease over for dinner.

So I ask, what oils are you cooking with?

Until next time!

Hayley Jones, BS, CSCS, Pn1
hjones@mvhospital.net