Usually cooking at home, oil is indispensable, but many people don't know what kind of oil is healthier to cook.
After all, there are too many types of edible oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, lard, butter, etc., which are completely confusing.
Edible oil, how to choose? In fact, the answer is very simple, just remember two points: 1. Give preference to vegetable oil and eat it from time to time; 2. Look at the smoke point.
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Why cooking oil
Is it advisable to change it from time to time?
In a word: Eating from time to time can take in more types of unsaturated fatty acids, which is healthier.
The edible oil we usually use can be divided into vegetable oil and animal oil:
- Common vegetable oils: soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, sesame oil, corn oil, olive oil, etc.;
- Common animal fats: lard, butter, sheep fat, cream (butter), etc.
The chemical structure of fat is triglycerides, which are glycerol molecules with three fatty acids attached to them. According to the different structures, fatty acids are further divided into two main categories: saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. Among them, unsaturated fatty acids are further divided into monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The main difference between different food oils is that the composition of these fatty acids will be different. According to the recommendations of the Dietary Nutrition Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) in mainland China, the intake of saturated fatty acids needs to be controlled, and unsaturated fatty acids should be appropriately consumed.
To translate: animal oils have a higher content of saturated fatty acids, and vegetable oils have a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids, so it is recommended to give preference to vegetable oils.
From the above figure, we can find that the content of common edible oils, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids varies greatly, and it is difficult to find a single oil that completely meets the composition of three fatty acids, and long-term consumption of a single oil may affect the nutritional balance.
To sum up, it is recommended to give priority to vegetable oil for edible oil, and often change to eat, so that it may achieve a more complete structure. But there are two vegetable oils not to choose, coconut oil and palm oil, which are higher in saturated fat than animal oils, close to or more than 80%.
Why cooking oil?
Want to see the "smoke point"?
When stir-frying vegetables with oil, many people also have an intuitive and headache feeling - smoking.
The temperature at which the oil begins to smoke during the heating process is called the "smoke point". When the oil smokes, the oil smoke will contain acrolein, which has a strong irritating effect on the eyes and respiratory tract. In addition, oil smoke, like the smog particles in the air, can also increase the risk of lung cancer.
When cooking, we need to pay attention to different practices and choose oils with different smoke points. For example, if the temperature is high when stir-frying and frying, choose oil with a high smoke point, and if the temperature of the cold mix is low, you can choose an oil with a low smoke point.
Smoke point of common greases
Speaking of this, many people may ask, so many kinds of oils, the smoke point is different, I can't remember it at all, what should I do?
Teach you a trick, directly choose the oil with a high smoke point, the higher the smoke point, the more scenes can be used.
In addition, the smoke point of edible oils is closely related to the processing technology of oils and fats, and the smoke point of "refined" vegetable oils is usually higher. This is because the oil can be refined to remove any impurities that may be present in it, greatly increasing the smoke point. For example, soybeans and peanuts have a crude smoke point of around 160°C, and can reach more than 230°C after refining.
If you see oil with the words "virgin", "extra virgin" and "cold pressed", don't use it for stir-frying, frying and other cooking at a relatively high temperature. Because they have not been refined, there are a lot of polyphenols and other antioxidant substances in the oil, and the taste is very fragrant, but the smoke point is relatively low, and it is still good for cold dressing.
Finally, a special reminder is to try not to stir up!
Because the temperature during stir-frying is usually between 180°C and 240°C, basically the smoke point of common peanut oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and so on does not exceed 240°C. This means that stir-frying is prone to produce a lot of fumes.
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Finally, I would like to summarize and emphasize the key points of oil selection:
1. Give priority to vegetable oil, and eat it from time to time to ensure a diverse intake of unsaturated fatty acids, which is healthier;
2. Usually there are more stir-fried vegetables and frying, and refined vegetable oil is preferred, and the smoke point is higher; Usually, there are more cold dressings, and virgin, primary cold pressed, and extra virgin vegetable oil can be selected.
Resources
[1] Sun Changhao. Nutrition and Food Hygiene[M].8th Edition. Beijing:People's Medical Publishing House, 2017: 48
[2] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary guidelines for Chinese residents (2022)[M]. Beijing:People's Medical Publishing House, 2022.
[3] Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Encyclopedia of Chinese Nutritional Sciences (2nd Edition)[M]. Beijing:People's Medical Publishing House, 2019.
[4] 《中国居民膳食指南科学研究报告(2021)》简本[J].营养学报,2021,43(02):102.DOI:10.13325/j.cnki.acta.nutr.sin.2021.02.001.
[5] 膳食总脂肪、饱和脂肪与健康关系的科学认识[J].营养学报,2022,44(04):313-315.DOI:10.13325/j.cnki.acta.nutr.sin.2022.04.014.
[6] Total fat intake for the prevention of unhealthy weight gain in adults and children:WHO guideline. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073654
[7] Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHOguideline.https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073630()
Planning and production
Author丨Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center
Audit丨Zhong Kai, Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center
Planning丨Lin Lin
Editor-in-charge丨Lin Lin
Reviewer丨Xu Lai Linlin