I usually cook at home
Oil is definitely indispensable
But what kind of oil is healthier for cooking?
What should we choose?
The answer is simple, just keep two things in mind:
- Preferential choice of vegetable oil, often change to eat;
- Look at the smoke point.
Why Cooking Oil Recommended
Changing food 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 put it simply: animal oil has a higher content of saturated fatty acids, and vegetable oil has a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids, so it is recommended to give preference to vegetable oil.
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. However, there are two vegetable oils not to choose, coconut oil and palm kernel oil, which are higher in saturated fatty acids than animal oils.
Why should the choice of edible oil depend on 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 grease
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 about 160°C, and after refining, they can reach more than 230°C.
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 good to use it 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.
Finally, summarize and emphasize the key points of oil selection:
- Give priority to vegetable oil, and eat it from time to time to ensure a diverse intake of unsaturated fatty acids, which is healthier;
- Usually there are more stir-fried vegetables and frying, and refined vegetable oil is preferred, with a higher smoke point; Usually, there are more cold dressings, and virgin, primary cold pressed, and extra virgin vegetable oil can be selected.
Source: Popular Science China, CCTV news client