Well Oiled?

Urban Household Shave switched to refined veg-etable oil for health.

URBAN HOUSEHOLD Shave switched to refined veg-etable oil for health. When scientific evidence favoured consumption of polyunsaturated oils over saturated fats, the first casualties were traditional cooking fats like desi ghee and coconut oil. However, abandoning traditional fats in favour of modern oils have led to a radical decline in health. If statistics are to be be-lieved, heart disease, diabetes and cancer cases in India are growing exponentially.

Essential fats, fat-soluble vitamins etc are required, but the crux is in the quality. Fats differ in two important ways. Firstly, their composition i.e. if they are saturated or not. Secondly, their method of extraction i.e. if they are refined or cold pressed.

While vegetable oils are certainly desir-able for disease prevention and well being, the process of extraction destroys most of its benefits. The consumption of poor quality fat can lead to problems of heart, cancer, skin and also obesity.

Oil is refined for mass production be-cause of commercial purposes. Natural oilseeds are heated to a very high temperature and oil is then extracted through a solvent extraction process. Subsequently, it is degummed, clarified and de-odorized to obtain the 8220;LITE8221; look and taste. The heat de-stroys most of the essential fatty acids, natural vitamins like Vitamin E, antioxidants and Lecithin, a fat emulsifier. The oil thus obtained, tends to become very unstable and prone to rancidity.

Then it is further subjected to a process of hydrogenation and addition of preservatives to increase its shelf life. This process is seriously harmful to health as it causes formation of 8220;trans fatty acids8221;, increasing risk of coronary artery disease.

It is also known that often the extraction process may leave traces of the solvent. Cold pressed oils, on the other hand, are extracted at room temperature without chem-icals thus retaining the natural goodness. Olive, Mustard, Sesame are cold pressed oils.

Olive oil8217;s popularity is partly because of the fact that it is cold pressed. Some oil seeds are commonly exposed to several chemical sprays and pesticides like DDT and BHC that are fat-soluble. Therefore, oils ex-tracted from them carry significant amounts of pesticide residues. Regular consumption results in the residue to be deposited in vital organs like liver, kidney, brain and fat tissue, resulting in cu-mulative toxicity, leading to organ damage and several health problems like cancer, infertility and birth defects.

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A combination of oils should be used to balance the nutritional requirements of polyunsaturated, mo-nounsaturated and sat-urated fats. The prudent choice would be a combination of mustard, sesame and desi gheein equal pro-portions.

They need not be mixed but used separately in different preparations. Make Olive Oil a part of cook-ing media if possible.

You may fry in fresh oil without heating it much. Olive oil is not suitable for frying due to its low smoking point. Oil used for more than half an hour should not be reused. Buy small quantities at a time and store oils in dark glass con-tainers away from heat and sunlight.

For those who are obese, inactive or suffer from dia-betes, heart disease and high blood pressure, it is advisable to limit fat intake. However, it is most important to choose the right quality of oil and avoid refined, hydrogenated and reused oils.