Cooking oils are the most essential component of a kitchen. but with variety of oils available in the market it is difficult to judge which is ideal for your health. Sunflower oil, introduced in India by the British, has been used in Indian homes for a very long time, however, with changing times, newer varieties of oils have been introduced and marketed under the disguise of being low on cholesterol and healthy for your heart. This raises a question about the ideal cooking oil one should use as there are various myths around them.
Cooking oils are the most essential component of a kitchen. but with variety of oils available in the market it is difficult to judge which is ideal for your health. Sunflower oil, introduced in India by the British, has been used in Indian homes for a very long time, however, with changing times, newer varieties of oils have been introduced and marketed under the disguise of being low on cholesterol and healthy for your heart. This raises a question about the ideal cooking oil one should use as there are various myths around them.
What is an ideal cooking oil?
An ideal cooking oil is one which has a high smoke point which means that it starts giving out volatile and toxic compounds and smoke or fumes only at a higher temperature. Cooking oil should also be rich in unsaturated fatty acids like mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids and low on saturated fatty acids. Oil which contain unsaturated fatty acids are liquid at room temperature and turn solid when chilled. You may like to read about the right way of using the most common cooking oils.
Sunflower oil is made by pressing sunflower seeds. It has a pale yellow colour and is odourless whereas rice bran oil is made from the hard outer covering of rice called rice husk or chaff. and is darker in colour. Both these oils are unsaturated fatty acids with high smoke points and are widely used for cooking and are known to be healthy. However they differ in their composition.
Fatty acid composition: Both sunflower and rice bran oil are low in saturated fatty acid and rich in unsaturated fatty acids which make them ideal for people with heart disease and high blood cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol content: Both the oils are free of cholesterol content. Rice bran oil has lipid lowering properties and reduces cholesterol absorption.1 Rice bran oil is also known to be rich in oryzanol which lowers the plasma non-HDL level and increases plasma HDL levels.2Sunflower oil also is known to reduce LDL (bad)cholesterol levels in the blood3 and is also known to be easily metabolised by the liver4. You may like to read about other cholesterol lowering foods.
Vitamin E content: Sunflower oil is rich in Vitamin E which is a powerful antioxidant. It helps to tackle the free radicals in the body and prevent the cells from oxidative stress. It also helps in reducing deposition of bad cholesterol on the walls of the arteries and prevent diseases like atherosclerosis and is good for overall health. Rice bran oils also contains vitamin E but not as high as sunflower oil. Vitamin E also helps you stay young and healthy, read how.
Smoke point: Smoke point is the temperature at which volatile components in the form of a smoke emerge from an oil. At this temperature, oil is decomposed and formation of toxic substances takes place. In case of cooking oils, higher the smoke point better the oil is. Rice bran oil has a smoke point of 232o C whereas sunflower oil has a smoke point of 225o C giving rice bran oil some leverage over sunflower oil.
Which is healthier?
Both these oils are healthy and ideal for frying food due to their high smoke points. They are heart healthy and ideal for people who suffer from coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis. And hence deciding which is healthier can be a little tricky, but owing to the higher smoke point of rice bran oil it can be considered a little more healthy than sunflower oil!
References :
1. Ausman LM, Rong N, Nicolosi RJ. Hypocholesterolemic effect of physicallyrefined rice bran oil: studies of cholesterol metabolism and earlyatherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic hamsters. J Nutr Biochem. 2005 Sep;16(9):521-9. PubMed PMID: 16115540.
2. Wilson TA, Nicolosi RJ, Woolfrey B, Kritchevsky D. Rice bran oil and oryzanol reduce plasma lipid and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and aorticcholesterol ester accumulation to a greater extent than ferulic acid in hypercholesterolemic hamsters. J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Feb;18(2):105-12. Epub 2006May 18. PubMed PMID: 16713234.
3. Allman-Farinelli MA, Gomes K, Favaloro EJ, Petocz P. A diet rich inhigh-oleic-acid sunflower oil favorably alters low-density lipoproteincholesterol, triglycerides, and factor VII coagulant activity. J Am Diet Assoc.2005 Jul;105(7):1071-9. PubMed PMID: 15983523.
Originally published on www.thehealthsite.com
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