Nutritionists say that vanaspati and groundnut oil are extremely harmful to your body; olive oil the safest.
Do away with that jar of vanaspati and bottle of groundnut oil on your kitchen shelf if you want to stay young and healthy.
Nutritionists at a recently held conference in Mumbai concurred that vanaspati and groundnut oil are extremely harmful while olive oil is safest. However they also agreed that using one single oil isn’t recommended and people should alternate and mix the usage.
A panel discussion of dietitians at the Indian Dietetic Association concluded on a note that cooking oils highly contribute to the cell development in the body and control ageing. Oils contain monounsaturated fat (MUFA), polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids in them, which controls and regulates the cell development and blood flow in your body. These need to be balanced in the diet or it may cause atherogenic and carcinogenic irregularities.
Dietitians claim that it is important to keep a balance of these in your diet. However, one must refrain from hydrogenated oil (vanaspati) as it is the most harmful among edible oils.”
Vanaspatis like dalda, are unhealthy and have a lot of oxidants which are harmful for consumption, while groundnut oil is high in cholesterol. These oxidants cause early ageing as causes cell damage and death, which is the major cause of ageing. Antioxidants is found in olive oil which helps blood flow and maintain healthy cells,” said Dr Ambika Nair, general secretary, Indian Dietetic Association Pune.
Nutritionists recommend using a mix of rice bran, olive and sunflower oil while cooking depending upon the quality of your diet.
A vegetarian meal must ideally be cooked in a mixture of olive oil and canola oil, while a non-vegetarian meal must be cooked in a combination of sunflower and groundnut oil.
“Vegetarian foods are high in omega 6 and hence must be cooked in an oil high in omega 3 to maintain the proportion. Whereas, a non-vegetarian diet is high in omega 3 so must be cooked in a combination of any two of sunflower oil, safflower oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil,” said Dr Geeta Dharmatti, president of IDA Pune.
Experts also claim that none of the cooking oils should be heated beyond their smoking point.
“Smoke point of an oil can be judged just as the mustard seeds in the oil start popping. Over heated oil or oil which is used for frying should never be used for cooking as it contains oxidants that can block your blood circulation and cause cell ageing. This premature cell ageing is responsible for many cardio-vascular ailments due to the hampered blood flow,” said Lavanya Parthasarathi, nutritionist, Jehangir Hospital, Mumbai.
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