Healthy cooking oils

How many owners of exotic cars and jeeps run them on low-grade oil? The quality of engine oil determines the efficiency of automobiles in terms of movement, fuel consumption and ability to withstand stress of traffic jam and long journey. While high-grade engine oil put vehicles in top form mechanically, low grade oil creates sludge in the engine and makes the vehicles sluggish and smoky. So, if we cannot risk running our vehicles on low grade oil, how much our body.

The oil we use for cooking has positive or negative bearing on our health and well being. More importantly, cooking oils are the major sources of fats from our menus. But while good fats are indispensable to healthy living, bad fats make the body vulnerable to diseases. In other words, the chemistry of oil we use to cook determines whether we are getting healthy or bad fats. It is therefore imperative to know good cooking oils and what makes them health-friendly.

Palm Oil

Palm oil is the best cooking oil notwithstanding the misconception that it causes cholesterol problem. It contains the highest natural source of pro-vitamin A (beta-carotene and alpha-carotene). It contains 15 times more beta carotenes than carrots and 300 times more than tomatoes. Palm oil is the best source of super powerful form of vitamin E known as tocotrienol. Red palm oil also has a variety of other nutrients such as vitamin K, CoQ10, flavonoids, phytosterols, lycopene, and some 20 other carotenes.

Compared to other fats, palm oil is far superior in nutrient content and cooking properties. It is highly resistant to oxidation and rancidity and can withstand the high temperatures used in cooking and baking. Due to the inherent carotenes, the oil has a distinct flavour. A good quality red palm oil will have a mild, savoury taste that will enhance the flavour of your foods.

Palm oil is rich in antioxidants capable of reversing blockage in the arteries of heart disease patients and reduce platelet aggregation (excessive blood clotting), thereby reducing the risk of a stroke or heart attack. The higher level of antioxidants of palm oil also makes it a powerful natural weapon against cancer by reducing tumour growth. The antioxidants in palm oil not only block free radicals that promote cancer, but stimulate apoptosis or cell death in diseased cells.

If you are seeking a healthy alternative to animal fats and oils, then switch over to palm oil.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is one of the best vegetable oils to promote healthy living. Olive oil protects the heart with its rich polyphenols and essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make but needed for normal brain function and effective transmission of nerve impulses.  Olive oil lowers cholesterol and prevents hardening of the arteries. It boosts the health of the heart, brain, liver, blood vessels, joints and nerves. This Mediterranean oil has also been found effective in warding off pain and inflammation, which precede all degenerative diseases.

Incorporating olive oil into your diet either as cooking oil, supplement and as salad dressing is a practical step to protect yourself and your family against many life-threatening diseases.

Groundnut Oil:

Otherwise known as peanut oil, it is extracted from peanuts or groundnut. It is a very good source of monounsaturated fats, the type of fat that promote healthy heart. Besides its rich monounsaturated fat content, peanut oil is also a good source of vitamin E, niacin, folate and manganese. It has a pleasant taste and low saturated fat content. Using peanut oil for cooking regularly in moderate amounts lowers the Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides, and increases the High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol which protects the heart.

Linoleic acid in peanut oil, (an essential fatty acid) is the precursor of prostaglandins, the hormone-like substances that have a variety of functions in the human body like contraction and relaxation of smooth muscles, contraction and dilation of the blood vessels, controlling blood pressure, reducing pain and inflammation among other therapeutic effects.  Peanut oil is also essential for prevention of some forms of cancer and premature aging because of its high vitamin E, an antioxidant vitamin. Also, vitamin K in peanut oil helps to prevent internal and external bleeding.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is the best cooking oil because it can withstand heat better than other oils without creating free-radicals. Besides, cooking with coconut oil brings many incredible health benefits. These include its cholesterol and blood pressure lowering effects, weight shedding, heart, liver and kidney protecting effects and antibacterial and anti-viral effects. Coconut oil contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, C, E and folic acid as well as minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc, among others.

Researchers have also discovered that coconut oil is useful in the treatment of kidney and bladder problems. For instance, in a study where kidney failure was induced in test animals, those that were given coconut oil had fewer and less severe lesions and survived longer. The researcher concluded that coconut oil has a protective effect on the kidneys. Because of the anti-microbial effects of coconut oil, it may also be of benefit for a number of kidney and bladder infections.