What cooking oil should you use?

The cooking oil conundrum! What cooking oil should I use? Among different types and varieties of oil, which oil is the best!? Which one is healthy for the heart?

Oil is fat or lipid - one of the 3 macronutrients that give energy to our body (the other being protein and carbs). One gram of oil provides 9 kcal of energy to our body irrespective of the type or classification of the oil.

I will classify oil by 2 methods -

1. Based on their chemical composition (saturated oil, unsaturated etc)
2. Based on how they are extracted (raw oil, cold-pressed oil, refined oil etc)

Oil based on its chemical composition

The basic composition of a fat molecule is a fatty acid chain - a hydro-carbon molecule (a combination of hydrogen and carbon)

If there are no double bonds, then the oil is saturated. If there is a double bond in the fatty acid chain, then it is an unsaturated oil. Oil with one double bond is a mono-unsaturated oil and one with more than one double bond, is a polyunsaturated oil

• Saturated oil - Coconut oil, butter, ghee
• Monounsaturated oil - Olive oil, avocado oil, ground nut oil, almond oil
• Polyunsaturated oil - Sunflower oil, soybean oil, Corn oil

Transfat (trans-unsaturated fatty acid) is another type of fat that is highly unhealthy and dangerous. They are unsaturated fatty acids, but with a trans orientation around those double bonds. (Read more - here) Examples - margarine, dalda/vanaspati. They are known to increase blood cholesterol levels tremendously leading to blocks in the arteries.

Note that, every oil is a mix of different types of the above varieties. We classify one type of oil as 'saturated', if it has a higher percentage of saturated fatty acids as compared to the other two. The length of this hydrocarbon chain also varies from one oil to another oil. For example - coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid varitey

Oil based on its extraction method

Oil is made from seeds and flowers by applying a combination of mechanical pressure, heat, chemicals etc. The oil made using mechanical pressure/grinding with very little heat or chemical processing will retain many of the beneficial components of the seed/flower - such as antioxidants, various vitamins & minerals. With heat and/or chemical processing, the oil lose loses most of these beneficial ingredients - especially anti-oxidants.

Raw oil, cold-pressed oil, virgin oil etc are hence rich in the original properties of the seed/flower and they smell very much like the seed/flower - thanks to the antioxidants, polyphenols etc. Refined oil on the other hand is highly refined and has hardly any such nutrients, other than the fatty acid chains!

Which oil is healthy?

The million-dollar question - which oil should you use and which is healthy?

Which oil is healthy really depends on the way you intend to use it or cook with it!

Oil is used to make food more palatable and it also adds a lot of flavour to it. But which oil should you use depends on the way you intend to cook with it. At the smoke-point temperature of the oil, the oil turns unhealthy and releases a lot of toxins. It also may turn into transfat - a type of fat that increases blood cholesterol.

Saturated oils are more heat resistant and have a high smoke point. Unsaturated oils on the other hand have a low smoke point and can smoke up faster. Hence, for high-temperature cooking such as tawa frying coconut oil, ghee etc are a better option.

The length of the fatty acid chain also plays a role in determining the smoke point

However, saturated fat such as coconut oil, ghee etc is believed to increase blood cholesterol and hence unhealthy for the heart. The scientific world is still divided on this fact and there is substantial evidence on either side of the argument! At NuvoVivo, we suggest keeping the saturated oil/fat intake minimal and using it primarily for high-heat cooking.

Unsaturated fat, especially mono-unsaturated fat is known to be heart-healthy. However, owing to their comparatively lower smoke point, it is sensible to use them only for low-temperature cooking, salad dressings etc.

Raw oil, virgin oil, cold-pressed oil etc are extracted with very little to no chemical treatment and hence contain all great nutrients including antioxidants, polyphenols etc. They are highly nourishing to apply on the skin and also to dribble it raw on food/bread etc. However, raw oil will smoke up sooner as compared to its refined counterpart due to the presence of these nutrients. Raw oil also may also turn rancid and stale pretty soon, due to these phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients)

How much oil to use?

Cutting down oil completely is not a great idea at all. Dietary fat is important for our body to absorb nutrients like Vit - A, D, E and K. Fat also plays an important role in hormone regulation (all sex hormones are made out of fat!) But remember - fat is a double-edged sword! As you already saw, some fat can increase cholesterol, while some other types of fat like fish oil, and flax seed oil can reduce cholesterol!

For a normal person, 60 - 80 grams of a fat per day is recommended ( ~35% of daily calorie intake)

To put the above numbers into perspective, note that 1 tablespoon of oil is roughly 15 gms of fat! Please keep in mind that the above range will vary based on medical conditions (For example - a person with gallstones or gallbladder removed, should keep fat intake minimal). Keep the saturated fat intake at less than 10%, and the remaining 25% can be mono or polyunsaturated fat based on the method of cooking (as discussed above)

Oil & Calorie Density

Fat is a lot of calories as compared to protein or carbs. One gram of fat has more than double the number of calories (9 Kcal) as compared to protein and carbs (4 Kcal). Besides, fat is hydrophobic and hence does not mix with water. Let me explain with an example - 1 tablespoon of boiled rice, which is 15 grams will contain only 2-3 grams of carbohydrates while the remaining 12- 13 grams is water. This mean, 1 tablespoon of rice has nearly 8 - 12 calories only.

On the other hand, 1 tablespoon of oil, which is nearly 15 grams does not contain any water - the entire 15 grams is fat. This means, 1 tablespoon of oil is nearly 135 calories

Thus, the margin of error for fat is much lesser; you can easily end up on a high-calorie diet if you are not careful with fat/oil. This is why oil is a double-edged sword

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