Top 5 myths about cooking oil busted

Myth 1 – Vegetable oils low in cholesterol should be used

Indians mostly use vegetable oils for cooking purposes. Most of us might have come across ads which say that one should choose a vegetable oil which is low in cholesterol, but in reality, vegetable oils are obtained from plants and hence, do not contain cholesterol. So do not ever go by ads that are a mere marketing gimmick, but check the nutritional information on the oil packs or cans to know about the nutritive value of the oil.   

Myth 2 – Replacing cooking oil with olive oil is good for health

While olive oil is good for heart health and contains good amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, one cannot use it for cooking purposes. This is because olive oil has low smoke point (the oil becomes useless beyond this point as it starts to break down) and hence is not suitable for cooking. While normally used cooking oils like coconut oil, groundnut oil and rice bran oil have high smoke point and hence, can be used for deep frying, shallow frying as well as sautéing.

Myth 3 – Using more oil makes food tastier 

The second most common myth about cooking oil is that the more oil you use while cooking, the tastier is your food. The fact is that using more oil to cook causes the food to overcook and also lose a lot of nutrients from the food. Additionally, consuming food that is high in oil increases your risk of health complications by raising your cholesterol levels in the body. 

Myth 4 – Reusing oil causes no health issues

People often tend to reuse oil several times irrespective of the type of oil used and its cooking purpose (frying, sautéing, etc). Reusing cooking oil is not a safe practice, as using the same oil again and again creates free radicals, which in turn cause cancer. In addition, overheating and repeated heating of cooking oil is dangerous for health as it causes detrimental effects on health like acidity, heart disease, irritable throat and Alzheimer’s disease.

Myth 5 – Traditional cooking oils are not heart-friendly

With the introduction of so-called heart-friendly cooking oils like sunflower or safflower oils in our diet due to the presence of PUFA (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids) in these oils, traditional cooking oils have been side-lined. However, research studies have proved that traditional cooking oils like ghee, mustard oil and coconut oil are better than heart-friendly oils in reducing your risk of acute heart disease, type2 diabetes and dyslipidaemias.