What oil is the healthiest for frying?

There are usually two kinds of frying food, namely by sautéing and frying while soaking in a lot of oil (deep fry). During the frying process, the oil will be absorbed into the food and part of the food component is dissolved into the cooking oil. This way of cooking is actually bad for health. However, you can work around this by choosing healthy cooking oil.

Do you know which oil is the healthiest for frying?

Healthy cooking oil criteria

There are various types of oil that can be used for cooking. The criterion for a good cooking oil is that the saturated fat content is less than the unsaturated fat in the oil composition.

When cooking, the oil must be below a certain temperature so as not to oxidize and generate free radicals. Many people think that olive oil or olive oil healthier than other cooking oils. Is it true?

Olive oil, corn oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil: which is healthier?

Researchers at Sfax University Tunisia conducted a study and compared the suitable oils for frying. They compared olive oil with corn oil, soybean oil and sunflower seeds.

This research was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry . They noted the physical, chemical, and nutritional changes to the oil when it was heated and used for frying food.

When heated, oil can produce toxic substances and its nutritional content can be lost or changed. The aim of this study was to find the oils that had the least amount of nutritional changes when used for repeated frying.

The research team fried potatoes at 3 temperatures with 4 different types of oil, olive oil, corn oil, soybean oil and sunflower seed oil. Potatoes are fried at 3 temperatures, 160 C, 190 C and a temperature of 180 C.

This test is repeated 10 times with the same oil, in the same household conditions. Different methods are used to determine the change in oil during the frying process.

The results show that when used for frying, the chemical composition of cooking oil is generally stable compared to grain oil. Meanwhile, olive oil turned out to be the most resistant to oxidation. Trans fatty acids and the percentage of total nutrients are the least changed at 160 degrees C during the frying process.

The healthiest olive oil

In conclusion, olive oil is better than seed oil for frying, because its quality and nutrition are better or have not changed much. Meanwhile, the International Olive Oil Council states that olive oil is ideal for frying, but it must be in the right conditions and temperature and not too hot.

There is no structural change in olive oil, and its nutritional content remains durable compared to other oils. Not only because of its antioxidant content, but also because of its high oleic acid content.

How to use cooking oil to stay healthy

Do not overheat cooking oil.
Use just enough so that the compounds formed from the heating do not overdo it.
Before entering the ingredients to be fried, make sure the cooking oil is hot first so that the cooking process is not too long in the oil.
Use paper or tissue for drying food that has been fried so that excess oil can be absorbed by the paper or tissue .
So that the compounds formed due to heating do not become a lot and do not stick to food, it is better not to use used oil repeatedly.
Store cooking oil in a cool place and not exposed to light so that the oil content does not change.

Healthy cooking oil does not mean that you overeat fried foods. Keep limiting to eating fried foods.