Is my cooking oil safe?
Practically every household today uses refined oils like sunflower, soya bean, rice bran, corn, palm or cottonseed oils.
Even though they are all marketed as “safe for the heart”, more and more evidence points in the direction that refined oils are causing our epidemic levels of heart disease.
Recently after Sourav Ganguly suffered a heart attack, Fortune oils scampered to pull down all the ads where he was endorsing it as good for the heart.
https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fortune-cooking-oil-advt-featuring-ganguly-taken-off-air-temporarily/article33502062.ece
Here’s a small video that speaks about the Dangers of cooking oil - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdWUiK4FyBo
Why is refined oil harmful?
Did you know?
Refined oil has very little taste and odor – basically, it is refined to the point of being lifeless.
Refining is done to increase the shelf life so it is easier for large companies to manufacture in bulk and sell over a longer period of time.
Petrochemicals like Hexane are used to "refine" oil.
There is a humorous and eye-opening Hindi Video that tells us how refined oil is manufactured. You can decide for yourself whether it is good for you or not after watching that video.
Have added English subtitles for the benefit of people who don’t know Hindi.
What is the healthier alternative to refined oil?
The healthier alternative to refined oil is cold-pressed oil.
Why are cold-pressed oils better?
1. Maximum nutrients (vitamins, proteins and antioxidants) are retained
2. Contain no harmful chemicals
3. Lesser heat in the process keeps the oil more natural
There are 2 types of cold-pressed oils
- Machine pressed oils
- Ox pressed oils
Some cold-pressed oil brands use machines to press the oils. This is done to increase the amount of oil extracted per day. Due to the higher speeds at which the machines operate, they end up generating more heat than ox-pressed oils.
To ensure that you get maximum benefits from consuming cold-pressed oils - check with the manufacturer if the rotation speed is below 15 rpm. If visiting the unit where it is produced is not possible, try asking for videos to see for yourself.
Here is a small video and easy to understand which explains the benefits of cold-pressed oil and how it is different from refined oil https://youtu.be/2CvbdVKLyTc
How do I know if cold pressed oil is genuine?
Many brands which sell cold-pressed oils are aggregators who outsource the manufacturing and don’t manufacture the oil themselves. On the label, if you see marketed by and manufactured by are two different entities, you know that the manufacturing has been outsourced by the brand.
There are many passionate people who manufacture cold-pressed oil and deliver it to your doorstep.
The best way to be 100% sure that the oil is actually cold-pressed is to know the person who is manufacturing it – understanding the process they follow, the seeds they use and getting photos or videos from them (if you cannot visit them).
Why is cold pressed oil so expensive?
The manufacturing process of refined oil uses many harmful chemicals which increase the extraction of oil from the raw materials. The manufacturing process of cold-pressed oil requires more raw material to produce the same amount of oil since no chemicals are used. Hence it is more expensive.
Why should I consume cold pressed oils when it is so expensive?
In the 1960s an average Indian would consume 3 liters of oil a year which has grown to 14 liters a year today. No wonder, heart diseases have become very common.
If we reduce our consumption of oil, we can consume cold-pressed oil and be much healthier (by spending the same amount of money on oil).
Refined oil in processed foods
We know that refined oils are extremely bad for us. We can try and switch to cold-pressed oils for what we cook at home.
Did you know
95% of the processed foods we buy contain refined oils.
These oils are prone to oxidation and the health impact is extremely high. Here is a video which talks about the health impact of refined oils in food - https://youtu.be/9CsyX3myOIg
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