Home: Health Issues
The issue and concern people often express with deep frying is it's health implications. It's generally assumed that eating deep fried food is bad for the health and the heart in particular.
The two chief bad boys of deep fat frying are,
- Saturated fat
- Trans fats (transisomer fatty acids) (not saturated)
Although most things are not conclusively proven, the generally held belief amongst doctors and researchers is that both of these fats have a negative impact on health, and the health of the heart in particular.
When it comes to trans fats, it is believed to increase the risk of,
- Heart disease
Trans fats are either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. The process of hydrogenation increases trans fats in oil, therefore look for oils which do not use this process in production. Health studies have indicated a general increase in heart attacks in coloration to the consumption of trans fats.
When it comes to saturated fats, it is believed to increase the risk of,
- Blood cholesterol
However, the link between saturated fats and cholesterol risk is still debated. And as new studies are released, it's possible current assumption may be over turned.
When it comes to saturated fat, vegetable oil has a much lower amount than cooking fats. With animal dripping and lard containing near forty percent saturated fat. And, on the other hand vegetable oils, such as Sunflower and Peanut, tend to be below twenty percent.
Many vegetable oils are ten percent and below. The lowest is cannola oil, around five percent saturated fat. Sunflower oil, which is the most popular vegetable oil, has around ten percent. As you can read, that's a substantial decrease, and it is no surprise that lard and dripping has largely been replaced by vegetable oils.