Which oils are best to cook with? - BBC News
Choosing the right oil to cook with is a complicated business, writes Michael Mosley.
When it comes to fats and oils, we are spoiled for choice. Supermarket shelves are heaving with every conceivable option. But these days it is extremely confusing because there is so much debate about the benefits and harm that come from consumingdifferent types of fats.
On Trust Me, I'm a Doctor we decided to look at things from a different angle by asking: "Which fats and oils are best to cook with?"
You might think it is obvious that frying with vegetable oils has to be healthier than cooking with animal fat, like lard or butter. But is it really?
"Sunflower and corn oil are fine," Prof Grootveld says, "as long as you don't subject them to heat, such as frying or cooking. It's a simple chemical fact that something which is thought to be healthy for us is converted into something that is very unhealthy at standard frying temperatures."
Prof Grootveld generally recommends olive oil for frying or cooking. "Firstly because lower levels of these toxic compounds are generated, and secondly the compounds that are formed are actually less threatening to the human body."
His research also suggests that when it comes to cooking, frying in saturate-rich animal fats or butter may be preferable to frying in sunflower or corn oil.
"If I had a choice," he says, "between lard and polyunsaturates, I'd use lard every time."
Choosing the right oil to cook with is a complicated business, writes Michael Mosley.
When it comes to fats and oils, we are spoiled for choice. Supermarket shelves are heaving with every conceivable option. But these days it is extremely confusing because there is so much debate about the benefits and harm that come from consumingdifferent types of fats.
On Trust Me, I'm a Doctor we decided to look at things from a different angle by asking: "Which fats and oils are best to cook with?"
You might think it is obvious that frying with vegetable oils has to be healthier than cooking with animal fat, like lard or butter. But is it really?
"Sunflower and corn oil are fine," Prof Grootveld says, "as long as you don't subject them to heat, such as frying or cooking. It's a simple chemical fact that something which is thought to be healthy for us is converted into something that is very unhealthy at standard frying temperatures."
Prof Grootveld generally recommends olive oil for frying or cooking. "Firstly because lower levels of these toxic compounds are generated, and secondly the compounds that are formed are actually less threatening to the human body."
His research also suggests that when it comes to cooking, frying in saturate-rich animal fats or butter may be preferable to frying in sunflower or corn oil.
"If I had a choice," he says, "between lard and polyunsaturates, I'd use lard every time."
