{"id":6826,"date":"2018-08-04T03:02:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T03:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ox7.ee3.mytemp.website\/dev\/?p=6826"},"modified":"2018-08-14T12:05:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T12:05:00","slug":"oils-smoke-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ox7.ee3.mytemp.website\/zh\/oils-smoke-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Oils & Smoke Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

I generally stick to 2 types of oils – coconut oil for cooking and olive oil for dressings, but once in a while I like to experiment with a few others. That being said, most of the oils on the market are off my radar and I will explain why.<\/p>\n

With so many cooking oils on the supermarket shelves, telling them apart, understanding which fats are useful in improving our health and knowing how to best use them is tricky.\u00a0Clearly, not all oils are equal, and some are more beneficial to our goal of youth prevention and feeling good.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this post, I\u2019m going to run through the basics of fats, before examining just five of the many types of oils available.<\/p>\n

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Fats \u2013 The Basics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fatty acids are often categorized into one of two groups \u2013 unsaturated and saturated.<\/strong>\u00a0An easy way to remember the difference is that unsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature and come from seeds, fatty fish and vegetables. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found in animals and tropical plants.<\/p>\n

Saturated fats<\/a>\u00a0raise your total blood cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. Unsaturated fats, which include\u00a0monounsaturated and polyunsaturated<\/a>, are known as\u00a0good<\/em>\u00a0fats and can have positive effects on your body,\u00a0helping to protect against type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and age-related brain decline.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids<\/a>\u00a0are types of polyunsaturated fats and are required by the body for many reasons. They build healthy cells and help to maintain nerve functions and the brain.\u00a0These\u00a0essential<\/em>\u00a0fats are only found in food \u2013 the body can\u2019t produce them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Smoke Points<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing which oil to cook with is the smoke point \u2013 the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke when heated. You\u2019ll often want your pan nice and hot, but\u00a0when oil is heated beyond its smoke point, the fat starts to break down, releasing free radicals and a chemical called acrolein.<\/strong>\u00a0This substance gives burnt food its bitter aroma and flavour.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine the facts behind five oils found on supermarket shelves.<\/p>\n

Olive Oil<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Due to the popularity of the heart-healthy\u00a0Mediterranean diet<\/a>, olive oil has become one of the most researched cooking oils. There are many\u00a0different types of olive oil<\/a>, each one suited to a certain purpose. Whether you\u2019re using it on your skin or drizzling it on salad, the source of your olive oil is important because\u00a0some lower quality kinds can be diluted with cheaper oils, or even extracted using chemicals.<\/strong><\/p>\n