Tag: oils

Oils: The Most Basic Ingredient in our Dishes

High cholesterol is all what comes to your mind as soon as you hear or read about the oils. But do you people know without the oil no dish can be prepared. And the biggest misconception you people having these days is that you can use any oil in your dish and it doesn’t make any difference, but in reality this is the most common blunder you all are doing. So before using any oil just know about them. Two most common categories of oil are:

Bit-Player oils: bit-player oils are the main ingredients in your delicious recipes. They are the best choice when cooking is considered because they are highly resistant to heat. They do not impart any flavor to your food. So being flavorless, they are not a good choice for salads or sauces, but good ingredient in cakes, breads or other baked dishes. Some example of bit-player oils are:

Coconut Oils: This semi-solid oil has gone through the period of Renaissance. Once it was only known for its fattening effects, but now it is known to have its health benefits too. Whenever your dish is demanding high heat this oil is the best choice you can opt. In this about 90% of fatty acid are saturated and for this reason it has a high resistance towards heat. It is semi-solid in nature and can be preserved for about years in our kitchen. It contains Lauric acid, which helps in killing of bacteria and also maintains cholesterol level in our food. It also affects the process of metabolism in our body due to this fatty acid. This oil is mainly used for the preparation of curry dishes and also for frying too.

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Safflower Oil: This colorless oil includes a flavor in it. It is derived from safflower seeds. It is the best choice while salad is prepared due to the flavor it includes. It has one more property that it never gets solidify while refrigerated. It has a very high smoking point and due to this lady usually prefer this during frying.

Peanut Oil: this oil is derived from the peanuts. This oil also has a high smoking point, but it is slightly lower than safflower oil and that’s why it is only used for frying chicken.

Vegetable Oil: it is a combination of various different plants, seed oils and nuts. This oil is highly resistant to heat so this is the most common ingredients found in the every one’s kitchen

Sunflower Oil: this oil is used for all common purposes. It includes flavours in it which are highly strong. It is not suitable for baked dishes but good for salads. It is highly rich in polyunsaturated fats. Some amount of saturated fat is also present. To prevent it from rancidity, it must be stored in cool and dark places.

Star-Cooking Oil: this oil does not need to gain attention because its flavor is enough for this. This is one of the main ingredients in all the appetizing recipes whether it is baked dish or any culinary dish. Several examples of this oil are:

Olive Oil: Olive oils can be regular, light or extra-virgin in nature. Regular olive oil is deep gold in color and is best for cooking while light olive oil is very in calories. From the very first pressing of olives we get virgin olive oil, but after several more pressing the oil is converted to extra virgin which is low in its acid levels. Olive oil helps in maintaining good cholesterol and decreases the amount of oxidized cholesterol in our body. It is highly resistant to heat and that is the reason it is used in cooking. Always prefer Extra Virgin Olive Oil as it has high nutritional value and has a high anti-oxidizing property. Keep it in a dry and cool place. It has several different flavors and due to this it has been famous in cosmetics too along with culinary.

Sesame oil: this oil is mainly used in Chinese or Indian dishes. It is very thick and aromatic in nature. It includes flavor in it which is needed to make delicious sauces, spreads and dips. It has a high smoking taste that makes it usable in frying too.

Grapeseed Oil: this is the most expensive oil these days with a high smoking point. This is nutty in nature. It is the special by-product that we obtain during wine making. It is best suitable for salads, fried dishes and fondue.

Avocado Oil: This is a nutty oil with distinct flavors in it. This is same as the olive oil and can be used for common purposes.

Palm Oil: because of the monounsaturated and saturated fats this oil is the best choice for cooking. It has been derived and generated from the palm fruit. It also contains polyunsaturated fats in it. The unrefined type of this oil is known as Red palm oil. It is highly rich in nutrients such as Vitamin E, Q10, coenzymes etc. It does not cover the vast area because of some issues which were raised regarding its harvesting.

This is all general information about oil that you must remember before using it.

October 8, 2014
Healthy kick start

In this neoteric world, people are getting lazier and less healthy. They make plans each and every new morning, but stick to neither of them. You may think that it’s very difficult to control your eating habits, but in reality it is very simple and easy. Youonly need to plan your inexpensive, nutritious diet and stick to that. There are certain tips you must follow to remain healthy and start your day:

Prepare your healthy Snacks by yourself:

Everyone is health conscious nowadays, but when it comes to preparing your own meal you all take one step backward. Why is it so? The best way to keep your diet under control is making your own food and chooses by yourself what to eat and what not to eat. Your day starts with snacks so prepare your own snacks that are easy to eat and carry. If you are already late and don’t have time to eat, then you can go for some fruits, carrots, whole-grain crackers, grapes, low-fats biscuits or cookies in your bag. These items are in itself a package of nutrients. So, as soon as you feel hungry, you don’t need to run over the fast food or to some street vendors. This will maintain your calories level and money too.

Keep your refrigerator stocked:

As you have been starting your day with fruits and vegetables is the best way to keep your diet healthy. It doesn’t make any difference if you eat frozen vegetables or fruits; the nutritional value that they carry does not change. The amazing benefit that they carry is minimizing waste. You can eat whatever and in however the amount you want to and again seal the packet for later use. You can keep your fruits to get chilled in your freezer. You can keep your freezer full of nutritional packets like nutrella, healthy powders etc. For example, if you store blueberries in your freezer, then you can have an advantage of adding delicious flavor to your yogurts anytime. So keep your freezer full of these items and fruits and enjoy every part of your meal as a treat.

Make fruits and vegetables handier:

Isn’t this sound quite interesting? As the week starts go to the market and pick all the fresh fruits and vegetables present there. Keep them as a stock in your refrigerator. Whenever you are free and got nothing to do then wash these fruits and cut them into slices. We know now a day’s generation is so lazy that they don’t believe in putting efforts and need everything ready in their hand. Easily accessible items are always preferred so this is the best way to make them handy. You can use airtight containers for putting these cuttings to avoid any contact with air and get oxidized. If these nutritious items are easy to grab then you will easily grab them instead of going for potato chips and candies.

Eat Frequently:

Do you people know there is an amazing secret lies behind a healthy diet? Healthy eaters used to eat frequently that means they believe in having small meals or snacks throughout the whole day. Researchers found that having three four time snacks in your day will avoid the problem of digestion and obesity. But you should have a healthy breakfast as it is the only reason behind the maintenance of calories in your body. With this technique you tend to eat more than your normal diet. So eat less but eat frequently.

Healthy cooking techniques should be used:

The food that is prepared with the help of steam is the best way to add nutrients to our body. Always prefer food that is steam cooked over baked foods as they helps in retaining all the nutrients and does not increase the level of fats in your diet. You can use Microwave Cooking bags so that the taste and nutrients remain unaltered. You must use non-sticky oil to prepare fried dishes and maintain the cholesterol level in your body. Make sure everything that you use must be washed properly before being used.

Eat nuts and eggs instead of meat:

As we all know meat is a high-fat dish and daily intake of this would harm your body indirectly. So why not avoid this and start intake of eggs and nuts in your main courses or meal. Nuts, beans and eggs are indirectly the replacement for meat. They are a source of low-fat and protein. They are less expensive than meat. So it’s better to try meatless proteins in your main meals or snacks and save money. There are some alternatives too, like you can buy a small amount of meat. To have a taste of meat in your meal you can stretch it out over your main course dishes which mainly contain vegetable and grains.

Try these and have a healthy kick start..!!

September 14, 2014
Why Vegetable Oils Are Not Good For Your Health?

We often consider the vegetable oils as healthy and so we prepare our food items with them. We believe that since its name has the term “Vegetable”, it is good for the human beings. It is true that the vegetables are good for our health but the vegetable oils are not. The results of the various studies conducted prove that the consumption of the vegetable oils is not appropriate for human health and so it should be completely eliminated from the diet. People generally believe that since the vegetable oils have rich amount of unsaturated fats in them, they are beneficial in maintaining good health. But they do not pay attention towards the side effects of these unsaturated fats supplied to the body. These oils have completely different composition of the fatty acid in it which has several negative impacts on the body and consequently on health. These types of oils can cause serious harm to your health and you many get diagnosed with the chronic diseases. Here we are terming the cottonseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil among others as the vegetable oils.

We generally call all of the above mentioned oils as vegetable oils and for a common person vegetable oil sounds to be perfect for health as they are not aware of its consequences. These oils have a rice amount of biological fats in them which prove to be harmful when consumed in access. They have Omega 6 polysaturated fatty acid in them. Do not get confused with the coconut oil and the olive oil as they are completely healthy for you and they are not into the league of the vegetable oils that we are here talking about. The methods involved into the production of these vegetable oils are unhealthy and are not appropriate. It involves addition of several solvents, chemicals and other processing methods during which the essential nutrients and minerals present in them gets lost and as a result artificial ingredients are added to compensate for the lost ones. Many researchers believe that these vegetable oils are inappropriate for the human consumption. While it is true that some of the healthier brands use the cold pressed methods in the production of these vegetable oils and so it can be used occasionally. But again the major issue here is the amount of Omega 6 fatty acid in them which is not acceptable and is also not fit for regular consumption.

The acceptable ratio of the Omega 6 fatty acid and the Omega 3 fatty acid in the body should be 4:1. But with the use of these vegetable oils which are present in the market, this ratio is drastically affected and often leads to various diseases. These fatty acids have several important tasks to perform in the human body and when their balance is not maintained, your health is the one which suffers. The scientific explanation to this phenomenon is that these unsaturated fatty acids have more double bonds in them which make it highly reactive. As a result the unsaturated fatty acid consumed with these vegetable oils reacts readily with the oxygen present in the blood and causes the initiation of various chain reactions which damages the integral parts of the human body. This structural change inside the body damages the DNA and leads you to life threatening diseases.

Further these two types of fatty acids together form the eicosanoids in the body which is stored in the cell membranes. These eicosanoids play a major role in the inflammation and cellular messaging. The acute inflammation inside the human body is very much helpful but when this inflammation is spread to all parts of the body, it causes serious damage. The Omega 3 fatty acid produces anti-inflammatory eicosanoids while the Omega 6 fatty acid produces the pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Both of them compete with each other and harm your health. Consequently they contribute to various cardiovascular diseases, depression and arthritis.

Another major concern with the vegetable oils is the presence of the Trans fats. These Trans fats have large amount of artificial ingredients and chemicals so that they can remain in solid state in the room temperature. Obesity, cancer and various heart diseases are developed due to Trans fats present in these oils. Almost every government food agencies around the world have now made this a point that the amount of the Trans fats should be reduced from the edible products. Recent studies have concluded that these vegetables oils are not fit for regular consumptions. If you are among such people who regularly consume these vegetable oils then you should stop it immediately as there are high chances that you may get diagnosed with the various cardiovascular diseases. The human heart gets the major adverse effects of these vegetable oils. These cardiovascular diseases alone cause a massive amount of human death each year globally. It’s time you stop playing with your health and start paying attention towards maintain a healthy body so that your life span increases and you live a happier life.

July 14, 2014