Food

[bookworm]

A lot of nutritionalists (excuse if wrong spelling) are now saying that meat cooked in saturated fat is the healthiest of all, provided you don't overdo the amount of fat and change it regularly. Even lard is healthier than some oils.

The reason is that most vegetable oils have a low smoke point and are often rancid before you get them home (olive oil should only be sold in dark bottles - light and heat ruin it, so a week or 20 on a supermarket shelf....) and cause acrimalydes (again maybe wrong spelling) which are carciogenic when heated. The best to cook with is coconut oil they say, but not cheap, its saturated fat that has healthy qualities which far outweigh the risk from rancid and low-heat oils.

Of course, animal fat oils and coconut oil taste FAR better as well !

 

from a nutrition site;

-----------------------------------------

Do NOT eat these oils or foods with these added;

 

AVOID soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and other cheap "vegetable oils" as much as possible. These oils are highly inflammatory in your body, disrupt your omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid balance in your body, and also are typically made of genetically modified crops, of which the long term health consequences are not yet fully understood by scientists.

 

This article here details everything you need to know about which cooking oils to fully avoid and which oils are healthy for you. You might be surprised to see why fats you falsely thought were unhealthy such as butter, lard, and coconut oil are actually the healthiest fats/oils to cook with.

 

Which of these cooking oils are destroying your health?

 

(the truth may surprise you!)

 

Some of these oils are healthy and some are VERY unhealthy -- soybean oil, olive oil, coconut oil, corn oil, etc... Let's take a closer look.

 

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist,

 

 

...why some oils and fats you may use in cooking, baking, or other food use are actually harmful to your body, and why some are healthful.

 

Here's the deal...

 

A lot of people seem to think that anything labeled as "vegetable oil" is good for you. NOT A SHOT!

 

Most of what is labeled as "vegetable oil" is simply heavily refined soybean oil (processed under high heat, pressure, and industrial solvents, such as hexane)... sometimes perhaps it may also be heavily refined cottonseed, safflower, corn, grapeseed, or other oils too.

 

In most instances, almost all of these processed oils are NOT HEALTHY for you. I'll explain why below...

 

If you buy processed food or deep fried food, you can usually be certain that these unhealthy oils are used to prepare your foods (or worse, it may use hydrogenated versions of these oils... aka - trans fats).

 

You may have even bought some of these oils for your own cooking or baking at home.

 

The problem with soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and other similar "vegetable oils" is that they are mostly composed of polyunsaturated fats (the most highly reactive type of fat) which leaves them prone to oxidation and free radical production when exposed to heat and light.

 

Processed polyunsaturated oils are the most inflammatory inside our bodies because of their high reactivity to heat and light. This inflammation is what causes many of our internal problems to develop such as heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

 

Note: It's ok if a polyunsaturated fat source isn't processed such as in whole foods like various nuts and seeds... In that case it's usually not inflammatory (as long as it's not been exposed to high heat), and nuts are usually a great source of healthy polyunsaturated fats. By the way, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both polyunsaturates, and a healthy balance of approx 1:1 to 3:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is considered healthiest.

 

Your best bet is to choose raw nuts and seeds whenever possible to avoid the oxidation of polyunsaturated fats that can occur during roasting of nuts and seeds. Keep in mind though that some nuts are mostly monounsaturated, (for example, macadamias), so the issue of roasted vs raw nuts is less of an issue for highly monounsaturated nuts.

 

However, all of the vegetable oils listed above are generally heavily refined during processing, so that makes them already inflammatory before you even cook with them (which does even more damage).

 

Here's the actual order of stability of a type of fat under heat and light (from least stable to most stable):

 

1. polyunsaturated

2. monounsaturated

3. saturated

 

Here's something that mainstream health professionals will never tell you...

 

Saturated fats are actually the healthiest oils to cook with!

 

Why? Because they are much more stable in cooking conditions and less inflammatory than polyunsaturated oils with cooking.

 

This is why tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils (and even animal fats such as lard and butter) are best for cooking... they have very little polyunsaturates and are mostly composed of natural saturated fats which are the least reactive to heat/light and therefore the least inflammatory in your body from cooking use.

 

That's also why natural butter (NOT margarine) is one of the best fats for cooking. This all goes directly against what you hear in mainstream health talk... because most health professionals don't truly understand the biochemistry of fats, and falsely believe that saturated fats are bad for you... when in fact, they are actually neutral in most instances... and saturated fats from tropical oils are actually good for you as they contain mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are lacking in most people's diets.

 

In fact, lauric acid is one of the abundant MCTs in tropical oils and is known to strengthen the immune system. Lauric acid is even being studied currently in medical studies for controlling contagious diseases.

 

To summarize... your best cooking or baking fats are generally butter or tropical oils such as palm or coconut oil. Olive oil (extra virgin preferably) is okay for lower cooking temps as it's mostly monounsaturated, so moderately stable. I also like avocado oil and macadamia nut oil for baking as they are mostly monounsaturated and relatively stable for baking, plus add great flavor!

 

The mostly polyunsaturated oils such as soybean, corn, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, etc, are the least healthy for cooking or baking.

 

My choices for top healthy cooking oils that I use:

•Virgin Coconut Oil (very stable at med-high temps and healthy fats)

•Extra Virgin Olive Oil (only for low temp cooking)

•Real Butter (grass fed butter is actually healthy and contains important nutrients like vitamin K2, omega-3's, and CLA. Kerrygold is a popular brand of Irish butter that's grass-fed and readily available in most grocery stores)

 

Of course, with all of that said... we should keep in mind that trying minimize our cooking with oils can help to reduce overall calories. Cooking with oils in moderation is okay and can actually help satisfy your appetite more, but be careful not to overdo it as the calories can add up fast.

 

Also, please don't be fooled by deceptive marketing claiming that canola oil is healthy for you -- it's NOT!

 

Preaching to the converted Bea,food companies will poison us all in the pursuit of the great god profit thats why i don't eat processed foods if possible and ignore a lot of whats written by some "experts", Wasn't fazed by the thought of horse beef as i've eaten plenty of that over the years, fresh meat ,fresh veg and fruit much tastier than the pap they serve up in supermarkets as quick and ready meals ,more nutritious as well.

[Thevalefan]

http://www.keziefoods.co.uk/Catalogue/Exotic-Meats/Crocodile-Meat

 

Fill yer boots!

[robf]

I was also at a food festival, and had pigeon pie off Jim McDonald off Coronation Street. As he owns Prestbury Farm Shop.

 

It was a bizarre experience!

 

You went to a food festival and still ended up eating a McDonald's meal? Tsk! ;)

[Santa]

I tried some octopus tonight.

 

Not bad but I wouldn't go out of way to have it again.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

I wnet for a pizza tonight. When they asked did I want it cut into six slices or eight I had to say "Six please..I could not possibly eat eight slices'

 

Have had octopus once and squid on several occasions...didn't like the octopus but I do like squid

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Live octopus swallowed in one go (the whole thing) is supposed to be a real delicacy..just be careful how you swallow it apparently or it will try to crawl back up your throat

[bookworm]

Live octopus swallowed in one go (the whole thing) is supposed to be a real delicacy..just be careful how you swallow it apparently or it will try to crawl back up your throat

 

sweetbreads ,

[Birdy]

I tried some octopus tonight.

 

Not bad but I wouldn't go out of way to have it again.

I hope you ate it all up!

[geosname]

Which reminds me of the cockle man who used to travel the pubs selling cockles, muscles, prawns and sometimes kippers... last time I was over I took to eating the seafood platters they sell at sainsburys [muscles, prawns and squid rings] with a little salt, pepper and vinegar as a snack... which reminded me of the first time I visited london and trying jellied ells...

[Harry]

Just got off the plane from Cuba half hour ago ... You're making me hungry !!

 

My nan used to cook me pigs trotters loved em !

 

****** HELL 3-2 against Coventry come on !!!!

[Harry]

Live octopus swallowed in one go (the whole thing) is supposed to be a real delicacy..just be careful how you swallow it apparently or it will try to crawl back up your throat

 

It'll come back up ****** up if it does !!

[Yukon]

Which reminds me of the cockle man who used to travel the pubs selling cockles, muscles, prawns and sometimes kippers... last time I was over I took to eating the seafood platters they sell at sainsburys [muscles, prawns and squid rings] with a little salt, pepper and vinegar as a snack... which reminded me of the first time I visited london and trying jellied ells...

 

Can you imagine the health and safety performance if they tried that now!?!They wouldn't make any money if they were poisoning folk on a weekly basis! I do quite like the bags of cockles in vinegar you can get in some pubs, although the grit can be a little tiresome- an eclectic mix of sand & cockle cack!

[fairportnick]

Which reminds me of the cockle man who used to travel the pubs selling cockles, muscles, prawns and sometimes kippers... last time I was over I took to eating the seafood platters they sell at sainsburys [muscles, prawns and squid rings] with a little salt, pepper and vinegar as a snack... which reminded me of the first time I visited london and trying jellied ells...

 

There was always one who shouted "Have you got crabs?"

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Grim and for me quite unacceptable

 

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/7-animals-that-are-eaten-alive-by-humans/octopus

[eh up nah]

Grim and for me quite unacceptable

 

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/7-animals-that-are-eaten-alive-by-humans/octopus

 

Some of that is barbaric if nothing else. I also find that unacceptable but, I have to say that the quote "I have never eaten anything that moved so fast" from that guy about eating the frog, made me laugh!

 

Proof that anything you can imagine, and plenty that you can't, does go on in the world.