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When trying to inculcate healthier eating habits, the common route is to cut back on bad fats and items soaked in sugar. These make a lot of sense, but sometimes it's important to take a step back and look at what can be improved in our cooking styles and ingredients as well. For instance, you can start with the oil you use! Here are four healthy types of oil to check out, and one you should avoid.
Olive Oil
This versatile oil is rich in antioxidants that clear out harmful free radicals from your body. In addition to preventing inflammation, it also contains monounsaturated fat that is good for heart health as it reduces the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood. Plus, it’s super delicious! However, olive oil is not suitable for deep frying as it causes the compounds in the oil to break down and produce harmful chemicals. So remember to reserve your olive oil for raw usage or pan frying.
Flaxseed Oil
Flaxseed oil is abundant in Omega-3 fatty acids that give you a sharper brain and healthier heart. A study by the European Journal Of Clinical Nutritiondiscovered that including flaxseed oil in your diet lowers blood pressure. This oil is also great for the health of your digestive system as it prevents both constipation and diarrhoea. There’s more - the Nutrition Journal states that adding this amazing oil to your diet will aid your weight loss efforts!
Avocado Oil
This popular fruit’s oil keeps your heart healthy as it has a monounsaturated Omega-9 fatty acid. It also has the antioxidant lutein that improves the health of your eyes. This fantastic oil is packed with Vitamin E, which is great for our skin health and immune system. Being heat resistant, it’s also suitable for frying.
Walnut Oil
This is the best plant based oil to use if you want a mix of Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. Apart from helping to reduce inflammation within our bodies, it’s also rich in monounsaturated oils that keep our hearts healthy. The high amount of Vitamin E in it improves the quality of our skin. It is, however, poor at withstanding heat so avoid exposing this nutty oil to heat.
Avoid: Vegetable Oil
The name ‘Vegetable Oil’ itself is vague- which vegetable is it from? This questionable mixture contains either sunflower or canola oil but is mostly composed of soybean oil. Its refined quality makes it a very unhealthy choice as it’s just too processed!
This article was first published by Shape.