You must have heard that switching to olive oil will help you to reduce the unwanted weight by giving you all the required good fat? Or, this parantha is made in olive oil therefore, healthier than normal parantha? May be you believe that switching and frying food in different oil will give you less calories or more nutrient that can benefit your health. But, what is the truth about best oil.
Nutritional composition
Any oil is pure fat hence have 9 KCAL per gram of oil with no carbohydrates and protein. But the composition of the oils differ on the ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid content. More the saturated fatty acids more it is going to raise “bad” cholesterol in the body. Therefore, it is important to focus on taking oil having more of unsaturated fatty acid. It is classified as mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid which include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid. These essential fatty acids are good for heart and brain health. Many oil claims to have EPA or DHA which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which boost the immunity and keep you healthy. It is also appeared to haver lowering effect on “bad” cholesterol in body.
Generally all the oil have both the fatty acids: omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid but the ratio vary depending upon source of the oil. For example, most vegetable oil, grape seed oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil are rich in omega-6 fatty acids whereas flaxseed oil, chia seed oil and canola oil are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Which oil is best for consumption?
If you are looking to manage your weight then any oil is going to give to same calories. Hence, a parantha cooked in ghee or olive oil will have same calories that is 260 calories. Therefore, it is important to look on the overall consumption of fat in diet to manage your weight in healthy range. But, if you are looking from health perspective then you need to understand that every oil have its own benefit and use depending upon its heating properties and smoking point. For example, mustard oil have highest smoke point means it can be heated on higher temperature which make it suitable for deep frying whereas olive oil is sensitive to heat hence can be used as salad dressing.
Conclusion:
The best way to get the maximum benefits of oils is to do cycling of oils while cooking. For example, you can use mustard oil for deep frying, ghee for tadka in daal and olive oil for salad dressing. Do not limit yourself to one kind of oil because you think it is better than other.