CHOLESTEROL AND FOOD: DECODING FOOD LABELS
Suitable for frying, baking and roasting:
This expression is often found on a bottle of vegetable oil. The same oil will usually claim to be cholesterol free and/or free of saturated fat. Health authorities slam saturated fat as the main cause of high cholesterol levels, therefore if an oil is monounsaturated or polyunsaturated it must be healthy. This is false, as saturated fats are also formed in our body out of sugar we have eaten; you don’t need to eat any fat at all to have high blood levels of saturated fat.
Do not use any vegetable oil unless it states it has been cold pressed and unrefined; extra virgin olive oil is your best choice. All other vegetable oils have been processed in a way that exposed them to oxygen, light and heat. Fatty acids are very delicate and susceptible to damage, and such processing turns the fat rancid, meaning it will create a lot of inflammation in your body. When these vegetable oils are heated, such as through frying, it causes significantly more damage to the oil. Have a look at the trans fatty acid content of vegetable oil in the nutrition panel; there is no safe level of trans fat intake.
Vegetable oil:
Many food labels will state the ingredient “vegetable oil” but not specify which vegetable oil is used. The answer is that cheap, highly refined oils like cottonseed, soy and corn oil are often used. Cottonseed oil is especially worrying; it is found widely in blended vegetable oils, baked foods, fried foods and snack foods. It is commonly used to cook donuts. As well as containing trans fats, cottonseed oil may be high in pesticide residues, as cotton is a heavily sprayed crop. Cottonseed oil is often contaminated with mycotoxins; these are fungal toxins that can cause cancer. If consumed in large quantities, this oil can be toxic to the liver and gallbladder. The Australian government is currently considering allowing genetically modified cottonseed oil into the food supply.
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