Myth 1: Some Cooking Oils are healthier for the heart than others.
The Fact: Diet that provides the correct ratio of N-6 and N-3 Fatty Acids (FAs) is heart healthy, while excess of N-6 is mother of Lifestyle Diseases (LSDs).
Cooking oils are composed of FAs such as Omega 6 and Omega 3, also called N-6 and N-3. Together, they are called PUFAs (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids).
- Our body cannot produce PUFAs, so they need to be supplied through food.
- N-6 constricts the blood vessels while N-3 relaxes them. They are like an accelerator and a brake of the car.
- Both are required for good health, but their ratio should not be greater than 10:1.
- At present, because of scarcity of N-3 in our food chain and excess consumption of N-6 through the so called heart healthy cooking oils, their ratio is more like 40:1, which is the mother of all Lifestyle Diseases.
- Cell walls are made up of PUFAs, which become rancid so quickly that while flax seeds are a health food, their oil, unless kept under refrigeration, is not even fit for human consumption. It is typically used in paints. Since rancid oils damage the cells, World Health Organization has restricted the use of PUFAs to less than 8 % of the diet while allowing the use of Ghee, which does not get rancid upto 10% of the diet.
Myth 2: The groundnut oil is more fattening as compared to other oils.
The Fact: All oils including sunflower oil and Groundnut oil have 9 calories per gram. So no oil is more fattening than the other.
Myth 3: Some oils have less cholesterol.
The Fact: All plant oils have zero cholesterol.
The hidden reasons for excess use of N-6 dominant oils are:
- They are cheap even after adding the refining cost.
- Refined oils are more suitable for deep-frying. But N-6 oils get more rancid at the deep-frying temperatures than the traditional oils.
- Rancid oils are bad for the heart.
The Percentages of different FAs in some of the oils, as published by the National Institute of Nutrition, are reproduced below:
