The lowdown on fats: The good, the bad, and the oily
Dear Consumerline,
In your column entitled “Everything you’re dying to know about formalin,” you mentioned oxidative stress. I used canola and corn oil for frying after I learned that both of them reduce bad cholesterol, but unfortunately, they were mentioned by Dr. Angel S. Respicio Jr. as commercial vegetable oils to be avoided in order to stay healthy. By the way, what are cold pressed or expeller pressed vegetable oils? They were mentioned as good commercial vegetable oils. Can you please give some examples of these?
— Ralph Vincent Lasin
Purok 5, Barangay 1
Em’s Barrio Legazpi City, Albay
Dear Ralph,
I just read your e-mail and I am glad you take your health seriously. I used to eat food fried in vegetable oils like canola and corn oil. For many years, we have been led to believe that vegetable oils are healthy because they are not “saturated like animal fats.” Truth is, the body needs both unsaturated oils (like vegetable oil, olive oil, nuts, avocado) and saturated oils (like animal fat, butter, and palm oil). The problem with the commercially available vegetable oils on the market today is that they were extracted above 400°F. At that temperature, menacing by-products called lipid hydroperoxides (LH) are formed. When vegetable oil is extracted without using heat, it is called expeller pressed or cold pressed just like our VCO (virgin coconut oil). According to Dr. Catey Shanahan’s article (“Heart of darkness,” westonaprice.org), these LH incite free radical cascades, in addition to deactivating enzymes. This makes them capable of causing tissue inflammation, resulting in skin rashes, heartburn, liver problems, arterial spasm, and blood clots or even cancer. Another toxic chemical identified by researchers at the
What is the bottom line? When cooking, avoid deep-frying a lot. According to Dr. Enig in her book Know Your Fats, natural fats and oils that are safe for most deep fat frying include coconut oil (like nutri oil), palm oil (Golden Fiesta?), lard, tallow, high oleic safflower oil, high oleic sunflower seed oil, and regular sunflower seed oil with added sesame oil and rice bran oil. We seldom deep-fry but when we cook with oil, we mix coconut oil, olive oil, and/or adobo oil. Yes, we save in a bottle of adobo oil or bacon oil like Grandma used to do, and they were healthy. If you are worried about using animal fat for frying because they are saturated, worry no more. Chicken oil is only 30 percent saturated, lard 40 percent, and tallow (beef) 46 percent.
I hope I have enlightened you. By the way (since you are from Bicol), did you know that pili nuts (canary tree) have the most monounsaturated fat content at 80 percent, followed by macadamia (73 percent)?
Dr. Angel S. Respicio Jr.
Nutrition adviser
The Sleeplab at
Medical Center-West
Here’s more on the good, the bad, and the oily in this Q&A with Dr. Respicio, who separates fat from fiction:
What’s the healthiest cooking oil?
DR. ANGEL RESPICIO JR.: The most stable cooking oil commercially available in the
But of course, the key to being healthy is to stay close to your daily allowance of fat.
How does coconut oil compare with the much-hailed (as the healthiest) olive oil?
You can not use olive oil for deep fat frying because the smoke point is low (138°C or 280°F). However, you can mix them together for light frying and sauteeing.
How many times can you reuse used oil?
Do not save oils that have become rancid, whether used or not, even if they are expensive. Free radicals and various breakdown products (i.e. lipid hydroperoxides, 4-hydroxy-trans-2-noneal, oxidized fatty acids, oxidized sterols, peroxides, acrolein, hydrocarbons, and aromatic compounds) are formed when cooking polyunsaturated vegetable oils at high temperature.
Any hot health tips on cooking with oil?
1. Cook adobo in its own fat.
2. Frying fish seems to alter the ratio of good to bad fats, leading to increased stroke risk and formation of blood clots (Newsweek, 2005).
3. Sesamin in sesame oil provides heat stability to olive oil.
4. The best oil to use for making popcorn is 100% coconut oil.
5. Don’t be afraid to cook with animal fat. Chicken oil is only 30% saturated, lard (from pork) 40%, and tallow (from beef or lamb) 46%.
That’s oil for now.
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A bucketful of water-saving tips
Full of concern over the decreasing level of water at the Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, the environmental advocacy group EcoWaste Coalition pours out some friendly tips on how to reduce water usage and wastage. The Angat watershed supplies water to
• Conserve water all the time. Don’t waste it even if you can afford to pay the bill or someone else is paying it. Encourage your housemates or co-workers to turn it off as every drop counts.
• Report water losses such as burst pipes and open hydrants to the proper authorities.
• Fix leaky water pipes, dripping faucets or toilet tanks immediately. Repair or replace defective washers, connectors, hoses or other faulty parts.
• Install water-saving faucets.
• Use a water-saving showerhead. The ultra-low-flow version delivers high comfort for only half the water normally used.
• Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Put discarded tissues in the bin rather than in the toilet bowl.
• Don’t let the water run while shaving, brushing your teeth or soaping your hands or face.
• Shorten your shower time, turn off the tap when soaping and don’t use more water than you need.
• Organize your laundry schedule and wait until you’ve got a full load before you use the washing machine.
• Save laundry water to rinse used bottles, cans, and other recyclables or to wash blinds and rugs, flush toilet, wash car wheels, or clean the driveway.
• Never let water go down the drain when there may be other uses for it. Filter gray water from sinks and showers and use it to water the lawn, clean the sidewalk, and for other purposes.
• Do not waste gallons of water hosing down your driveway or footpath. Use the walis tingting (broomstick) to sweep the place clean.
• Wash your car the natural way — wait until it rains.
• Use a pan or bowl of water when scrubbing or peeling fruits and vegetables rather than let the tap run.
• Save water used to wash fruits and vegetables for rinsing dirty dishes or for watering plants.
• Don’t use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Thaw frozen stuff in the refrigerator overnight.
• When boiling water, fill the kettle with just enough for your needs.
• Use fewer cooking utensils and dishes to cut down on the water needed for dishwashing.
• Don’t rinse dishes under a running tap. Use a basin.
• Water wisely; don’t over water the plants.
• Work with your barangay in implementing a water conservation program not only during the summer months, but all-year-round.
• Protect our watersheds from all forms of contamination. Resist polluting human activities such as the dumping or landfilling of wastes, especially in watershed areas, water bodies, and other environmentally-critical areas.
For more information, call the EcoWaste Coalition at 929-0376.
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We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.
