How to Choose Cooking Oil Correctly
Core tip: With so many types of cooking oil available—such as soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil, olive oil, safflower oil, rapeseed oil, tea oil, and walnut oil—which one is the most suitable to choose?
Facing the wide variety of cooking oils on supermarket shelves, how should one choose to enhance the rich flavor of dishes while also being beneficial to the family's health? Experts suggest that to easily select a satisfactory cooking oil, one should first understand the characteristics of each type.
Soybean oil is rich in linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, and is generally suitable for everyone. However, it is not heat-resistant and is not suitable for frying.
Peanut oil is nutritious and suitable for all people to consume. However, peanuts are easily contaminated with Aspergillus flavus, and the toxins produced are highly carcinogenic. Therefore, crude-pressed peanut oil should not be consumed.
Corn oil is easy to digest and absorb, and its cholesterol-lowering effect is better than that of soybean oil and sunflower oil. It is resistant to frying and suitable for various groups of people.
The advantage of olive oil lies in its richness in oleic acid. As a monounsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid avoids the oxidative damage easily caused by polyunsaturated fatty acids in the body and can also avoid the rise in blood lipids easily caused by saturated fatty acids, making it the top choice for middle-aged and elderly people.
Safflower oil has the highest known content of linoleic acid among cooking oils and is especially suitable for people with the "three highs"—high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and high cholesterol.
Sunflower oil is also rich in linoleic acid. Its cost is lower than that of safflower oil, and it has no peculiar smell, making it more suitable for the general public.
Walnut oil is rich in linolenic acid and phospholipids, which is beneficial to brain health. Moreover, the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids it contains is similar to that of breast milk, making it suitable for pregnant women, infants, children, and the elderly.
The fatty acid composition, oil characteristics, and nutritional content of tea oil are similar to those of olive oil. It is beneficial for preventing cardiovascular diseases. Families who do not like to use olive oil can use tea oil as a substitute.
Rapeseed oil contains erucic acid, so people with cardiovascular diseases should not choose it.
After learning a little about cooking oils, we can make a selection based on the health conditions of family members. In terms of health, one should be "promiscuous" with oils. A variety of oils is better than a single type for a long time to help balance dietary fatty acids.
Someone might ask: "Doesn't that mean I have to buy several types of oil at the same time?" Yes! You can buy several small bottles of cooking oil at once to make reasonable combinations during cooking. However, a special reminder: no matter how good the health benefits of oils are, the daily intake should not exceed 25-30 grams.