Tuesday, 31 January 2012
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Fried Foods No Longer Equates To Heart Disease?
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has found no correlation between eating fried foods and getting heart disease. The study, conducted in Spain over the course of 11 years, had 40,000 subjects of Spanish origin.
One thing to keep in mind is the type of oil used in Spain. According to the researchers, "In Spain, a Mediterranean country where olive or sunflower oil is used for frying, the consumption of fried foods was not associated with coronary heart disease or with all cause mortality." What's more, the oil consumption by most Spaniards does not include foods with high sodium (as pictured in the image above).
The study also notes that quality of oil changes the risk factors as well, more specifically, how many times the oil is used to fry foods. The publication explains that when food is fried, the food and the oil changes in quality which is why reusing oil can cause health problems.
The results of this study, by no means, advocates consuming fried foods. Instead, it advocates using low saturate fat oils such as sunflower and olive oil.
What kind of oil do you cook with?
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- From: larabs@xanga
- About Me: I'm a Rutgers University graduate who discovered a passion for writing in college when I found myself enjoying researching for and writing papers instead of working at biology labs. In my spare time, I enjoy cooking and watching movies--I am in pursuit of learning to fluently speak French and Italian after developing an interest in these languages from watching foreign films. Apart from foreign films and cooking, my interests include photography, traveling, art history and interior design. twitter.com/sushbaral
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Comments (30)
So if you save the oil that you've fried fries or something in, it's bad?? I've never heard of that... Makes me think twice of using it. I use canola oil, & olive oil.
One thing I've noticed after living in Spain is that they eat TONS of fried food. They mostly use olive oil though which, like all oils is high in fat, is high in monounsaturated fats--unlike the oils we tend to use is the US. What it comes down to is that there are good fats and bad fats (try to eat more of the good and less of the bad--obviously). The main issue and why people associate frying food with heart disease and obesity is that frying food does increase the amount of calories in it. Too many calories = weight gain = obesity = heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. I've also heard that frying things can change the molecular composition of certain food items which can then lead to cancer.
Basically, frying foods (like almost all foods) are not bad if eaten in moderation. and stay away from trans fats.
Omg that entire picture up top looks so great
I usually cook with canola and olive oils.
We use rice bran oil or canola.
so what was the point of you posting up burgers and all those fatty food pics?
you should have posted up pics of olive oil dizzles on vegetables.. or something to that matter..
false advertisement.. lame.
walnut oil
EVOO :)
A lot of the Olive Oil sold here in America is actually pretty fake...
Sunflower oil now. Apparently it is not good to COOK with olive oil.
Fried foods may not cause it directly, but being obese does, and eating too many fried foods definitely leads to that.
Makes sense to me. In addition to the reasons they mentioned why this might not apply to typical US consumption, in Europe they tend to eat smaller portion sizes, so what we may be seeing is that while American-level consumption of fried foods is bad, fried food in moderation, like anything else, is not a death sentence.
@StatelessPilot@revelife - this study would have picked up on direct and indirect results. if their particular way of consuming fried foods (different fry oils, less recycled fry oils, and smaller portion sizes than Americans) still often led to obesity and therefore heart disease then there should still be a correlation, though slightly weaker than if it were directly linked. it could be an imperfect study, or the result of a type 1 error that missed the connection, but I think it's more likely that what we're seeing is that frying is not necessarily bad, but the way we do it and the amount of it we consume
@jenessa1889@xanga - I never said it necessarily was bad. An excess of calories in whatever form will lead to obesity. I just mentioned that as a consequence as often times fried foods tend to be more caloric than foods prepared in other ways.
(By the way, no need to explain the math behind it. I have a bachelor's degree in math and some graduate-level classes in it, so I know that part pretty well.
-.- It's not the oil, it's what happens when the food is cooked too high and the oil changes states. Oil is actually healthy
Weird, I am watching Fat Head and it's about this very issue. I also watched Food, Inc.
I'd say check them both out.
@jenessa1889@xanga - In Europe they also fry their french fries TWICE...and eat it with MAYO...so they aren't exactly healthy...
M
Of course the British do these kind of researches! They only have fish and chips with scones.
well thank god, because my host mother here in Spain fries frickin EVERYTHING. Not really surprised the study was conducted in Spain >.<
bullshit
Wait... REusing oil. Why the fuck would someone reuse oil after cooking with it? Talk about cheap. I wouldn't think that'd ever be a good idea.
It depends on the oil and HOW you fry. If you fry foods RIGHT, there is only I think 1 1/2 teaspoon of oil in a large portion of fries. Reusing the oil is fine as long as it's not rancid, because if you fry right, you're using the heat of the oil to cook. The goal is to cook it, not make the food greasy. Just never reuse oil that's been heated beyond 400 degrees. If you are frying something, also be sure to use an oil with a high smoke point, and change the oil now and then. Every time you cook with an oil, the smoke point lowers.
@sonnigenmai@xanga - It's normal to fry something twice. The first time cooks the inside, and the second time crisps the outside.
@L_is_for_lizard@xanga - That's true with oils. If you heat up oils with low smoke points, it changes the chemical composition. There have been studies linking that change with cancers. Frying foods right, though, doesn't change the caloric intake as much as people think.
Oh, I just saw the Babybel and the word "Fried Foods"...love both >.<
I'm so irrelevant
@DrummingMediocrity@xanga - Most fast food restaurants, cafeterias, and most restaurants in general tend to re-use oils to save money when frying foods, especially french fries. So if you've ever seen the bucket of oil they're re-using for fries, you can tell the oil looks gross and not fresh at all.