Beware of the dangers of vegetable oil
The consumption of vegetable oils has increased dramatically in the last few decades in Bangladesh. Many health professionals believe that vegetable oils may cause serious health problems. Their health effects vary depending on what fatty acids they contain, what plants they are extracted from, and how they are processed. Common vegetable oils include soybean oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, etc. Refined vegetable oils were not available until the 20th century, when the technology to extract them became available. These are extracted from plants using either a chemical solvent or oil mill. Then they are often purified, refined, and sometimes chemically altered.
The steps involved in processing usually include degumming, bleaching, deodorizing, filtering and removing saturates to make the oils more liquid. In the process, the nutrients and antioxidants disappearbut not the pesticides. Most processors also add a hexane solvent in order to squeeze the very last drop of oil out of the seeds. Caustic refining, the most widely used process for oil refining, involves adding very alkaline, chemicals to the oil.
Commercial vegetable oil often contains trans-fats, which form when the oils are hydrogenated. Food producers use hydrogenation to harden vegetable oils, making them solid like butter at room temperature. For this reason, vegetable oils found in margarine are commonly hydrogenated and full of trans fats. Experts believe that a high intake of trans fats is associated with all sorts of chronic diseases, including heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Vegetable oils contain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). This means they have multiple double bonds between atoms in its molecular structure. These double bonds are unstable and should not be exposed to heat. When exposed to heat, the unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils can oxidize. When these fats are oxidized theyre dangerous to the body and can create inflammation, a known risk factor for heart disease. Vegetable oil used to be recommended for heart disease as an alternative to saturated fats, such as butter. However recent studies have overturned this antiquated piece of nutrition advice and revealed that its possible that too much vegetable oil could actually increase the risk of heart disease rather than decrease it. In addition to promoting heart disease, cooking with vegetable oils can increase the risk of cancer due to the release of high concentrations of chemicals called aldehydes. These chemicals have been linked to diseases including cancer, heart disease and dementia.
With the evidence accumulating against certain vegetable experts are suggesting avocado oil, coconut oil or butter for cooking foods.
