Know your cooking oil

Abstract

Most of the cooking oils are vegetable oil. They are very rich in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA), omega-6 (n-3) and omega-3 (n-3) in the ratio of 16-20:1 against the recommended requirement of 1-4:1 and they lack their natural anti-oxidants. Therefore they are very prone to oxidation even at room temperature. Heating and reheating during cooking process enhances the oxidation, hydrolysis and polymerization of lipids and produce varieties of free radicals which creates oxidative stress in the body after consumption. N-6 fatty acids derivatives are pro-inflammatory while n-3 derivatives are anti-inflammatory. Since n-6: n-3 ratio is higher in the oils, there exists a dominance of inflammatory mechanisms over anti-inflammatory mechanisms that results into inflammation. Oxidative stress and inflammation together contribute to the pathogenesis of many diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), cancer, Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), diabetes, Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) etc.Therefore, It has been suggested that fast food and repeated heating of cooking oil at home, must be avoided and n-3 fatty acids must be supplemented in the diet to fight the inflammatory effects of n-6PUFA.