Dear Friends,
Like most people from the subcontinent, we cook curry dishes of various kinds every day where a liberal quantity of cooking/frying medium is required. Based on the accepted fact that unsaturated fats are better than saturated fats we switched to Canola Oil for cooking. As you are aware Canola is a variety of Rapeseed grown mostly in the USA & Canada. We chose it because it has a high Omega-6 continent. It's fat composition is 7% saturated fat, 64% monosaturated fat and 28% polyunsaturated fat.
Having little to do in my retirement except reading about anything that comes to mind; also with a natural desire to live longer, I decided to do some research on the cooking oils. My results are noted below:
Comparison between Desi Ghee & Vanaspati Ghee:
“Which is Better (or Worse) – Desi Ghee or Vanaspati?
Since desi ghee contains saturated fats, it is high in cholesterol and raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol in the body.
Trans fats in Vanaspati are bad as they increase LDL or bad cholesterol but also lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol. Consumption of saturated fats (desi ghee) raises only the level of LDL (bad cholesterol), but do not lower the level of HDL (good cholesterol). Thus, they may not be as harmful as trans-fats-containing Vanaspati. Desi ghee is therefore comparatively better than Vanaspati.”
Therefore, the bottom line is that, of the two, Vanaspati is likely to kill you sooner!
https://testing-lab.com/2017/12/desi-ghee-vs-vanaspati-will-kill-sooner/
Results of a Study about using Mustard Seed /Rape Seed oil & Ghee for every day cooking in India on Coronary Heart Disease.
“Conclusion
The present study suggests that increased mustard oil consumption had an adverse effect in the form of increased positive CHD history, and the adverse opinion about ghee on CHD in the medical community may not be valid as compared to mustard oil. However, extrapolation of this result on the entire population should be done cautiously because the subjects of this study were small in number and subjects were selected from only one geographical region. Further well-designed studies are required on a larger number of subjects, from different regions of India.”
Full study link: -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121705/
Finally the Olive Oil:
“The Bottom Line
Quality extra virgin olive oil is an especially healthy fat that retains its beneficial qualities during cooking.
The main downside is that overheating can adversely impact its flavour.
However, olive oil is quite resistant to heat and doesn’t oxidize or go rancid during cooking.
Not only is it an excellent cooking oil, but it is also one of the healthiest.”
Full report:-
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-olive-oil-good-for-cooking#bottom-line
My conclusion is that despite the fact that my wife insists on using Canola Oil instead of Ghee (my preference) for everyday cooking, empirical results show that in actual fact there is only a marginal much difference in the incidence of Coronary Heart Disease whether you use Vanaspati Ghee, Desi Ghee or Vegetable oils. The best way is to eat boiled food only or at the very least use extra virgin Olive Oil.
Since I do not fall in the ‘Loaded with money’ category, I can’t afford extra virgin Olive oil except for use in salads and since good food is one of the joys of living, I could not bear to live on boiled food alone, we continue to use Canola Oil for every cooking and Desi Ghee for Biryani. Additionally, good or bad Palm oil is probably the most economical way to make Vanaspati/Banaspati Ghee; staple cooking medium of ordinary folks; attempt to reduce Palm Oil import bill through indigenous cultivation is welcome news.
