Oil in salad, oil in deep-fried food, all oil and fat are dangerous? Can we eat any? How much is too much? How do we use less oil cooking? Using less oil and consuming less oil is what this post is all about.
Types of fats and Oil in our food
Animal fat such as lard.
Animal oil, this is the oil that is released from the meat or poultry when we are roasting or cooking it.
Plant oils such as olive oil, coconut oil and palm oil have one thing in common. They are all extracted from some type of plant. These type of oils are healthier than the one from animals and poultry.
Deep fried food.
How oil affects our health
Oil is very high in calories. Most diseases in the body are traced to fat and oil accumulated in the body. Fats and oil in our food makes it about 7 – 8 times harder to digest compare to boiled food. Excess Oil does not digest in the body. Oil is gradually layered and stored in the blood arteries as plaque. This could lead to lifestyle diseases like stroke, heart attack, diabetes, obesity and cancer.
How to reduce oil intake
Avoid deep frying. Instead of deep frying, grill, boil or bake the food. Oven fries are a better option to deep-fried fries.
Use of oil spray. Oil is used as a base for many meals. Instead of pouring oil use oil spray in lining the pot. By doing this, less oil will be used. Also, oil can be sprayed on salads. Dressings can be made without oil at all.
Using fruit to line our baking pans. Apples and pine apples are especially good in lining baking pans.
Bake cakes without butter or oil. Instead of butter, finely grated fruits and vegetables can be added to our cake mix
Defat meat before adding it into meals.
Fry without oil. Chicken and oily fish can be fried with completely no oil (only in saladmaster)
Healthy Less oil meals
Fries – If you are going to buy frozen fries, buy oven fries. Your potatoes are better boiled or baked than fried.
Eggs
Boil your eggs.
Pouch your eggs or shallow fry them with very little oil.
Chicken
Never fry your chicken in oil, chicken has more than enough oil in it already. You can boil it, grill it or BBQ it. You can also fry chicken without using any oil at all.
Fish
Never Fry your oily fish in oil.
Fish like mackerel and salmon have enough oil in them to fry without adding more oil to them.
Jollof rice
Normally to start cooking Jollof rice, a lot of oil is the first thing that goes into the pot with some onions. Reduce that oil to between 2 tablespoons – 1/2 cup depending on the quantity of Jollof rice you are cooking
Stir fry – A stir-fry does not have to be drenched in oil. Use 1 or 2 table spoons of oil. Fry diced chicken till brown. Add grated onions. Add vegetables and stir-fry. Add boiled and strained of any of the following: rice noodles, pasta, rice or spaghetti (use any one you prefer)
Tomato Stew – fry chicken without oil, when brown add chopped onions, mix and fry for 3 minutes. Then add blended tomato, scotch bonnet, bell peppers, spices and onions. Boil for 15 minutes.
Cake
Instead of butter in your cake-mix, add finely grated carrots, Apple, lemon rind, cucumber and celery. Or you can add any time of vegetable you like. Line the baking pan with thin slices of apple, thin slices of pineapple or oil spray instead of butter.
Egusi soup – Egusi is melon seed. It has lots of oil in it and is high in calories. To cook it, boil some blended tomato mix for 15 minutes. Add defatted meat and fish. Add egusi paste. Cook for 20 minutes. Add chopped dark green vegetables and simmer.
Cooking without oil is only possible in a cookware called saladmaster. To get one, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you within 24 hours.
The healthy Oil
Oil extracted from plants are more healthy than the oil got animals. Palm oil in its natural state is the best oil to cook with. Next in line is olive oil and coconut oil.
Conclusions
Reducing your intake of oil will reduce the number of calories you consume and will make a healthier you. I would like to know what you feel about oil in food. Are you trying to cut down on oil intake? Was this post helpful?
Leave a comment below and let me know
Too much oil is indeed not good, 1- 3 grams a day is sufficient. I totally agree with you. However certain fish oils contain Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which not only reduce the risk of heart attack or ease the pain of arthritis, but also lubricate the mind. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is, like obesity and diabetes, an inflammatory disorder caused by abnormal carbohydrate metabolism in those eating a diet low in Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats and high in trans fatty acids and Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. Omega-3 affect the cell membranes and changes functioning, increasing Omega-3 makes it easier for serotonin ( a chemical that carries messages from one brain cell to another) to pass through cell membranes. A decline in Omega-3 intake give rise to mental problems.
When your brain lacks healthy fats it uses trans-fats (mostly found in takeaways), which are not compatible with your body requirements, meaning that your brain’s ability to function and communicate effectively is compromised. Bad fat increases inflamation, and substances secreted by inflammation may interfere with neurotransmitters that affect mood. Polyunsaturated fats, found in olive oil lowers the risk of depression.
Thanks for coming by Sandikazi. I agree with you omega 3 oils are very healthy. Thanks for your very educative comment.
I am starting to look into cooking a Keto diet for my family. I stumbled onto your page when looking into the kinds of oils that are good for you vs. the not some good oils. I am excited to try cooking with some oils I have never tried before like Avacado oil. I have a question, you said that oils coming from vegetables are better for you than animal oil but what about the one that comes from the store labeled vegetable oil? The husband was saying thats on the not so good list. I’m not even sure what is in it or what vegetable it comes from. So much to learn but looking forward to becoming a healthier cook. Thank you!
Hi Ashton, yes, oils from plants are healthier than oils from animals.
It would be advisable to go for specific plant oils like olive oil, coconut oil or avocado oil.
Such a great article, I use a lot spray and cook. I have recently started to experiment with use Ghee as it has a lot of health benefits. Have you tried Ghee before? What did you think of it? I have not heard of Egusi can you get it in South Africa? I also have not heard of Jollof rice I wonder if I can get it here? I also want to try your cake with the apple slices. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for coming by Anglewolf, I have not tried Ghee but it sounds healthy.
Egusi is a stew made from melon seeds it is usually sold in African/Caribian shops. Do you have those kind of shops in South Africa?
Jollof rice is white rice cooked in tomato sauce with spices. I have a post on how to cook it.
Let me know how you get on with the cake. Thanks for your nice comment.
I agree with you that plant oils are better than the animal oils that we mostly use but people do not know that. I like how you have outlined all the tips on how to make use of a lesser amount of oil when cooking. I think I need to make use of this tips in my kitchen. I mostly like baking cake and frying chicken. I no now how to do those the healthy way. Thanks!
Thanks for coming by Henderson. Let me know how you get on with making your cakes and chicken less oily.
Oh, not a bad post at all honestly. Having a high amount of calorie is a very big issue around the world but must people do not take note and work on their eating lifestyle. It’s good that you can talk about the issue here. I am a fitness trainer so I understand that taking in too much oil is detrimental. This are good tips on how to take reduce the intake of oil in the body. Very helpful post here with valuable information. Keep up the good work.
Thank you John.
Hi, Keep Healthy
I agree with you use less oil cooking opinion, I remember when I was young, When my grandmother was cooking, she always put a lot of lard when cooking. After a long time, she sick and went to the hospital. The doctor said that her grandmother’s habits were problematic and she should eat less in her daily life greasy food, then she followed the doctor’s advice, the body has been very healthy.
I’m so happy grandmother got better. Too much oil in the human system is definitely not good.
Thanks for coming by.
Yes definitely important to decrease the cooking of oil as it denatures the oil and causes it to be more toxic. Oils are an amazing part of the diet as long as the right one are consumed and just like anything else overconsumption is never good. Also one of the worst things a person can do is combine their oils with sugary substances.
I agree, thanks Cliff.
Interesting piece and I’m sure it would be of help to most people who enjoy African meals. Oil generally should be avoided in cooking due to the high effect it has on the body. It contributes majorly to eating unhealthily. Imbibing the habit of pure and healthy eating by reducing the intake of oil and its involvement in our meals would really be a plus on our health. You did cite some nice examples on foods that requires very minimal use of oil. Thanks
Thanks Roland.
Excellent article you have written up here on the reason to minimize the use of oil in our cooking. Though I don’t know much about African meals but it is a general knowledge shared that oil is a composite of fatand as such, it should be reduced drastically in most of our food. As for frying, I have stopped using oils to fry most of my meat and chicken included food. Thanks for sharing and I’m sure it would be of great help to most people.
That’s a great and healthy decision Roland, not frying meat and chicken.
Thanks for coming by.
Thank you for such an informative post.
Today heart problems are increasing day by day and this is due to high cholesterol level which is mainly due to high oil consumption. I live in India and here oil is one of the main ingredients in our day to day food but as my father is a doctor so I have pretty much knowledge about the adverse effects of using extensive or bad oil in our diet. This is the reason why we have started using air fryer at our home to reduce oil consumption as much as possible.
Kudos to this article. We need to spread as much awareness as possible as these things are affecting our health and due to our busy lives these days we are not able to do much to reduce its effects.
Thanks Hair, for your great comment.