Is It Generally A Good Idea to Cook With Olive Oil?

Olive Oil is very healthy. In fact, it is known as the "default" healthy fat, packed with beneficial fatty acids and powerful antioxidants. In addition, Olive Oilhas also been a dietary staple for some of the healthiest populations around the globe.

 Nonetheless, a handful of individuals believe that it is unsuitable for cooking because of the unsaturated fats.

Today, our Olive Oil experts are explaining why Olive Oil is a great decision for cooking, even for high heat methods like frying.

Why The Stability Of Cooking Oils Is Essential

When fats and oils are exposed to high heat, they can sometimes get damaged.

This is even more true of oils that are high in polyunsaturated fats, including most vegetable oils such as soybean and canola.

When overheated, they can form various harmful compounds, including lipid peroxides and aldehydes, which can contribute to cancer.

When cooking with these oils, some of the carcinogenic compounds actually vaporize and may contribute to lung cancer when inhaled. Therefore, just being present in a kitchen where these oils are used can cause harm.

If you want to minimize your exposure to harmful and carcinogenic compounds, then it is essential to cook only with fats that are stable at high heat.

There are two main properties of cooking oils that you should pay attention to the most:

• Smoke Point: The temperature at which the fats start to break down and turn into smoke.
• Oxidative Stability: How resistant the fats are to reacting with oxygen.

Nonetheless, Olive Oil does pretty well in both regards.

It is very crucial to select cooking fats that are stable when heated, mainly because some oils can form carcinogenic compounds during cooking.