cooking oil: Healthy cooking oil

Thursday 12 July 2012

Healthy cooking oil

Aside from soybean oil, this is the most widely consumed oil in the world. If you don’t count the United States, it is the most widely consumed oil. It is also a saturated tropical oil, very high in vitamin E. It is also high in vitamin K and magnesium. Palm oil is easily recognizable by its bright red color and consists of about 50% SFA, 40% MUFA, and 10% PUFA.Palm oil is great for frying and sauteing. As opposed to the oils most people are used to, the deodorized vegetable oils, palm oil has a distinct taste that goes very well with vegetables and meats (but not with eggs!). The high level of saturation makes it a good oil for applying heat to. If you are a baker, I imagine that you could substitute palm oil into your recipes as well.There is evidence that palm fruit production is detrimental to the environment, with people clearing out rain forests to open up land for plantations. However, that appears to be in certain areas of Asia, whereas West African palm oil is sustainable.