Cooking Oil Carcinogenic?

[Guest guest]

Cooking Oil Carcinogenic? JoAnn Guest Jul 10, 2003 08:02 PDT

Today's Question

I recently heard that heating cooking oil makes it carcinogenic. Can

you tell me if this is true?

 

-- Anonymous

 

Today's Answer

(Published 11/30/1999)

Oxidation of fat -- which occurs when cooking oil is heated to high

temperatures -- can produce carcinogenic compounds. For this reason

alone, you should be very careful when using oils. Never reuse an oil

that has been heated to high temperatures, and never heat oil to the

point where it smokes. The smoke from overheated oil is highly

carcinogenic -- even inhaling the vapors is dangerous. Stay away from

places that smell of burning grease -- including your own, someone

else's, or a restaurant's kitchen. (In addition, oil can go rancid

quickly, so buy only small quantities at a time and throw away oils that

smell or taste spoiled.)

Most recently, a study from New Zealand found that heated cooking oil

can be extra bad for your arteries, too. The results, published in the

March 1999 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,

demonstrated that used cooking oil from fast food restaurants can impede

blood flow through your arteries. The researchers fed ten male

volunteers three different meals (at different times). The first

contained a whopping 64.4 grams of fat, and was cooked in oil that had

been used and reused for deep frying in a fast food restaurant; the

second meal was exactly the same as the first, but contained fresh oil;

the third was a low-fat meal, containing 18.4 grams of fat.

 

All the men had non-invasive arterial studies done before eating these

meals -- and again, four hours after each meal, to measure blood flow

through the brachial artery, the main artery supplying the arm. The

researchers found significant restriction of blood flow four hours after

the first meal, but not after the other two. On the basis of these

findings, the team concluded that fats used repeatedly, as in many fast

food restaurants, could impair blood flow -- probably from toxic

compounds created by heat and oxygen.

 

If you aren't already avoiding unhealthy, high-fat fast-foods, this

study gives you another powerful reason to steer clear of them. The

extent of the danger becomes clear when you realize how much oil we use

in this country -- more than five billion pounds per year for frying and

baking. According to the Agriculture Department, fried snack foods

account for about three billion pounds, and fast food restaurants

account for the other two. That's billions -- with a " b. "

 

http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.html-command=TodayQA-questionId=3707

 

 

 

The complete " Whole Body " Health line consists of the " AIM GARDEN TRIO "

Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen

 

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/AIM.html

 

 

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!