Is It Important To Have Cooking Oil In Your Diet?

Is it important to have cooking oils in our diet?
In this article we are going to discuss what cooking oils are, what cooking oils are made from, importance of having cooking oils in our diet, whether cooking oils expire, difference between saturated and unsaturated fats in cooking oil, what we need to know about partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated cooking oils.
What are cooking oils?
They are fats made from animals, plants or synthetic compounds which are used for frying, baking, and preparing food for consumption.
There are three lipids in cooking oils: triacylglycerol, sterols and phospholipids. The most common lipids in our food is triacylglycerol

What is cooking oils made from?
They are made from animals and plants.
Those from animals consists of:
Tallow
Butter
Lard
Plants cooking oils include
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds
Palm tree kernels
Olives canola seeds
Avocados
Uses of cooking oils
They are used in baking frying grilling sautéing and many more.
Is it important to have cooking oils in my diet?
We need oils and fats in our body to stay healthy. They help in hormone regulation, nerve development and maintenance, immune function and bone formation.
Fats in our body do not only come from the cooking oils only, we can also get them from the foods when we eat for example nuts, meat, fish and many more.
Is it important to have specific cooking oils?
This depends on what you are preparing. You may need to choose specific cooking oil for a specific type of food in order to prepare your food safely.
A perfect example is frying foods whereby you need cooking oil with high smoke point. Smoke point is the temperature at which the cooking oil starts to burn hence not suitable for use. Cooking oils like canola oils and peanut oils are the best for deep frying because they have high smoke point.
Do cooking oils expire?
If stored incorrectly, they can expire or if they stay for a longer period.
Most cooking oils have different shelf life depending on how they are made.
Are all oils hydrogenated? What do I need to know about partially hydrogenated cooking oil and hydrogenated cooking oil?
Hydrogenation is a process of adding hydrogen to the fats to increase its durability. Hydrogenated oils are found in products such as pre packed backed goods and also margarine. Liquid oils used in cooking are usually not hydrogenated.
Partially hydrogenated oils turn into solid form at room temperature. USA stopped using partially hydrogenated oils since 2020 because they no longer identify them as safe cooking oil for use.
However partially hydrogenated oils are still found in some food but they are naturally occurring for example meat, cheese and milk.
What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats in cooking oils?
Saturated fats can increase the cholesterol levels and overall health when in high concentration. Saturated fats can be found in products such as butter, plant based products that are solid at room temperature for example palm and coconut oil.
Unsaturated fats do not have high impact on the cholesterol levels and they help maintain our health. They are mostly found in cooking oils that remain liquid at room temperature for example avocado and olive oil.
Conclusion
In this article we discussed what cooking oils are made from, the importance of having cooking oils in our diet, what we need to know about hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated cooking oils and the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats in cooking oils. Therefore, in deciding the cooking oil to use there are many options to choose from. It is also important to note that cooking oils with high saturated fats are safe for use when used with moderation.