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The amount of bogus unsupportable "science" advice that government health departments have foisted on the public these last forty years is a disgrace. I have a mental picture of a bunch round a committee table, all with their own financial interest, all angling for personal advantage, all utterly ignorant of the actual facts because nobody could be arsed to pay for adequate research before making recommendations.



"Sunflower and corn oil are fine," Prof Grootveld says, "as long as you don't subject them to heat, such as frying or cooking. It's a simple chemical fact that something which is thought to be healthy for us is converted into something that is very unhealthy at standard frying temperatures."

The olive oil and cold-pressed rapeseed oil produced far less aldehydes, as did the butter and goose fat. The reason is that these oils are richer in monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids, and these are much more stable when heated. In fact, saturated fats hardly undergo this oxidation reaction at all.

Prof Grootveld generally recommends olive oil for frying or cooking. "Firstly because lower levels of these toxic compounds are generated, and secondly the compounds that are formed are actually less threatening to the human body."

His research also suggests that when it comes to cooking, frying in saturate-rich animal fats or butter may be preferable to frying in sunflower or corn oil.

"If I had a choice," he says, "between lard and polyunsaturates, I'd use lard every time."

Which oils are best to cook with? - BBC News

What about coconut oil? That's the new 'in' thing to eat and slather all over for healthy moisturised skin. Oh, and weight loss, eat a few spoonfuls a day and it aids things slipping through at a guess.

I'm still getting my head round allowing a solid mass of oil to melt in the mouth and then actually swallow it :-2 it's all the rage.

My rule is everything in moderation.

Funnily enough though I have recently started to cook using olive oil.

Not quite sure I am getting the point of the OP. All of the quotes are correct.

Years ago, when they started telling folks to use less saturated fats, they were correct in that consuming such fats can be hard on the digestive system.

But, when we were told to cook with corn oil instead of butter and lard, they were off the mark.

I have cooked with clarified butter, and peanut oil for most of my adult life. They are very stable at high temps and when using proper temperatures, the fat is not absorbed into the the food.

Don't know about the coconut oil thing. I tend to let fads run their course and see how they turned out before taking the advice.

I do like Olive oil for cooking, but the aroma can put me off when its used for some foods, like eggs and such.

I use olive oil when cooking. Betty, I know coconut oil is the latest thing, but I didn't know about putting it on you for nice skin. Gosh we used to tan with olive oil, and that sure doesn't do you any good forty years later. It's better in the skillet.

Butter rather than spread for me. We do use olive oild most of the time but nothing beats lard/bacon fat for cooking eggs in and goose fat for roast potatoes

I never ever really switched to margarine, used it for a little while way back, then realised I had a wheat allergy and was forced to read the ingredients on everything I bought. Margarine got sidelined pretty quick due to the amount of ingredients. My general rule is that if the ingredients list is miles long I don't buy it.

I've used olive oil for years and now and again I put lard in the fryer but I can't bring myself to do that all the time so it alternates with a vegetable oil.

I am saving up for one of these it even matches my colour scheme!

Government advice on healthy living can change quicker than I can change a jacket! The advice on polyunsaturates sounds good, but opinions seem to differ on various other products, such as cheese. Maybe governments should put in more study/research BEFORE issuing a "definitive" guideline.

We get the same sort of thing here. Every few months, some gummint hack announces the latest fad diet that is supposed to solve all our health problems.

Don't eat eggs 'cause they have lots of bad Cholesterol. Don't eat saturated fat, eat poly-unsaturated, oh, wait, don't cook with poly-unsaturated, eat Oat Bran 'cause it cures cancer, eat eggs they're good for you, but only eat the whites, etc.

And of course, whatever the message, the public goes wild on the advice.

One fellow ate so much Oat Bran during THAT fad, that he clogged up and required surgery to clean out all the bran.

Seems like the recommendations should be held up until all the research is completed.

Cholesterol is one of my favorites, of late.

Do you know why Beef and Eggs and such are high in cholesterol? Because the critters are fed a high Corn meal diet. Corn will increase serum Cholesterol in critters that consume it in high quantities. If you want to avoid high Cholesterol, avoid eating a lot of Corn-based food.

Have you ever heard the gummint mention that?

Probably not.

My intake this week seems to be the High Cheddar, Seed-Bread and Caffeine diet, with occasional forays into Camembert, Stilton and crackers. I defy anyone to tell me it's unbalanced - it has equal portions of carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and stimulants.

Looks pretty balanced to me.

spot;1483392 wrote: My intake this week seems to be the High Cheddar, Seed-Bread and Caffeine diet, with occasional forays into Camembert, Stilton and crackers. I defy anyone to tell me it's unbalanced - it has equal portions of carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and stimulants.


LarsMac;1483397 wrote: Looks pretty balanced to me.


Considering that's coming from the man that owns a self stirring pot because he hasn't the time or inclination..............I would have to agree.

Bruv;1483405 wrote: Considering that's coming from the man that owns a self stirring pot because he hasn't the time or inclination..............I would have to agree.


Whenever I cook, and I leave the kitchen to do something in the office, I lose track of time and the food would invariably burn were it not that the self-stirring pot counts down and turns itself off, having stopped anything from sticking beforehand.

Thank the lord the rest of us are gifted with multi tasking tools.

I NEVER just cook a meal, I am always doing a heap of other tasks at the same time in between each stir of the pot. Dishwasher always needs un-loading or re-loading, washing machine always wants filling or emptying then the washing needs to hung out. The dry washing always needs sorting. I've just realised my kitchen is my office :wah:

spot;1483413 wrote: Whenever I cook, and I leave the kitchen to do something in the office, I lose track of time and the food would invariably burn were it not that the self-stirring pot counts down and turns itself off, having stopped anything from sticking beforehand.


To paraphrase the Bible 'Man doesn't live by office work alone'

Priorities man, standing over a cooking pot is not wasting time, it's an investment in your good health.

I take the view of "What the hell - We're all gonna die anyway. Enjoy it while you can".