Shopping for Healthy Cooking Oil
One ingredient that many people forget about is cooking oil. Even people who are on strict diets often do not put much thought into the type of cooking oil that they are using when this is actually quite important. Using healthy cooking oil is a good idea because it will make sure that each dish you prepare is as healthy and low fat as possible.
The Selection
Canola oil is one of the top choices for healthy cooking oil. It is not at all harmful to your health and can help you to achieve the low fat diet that you are striving for. Canola oil also has the best fatty acid ratio which means that it has the best fat ratios of all three types of fat in all cooking oil.
There is also the extra virgin olive oil, which is another type of healthy cooking oil. The beneficial health effects of this particular healthy cooking oil are largely due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of antioxidants. This olive oil is also very well tolerated by the stomach and in fact its protective function has a significantly beneficial effect on ulcers and gastritis.
Tips
There are many great tips that can help you to make the most of your healthy cooking oil. Stir frying vegetables with a couple tablespoons of olive oil for instance is a great idea, and you may even want to add in a couple of minced garlic cloves and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. Reducing the saturated fat in butter sauces by substituting a stock that has been thickened with olive oil is another great idea, and then you just add additional stock as needed and simmer.
Adding a tablespoon of olive oil to water when boiling pasta will help to prevent the pasta from sticking to the pot and then you can even toss the cooked pasta with a bit of olive oil after draining which will not only keep the pasta from sticking together but also add a bit of flavor.
There are many other great tips and techniques that you can use when cooking with olive oil, which will be especially helpful if you are trying to lose weight or get in shape. By implementing olive oil into the proper recipes and substituting certain ingredients with it when you can, you will be drastically cutting back on the amount of fat that you are consuming.
