Groundnut Oil

It’s Got the Good Fat

Almost all commercial food suppliers – beginning from a roadside stall owner to restaurants as also a part of the food processing industry – use groundnut oil in some proportion. And,of course, there is a bottle, a tin, or a poly pack/Tetra Pak of groundnut oil in millions of households in India – a country that happens to be the world’s largest importer and the third largest consumer of edible oils. However, are all groundnut oil types suitable for your consumption? Are all manufacturers keeping the promises that they make? Are you actually getting the quality and the quantity that you are (innocently) paying for?

How many types of groundnut oil?

Groundnut oil is available in the market in refined and filtered forms. Although filtered oils are nutritionally superior, they may contain toxic compounds if the filtration process is not of high quality. Hence, it is better to buy groundnut oils of reputed brands.

Groundnut oil is suitable for all types of cooking, particularly deep frying, grilling and seasoning. Raw groundnut oil is not suitable for direct human.

How To Best Match Your Oils To Foods

While the to-and-fro on the healthiest oil continues through various studies and findings, most of them clearly conclude against sticking to one type of oil for cooking. It is beneficial to consume a mix of oils to maintain a balance between the three fatty acids. The only way to ensure that you consume healthy oil is by switching between two-three of them – for instance, by using groundnut oil one month and then using sunflower oil in another. Even better, rotate the oil types for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Blending oils is another option, whereby you take equal proportions of different oils in one container and then use it. This way you do not get prolonged exposure to the side effects of one type of oil and also get the benefits of different oils.

You could also have two or more different kinds of oils in your kitchen which you could use for different purposes. For example, you could use olive oil for salads, groundnut oil for frying, and soyabean oil for other cooking purposes. This will let you avail of the health benefits offered by each oil brand.

However, refrain from reusing of oil as this has been linked with cancer.