While healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes, food does not. The next time you are attracted by that finely “shaped” food item, beware.
Remember, the more appropriately shaped it is, the worse it is for your health. Experts in India have found that such food items have more trans-fatty acids (TFA), the biggest villain for the body that increases bad cholesterol, raises blood pressure and could lead to various metabolic disorders, like diabetes. The four-year study by the Diabetes Foundation of India, National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation and IIT also revealed that the TFA increased immensely if the oil for frying was “re-utilised”, a practice found to be adopted by 96 per cent of respondents.
While so far there is limited data in India on the content of TFAs in fried and baked food items, their formation in re-heated oil or their consumption among the general population in India, this is the first study of its kind to find that vanaspati is the main source of TFAs in India, providing approximately 40 per cent TFAs. Experts therefore recommend using mustard oil, olive oil or canola oil, and no vanaspati at all. “This study clearly shows that if proper oil and method of cooking are not chosen properly, the possibility of developing diabetes and heart disease is high,” said Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis, C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology. Experts found a 20-25 per cent increase in TFA after the oil was reused. “We found that when we keep refrying the oil, the oil developed TFA which kept increasing each time the oil was reused,” said Dr Swati Bhardwaj, senior research officer, DFI.
Admitting that many household cannot afford to throw away oil that has been used once, Dr Bhardwaj recommend that either the oil used for frying should be very little or it should be used to prepare vegetables.
Experts also said that natural TFA found in items like milk, curds and cottage cheese are not so good either.
Experts found that while the TFA content of parantha, bread pakora, gulabjamun and bhatura had relatively low levels of TFA content per 100g, per serving their TFA content may be high. TFA content in fried food items like bhujia, samosa, potato chips, French fries, tikki and aloo chaat ranged from 1.48g/100g to 1.02g/100g. In baked items like patties, bakery biscuits, pastries, burgers, rusk and pizza, TFA ranged between 1.58g/100g and 0.22g/100g. The study found the total TFA content in a cheese slice was 0.4g/100g and that mayonnaise (vegetarian) had having a lower level (1.95g/100g) of the food item as compared to egg mayonnaise (2.98g/100g of food item).
TFAs are the most important type of “bad fats”. Several countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United States, have introduced regulatory norms to restrict the intake of TFAs. Experts therefore recommended that “policy-makers can make and enforce laws to limit the TFA content of manufactured foods,” added Dr Misra.
Remember, the more appropriately shaped it is, the worse it is for your health. Experts in India have found that such food items have more trans-fatty acids (TFA), the biggest villain for the body that increases bad cholesterol, raises blood pressure and could lead to various metabolic disorders, like diabetes. The four-year study by the Diabetes Foundation of India, National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation and IIT also revealed that the TFA increased immensely if the oil for frying was “re-utilised”, a practice found to be adopted by 96 per cent of respondents.
While so far there is limited data in India on the content of TFAs in fried and baked food items, their formation in re-heated oil or their consumption among the general population in India, this is the first study of its kind to find that vanaspati is the main source of TFAs in India, providing approximately 40 per cent TFAs. Experts therefore recommend using mustard oil, olive oil or canola oil, and no vanaspati at all. “This study clearly shows that if proper oil and method of cooking are not chosen properly, the possibility of developing diabetes and heart disease is high,” said Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis, C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology. Experts found a 20-25 per cent increase in TFA after the oil was reused. “We found that when we keep refrying the oil, the oil developed TFA which kept increasing each time the oil was reused,” said Dr Swati Bhardwaj, senior research officer, DFI.
Admitting that many household cannot afford to throw away oil that has been used once, Dr Bhardwaj recommend that either the oil used for frying should be very little or it should be used to prepare vegetables.
Experts also said that natural TFA found in items like milk, curds and cottage cheese are not so good either.
Experts found that while the TFA content of parantha, bread pakora, gulabjamun and bhatura had relatively low levels of TFA content per 100g, per serving their TFA content may be high. TFA content in fried food items like bhujia, samosa, potato chips, French fries, tikki and aloo chaat ranged from 1.48g/100g to 1.02g/100g. In baked items like patties, bakery biscuits, pastries, burgers, rusk and pizza, TFA ranged between 1.58g/100g and 0.22g/100g. The study found the total TFA content in a cheese slice was 0.4g/100g and that mayonnaise (vegetarian) had having a lower level (1.95g/100g) of the food item as compared to egg mayonnaise (2.98g/100g of food item).
TFAs are the most important type of “bad fats”. Several countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United States, have introduced regulatory norms to restrict the intake of TFAs. Experts therefore recommended that “policy-makers can make and enforce laws to limit the TFA content of manufactured foods,” added Dr Misra.
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