How to avoid harm from fried foods....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 9-24-2015

This post has new information on a way fried foods can harm your heart and health.

And, it has a very promising high tech way to avoid this and a simple, low tech way to do so.

How can fried foods harm your heart and health?

1.  The three ways I already knew about are these:

a) Many fried foods are harmful foods that are fried. 

Peeled, GMO white potatoes are already fattening due to their high glycemic response and chemical residues. 

Processed meat like sausage and bacon that are fried often comes from animals fed GMO grains and are always high in fat.  And, since the high omega 6 oils in these fats from the grain and the herbicides and pesticides bioconcentrated in the fat and the high salt and preservative content of these processed meats are harmful, eating a lot of them each week has been tested to increase heart disease.

b) Many fried foods are fried in corn and canola oil and the omega 6 oils don’t hold up well to heat and cause the oil to become oxidized.  There is even some evidence that some trans fats are formed; and those produce heart disease.

c)  Many fried foods are cooked at relatively high temperatures for a long time.  This makes oxidation and trans fats much more likely and can even produce carcinogenic compounds.

2.  But what if you use extra virgin olive oil and cook cheese or meat from animals fed only grass and their natural foods or eggs from chickens fed outside on pasture, again eating their natural foods—and you use low moderate heat and remove the food before it over-cooks?

The interesting email I got yesterday said:  you may still cause oxidation and trans fat formation because standard electric stove top burners and natural gas flame burners are very approximate in their levels of heat AND some parts of the frying pan tend to be hotter than others.

Then, if the heat is greater than the smoke point of oil, you STILL get harmful excess oxidation and trans fat formation.  According to the article, you get a LOT of both!

There are two ways to avoid this, a low tech one and a high tech one.

The high tech one, by the way sounds extremely, promising!

a) The low tech one is to basically not use frying.  Boil the food and then drain the water; and use a pan to heat up the sauce such that it’s heated through and ready to eat but not enough to cook with.

So I’ll be having poached eggs with a curry/parmesan sauce next time instead of having it as a curry/parmesan scrambled eggs.

I’ll avoid this potential health risk and the cleanup will be MUCH easier.  And all the flavor will still be there.

b)  The high tech method is by using something called an “induction cooktop.”

Because you can set the temperature exactly and this temperature is uniform in each spot on the surface, you can simply set the number below the smoke point of the oil you are using.

And, much to my considerable surprise, this uses less than 90% of the energy that a standard electric burner or natural gas flame burner uses.

(And, because you can then avoid using natural gas, in a kitchen set up to use only an induction cooktop, you can avoid the safety risk of using natural gas entirely for cooking.)

Also, because this is a summary of a longer, more detailed and well done email I read that came from "The Sherpa" a health information email, I decided to include that information also:

First, here is the link to buy the product they recommend:

http://www.nuwavepic.com/?ref_version=PROMOTION

So, if after reading my post and their email, you might consider getting one, there is the link!

From: The Sherpa

Sent: Tue, Sep 22, 2015 5:10 am

Subject: Beware of the smoking point when you cook...

I have a rather unusual email for you today…

You see, there are 2 parts to excellent health.  One is shopping for the right foods-which you've already done.

This second part is absolutely crucial... healthy cooking.

You see, buying the right food is great, but it's really easy to ruin it during the cooking stage (hint: I'm NOT talking about oils, butters, or Teflon pans here).

The answer is below and the mystery centers around a critical factor called the Smoke Point...

If you strive to eat healthy, then you need to understand a few of the commonly missed factors of cooking healthy...

I hope you enjoy this article.

Does HOW you cook affect the nutritional content of WHAT you cook?

Of course it does...

Everyone knows deep-frying food adds tons of fat (from the oil). And high temperature grilling chars the outside of meat (creating cancer-causing carcinogens).

But did you know the type of stove you cook on affects the quality of your food as well?

For example, imagine you have two plump chicken breasts.

You cook them both EXACTLY the same way (fried in a pan with oil). At the same temperature. Flipped at regular intervals. And for an equal amount of time.

The only difference is the stovetops that were used during the cooking process.

Research from Northland Laboratories in Northbrook, Illinois learned that simply using a different stovetop resulted in...

10 times more trans-fat!

145% more saturated fat!

And 195% more cholesterol!

And that's not even the worst news...

The meal with more "bad" fat would also be loaded with free-radicals that are linked to:

Heart disease

DNA damage

Cancer

Accelerated Aging

And all inflammatory diseases (like arthritis, vasculitis, adult respiratory diseases syndrome gastric ulcers, hypertension and preeclampsia, neurological disorders (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy), and much, much more).

How can a simple cooktop change the nutritional content of food so much?

Two words...

Smoke Point...

You see, certain stovetops do not always heat evenly. As a result, one part of the pan will become much hotter than the rest.

This isn't a big deal UNLESS it becomes hot enough to destabilize the oil or butter you are using to cook your food.  The temperature at which this happens is called the "smoke point".

Much like how the "boiling point" is the temperature water turns into steam, the "smoke point" is where liquid oil turns into gas.

When this happens, the fat in the oil begins to break down and turn into a vapor. During this transformation, harmful free radicals form and enter your food.

That's not good.

But how does this result in more trans-fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol?

Well, unfortunately, what are commonly called the "good" fats (like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat) don't stand up to heat as well as the "bad" fats (like saturated and trans-fat).

So those "good" fats break down first leaving more "bad" fats in your food.

To make matters even worse, most people have no clue whatsoever what temperature they are actually cooking at. That's because stovetops do NOT show temperatures. They just have settings between 1-10 (1 being low, and 10 being high).

This is why I cook with an induction cooktop.

Unlike gas or electric cooktops, induction cooktops do not actually heat up. Instead, they create a magnetic field that creates small electric currents in the pan, evenly heating every square inch of the metal.

This prevents "hotspots"...

And since you set the induction by precise temperatures...NOT low, medium, or high settings...you never have to guess if you are heating oil or butter past its "smoke point" (and risk the damaging effects of free radicals seeping into your food).

So what induction cooktop do we recommend?

I personally use the NuWave Cooktop and so do many of my friends...

I find it more versatile because you can boil, simmer, deep-fry, stir-fry, sauté, steam and sear, slow cook, barbecue, melt and grill on it.

Also, the research shows that it's safer because there are no hot coils or open flames, virtually eliminating the risk of fire (in fact, it's cool to the touch even while boiling water!

Use this link here to see an online demonstration...

Scroll to minute 1:30 of the video on this page and you'll see how it is almost impossible to get burned using the NuWave Cooktop).

Another benefit is that the NuWave is cheaper because it uses up to 90% less energy than a traditional gas or electric stove.

Plus, it heats up faster, has a wider temperature range than other induction cooktops. And - my favorite feature - is that it is programmable.

You'll see all of this (and more) in action on the video on the following page.

This means you can cook an entire meal with just the press of a button (no more babysitting your food while it cooks).

I have one in my kitchen and we love it.

I feel that everyone who strives to eat healthy should at least look into them as well.

That's why I've asked NuWave to put together a special deal for Natural Health Sherpa.

For a limited time, you can grab two NuWave Cooktops and a bundle of high quality cookware for less than dinner for two at a fancy restaurant.

This special offer is only good for a few days...

And since you are covered by a 90-day money-back guarantee, you risk nothing by giving this a whirl.

If you want to make sure every meal you cook is as healthy as it can possibly be, I recommend you look into the NuWave Precision Induction Cooktop.

Remember, keep an open mind to new ideas, but ALWAYS do your own homework... and combine that with common sense to figure out what's best for YOU.

Naturally yours,

The Sherpa

PS - I love NuWave's handy Smoke Point chart they provide with every induction cooktop. Here is part of their quick reference guide so I prevent hitting the smoke point when I am preparing my favorite dish...

Type   

Smoke Point

(In Degrees Fahrenheit)

Butter  350°

Canola  oil (refined retail variety)       470°

Extra-light  olive oil    468°

Canola  oil (expeller pressed)  464°

olive oil           460°

Palm  oil          455°

Coconut  oil (refined retail variety)    450°

Corn  oil (refined retail variety)          450°

Peanut  oil (refined retail variety)       450°

Safflower  oil (refined retail variety)  450°

Soybean Oil (refined retail variety)    450°

Sunflower Oil (refined retail variety) 450°

Hazelnut oil     430°

Virgin olive oil            420°

Walnut oil (refined retail variety)       400°

Extra virgin olive oil   375°

Coconut oil (unrefined)          350°

Hemp oil         330°

Peanut oil (unrefined) 320°

Walnut oil (unrefined)            320°

Flax seed oil    225°

Safflower oil (unrefined)        225°

Sunflower Oil (unrefined)      225°