Which Vegetable Oils are you Using?

Our biggest problem is that there are so many contradictory reports out there on what's safe and what's not safe from authoritative bodies. It's no wonder we get so confused at times. In recent years, it has been vegetable oils that have been under the spotlight and in particular the emphasis on the toxic effects with some of them.

So what is all the fuss now! So many of us consume vegetable oils either directly or indirectly as ingredients in food and have done so for generations. But as people become more and more health conscious, they begin to wonder about the oils they use in their foods due to these damaging reports. While some people try to avoid oils all together, many others are searching for the healthiest variety. Vegetable oils used to be the most popular oil used for frying in the home and in restaurants, but that is slowly changing. New research suggests that vegetable oils might not be the best thing for your heart, but as I said, there are always conflicting reports and I for one don't know what to believe half the time.

Another thing about vegetable oils is that it can get confusing. Some oils that come from various plants are considered safer than plain old vegetable oil. You have to make the distinction between heart healthy types and other kinds that may cause problems. If the label says ‘vegetable oil’ but makes no distinction otherwise, you should skip it, apparently. Other types, like olive oil are a healthier choice. I do endorse olive oils though as research has been steady and consistent with the health benefits of it and in particular extra virgin olive oils.

If you do decide to push aside vegetable oils, you may wonder what to use instead. You not only want a good oil, but you want one that will taste great too. Two of the most common types you should look for are canola and olive oil (mentioned above). Each of these has been deemed safer than vegetable oils for your heart and your health. Of course, this may change again in a few years. It seems the experts cannot make up their minds. For a while, margarine was considered a healthy substitute for real butter. Today, they say the opposite is true.

If you ever find yourself working abroad and in South East Asia in particular, I would be very careful about buying all the tasty tempting snacks from the street food vendors. In Thailand, I've seen deep fried bananas being cooked in the morning, and that same used vegetable oil is then being used to cook chicken legs in the early evening. They really do stretch the life expectancy of vegetable oils in the East, and many restaurants actually sell their old cooking oils to these street cooks, so your stir fried whatever, could have some very unusual flavors.

One surprising development in recent years is an alternative use for vegetable oils. As gas prices soar, people are looking for alternatives. As it turns out, there are engines that can run on oil alone and some that use both oil and gas. The good thing about using vegetable oil in a car would be that it might be cleaner burning, and this type of oil is something the US can produce on its own without the need to import from foreign countries.

Though cars that run on vegetable oils are not very common yet, they may be very soon. There are models on the road today, and many have popped up in small towns as well as large cities. You may drive around in a car that smells like a giant French fry, but imagine the money you will save, and the impact it will have on the fragile economy. If we can’t eat it, we might as well use it for a more important goal. Hey, let's not waste vegetable oil.