Submitted by Low-Candidate-6028 t3_123bx25 in explainlikeimfive
…than stir fried or other food also cooked with oil? Is it just because the amount of oil used to fry is so much more?
If that’s the reason, would using a “healthy” oil to fry make a difference in its quality of nutrition?
Always wondered this! Thank you!!
I stay healthy for your moms.
Fried food is cooked in hot oil.
This causes the food to have a higher calorie count compared to food that's baked or grilled by comparison. That by itself isn't particularly unhealthy other that helping in weight gain, which has a lot of complications.
The main problem is deep fried food contains a lot of unhealthy fats. Saturated fat and trans fats build up plaque in your arteries that can put you at risk for heart failure, heart attack, and stroke.
Fried food is also commonly purchased at fast food restaurants that serve food with large amounts of sodium, fat, sugar, and few vitamins and minerals. So it isn't part of a healthy diet.
In moderation they are fine, but eating deep fried food constantly is very bad for you in the long term.
Oils used in frying are chosen not because they're healthier. They're chosen because they don't break down at low temperatures. This is called the smoke point; healthier oils and oils that typically have strong flavors like extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil have low smoke points. When you heat them up to the temperatures required for deep frying; EVOO has a smoke point between 350° to 400°F which is roughly the same temperature at which you deep fry things at. Peanut oil, an oil commonly used to deep fry has a smoke point of 450°F. Using the oil lowers the smoke point as it gets broken down and contaminants build up in the oil. As the oil breaks down, it creates a burnt smell and reacts with oxygen and creates harmful compounds. This is why you can't deep fry with "healthy" oil; most "healthy" oils have very low smoke points.
What others have said is true, but also, fried food is often salty, and that makes people eat more of it than other fatty foods. More fried food calories in = more work needed to burn the calories.
Also the breadings used in fried food are pure carbs (excess carbs are unhealthy). They’re called breadings because they are made from the same ingredients as bread.
Thank you so much for these helpful answers!!!
So, to clarify:
-does the temperature of the oil turn it into saturated and trans fats?
-why is the calorie count higher? Is it bc the food is immersed in such a large amount of oil?
Thank you!!
Saturated va unsaturated fat is basically about whether that particular fat is a solid or a liquid at room temp. There are multiple varieties with saturated generally being less healthy because it raises the "bad" cholesterol. They don't change from one to the other with temperature, though some can change with chemical alteration.
Trans fats in cooking MOSTLY come from plant based fats that have been altered to be solid at room temp, like saturated fats. They do occur naturally in small quantities in some meats. They are cheap, shelf stable and for awhile it was thought the plant based fats might be healthier than animal based frying fats all of which made them appeal for fast food frying and such. Turns out they hit that "bad" cholesterol (LDL) worse than even natural saturated fats.
Cooking oils and other things to fry in are basically just pure fat. That makes them VERY calorific and if your fried food picks up much of any of it it will have more calories in turn. Carbs also crisp nicely when fried so you tend to see a lot of added breading in fried foods or frying of inherently starchy things like breads and potatoes which are already pretty calorific to start with.
>-does the temperature of the oil turn it into saturated and trans fats?
At the conditions used for normal cooking, no. Oils can be turned from unsaturated to saturated, but it requires temperatures, pressures, and reactants that aren't available for normal cooking.
>-why is the calorie count higher? Is it bc the food is immersed in such a large amount of oil?
That is exactly right! The way frying cooks food and makes it crispy, whether pan, stir, or deep frying, is to bring the oil to a high temp. 375°F roughly. This is significantly hotter than the 212°F boiling temperature of water. So whenever the water in the outer layers of a food meets this hot oil, it immediately flashes into steam. This rapid expansion of gas creates pockets that the oil can flow into. With shallow frying methods, such as pan or stir fry, there isn't enough oil to really fill up these pockets. But with deep frying on the other hand, the food is in a pool of oil, meaning all those little pockets can fill back up and absorb a ton of oil.
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ErikaLovesPears t1_jdu3o8a wrote
Well you know our moms always say we need food to give us energy and help our bodies grow, yeah? Well, when we use heat to cook food, we can change how healthy it is.
Fried food is cooked really hot oil, which can make the food taste yummy and crispy. But, the hot oil can also take away some of the healthy things in the food, like vitamins and fiber. Also, the oil can add extra (bad) fat and calories, which our bodies don't need a lot of.
So it can be a nice little treat, but we should try to eat more food that's cooked in healthier ways, like baked, boiled or grilled. That way, we can still enjoy yummy food and stay healthy for our moms.