By Brown Chimezie
A renowned cardiologist, Dr Monisola Adanijo, has given useful insights on how to identify healthy cooking oils that enhance the health and well being of consumers across the country.
Following her investigation of an Aproko Doctor’s video content on social media which explained why certain cooking oils freeze, when refrigerated, she advised consumers to watch out for useful information about the cooking oils they buy.
According to her findings, some oils have high levels of saturated fats, while others have high levels of unsaturated fats.
She also found out that cooking oils with high levels of saturated fats tend to freeze when kept in refrigerators, unlike oils with high-unsaturated fats like soya oil & olive oil that do not freeze when refrigerated.
With these findings, consumers were advised to read product labels and check the nutritional information to make right choices when selecting cooking oils.
This information has indeed generated many more unanswered questions about saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and trans fats.
Adanijo, whose expertise in cardiovascular health offered invaluable perspectives to the debate on healthy cooking oils that could promote consumers wellness.
She, like Aproko Doctor, highlighted the importance of caution about trans fat. However, she also explained the harmful effects of oils rich in saturated fats, as their fats increase cholesterol levels in the body, leading to health issues like heart disease, stroke among others.
“Whereas, unsaturated fatty acids reduce cholesterol levels in your body hence they are good for your health, she however noted that while many unhealthy cooking oils are rich in saturated fats available in the Nigerian market, consumers understanding that a cooking oil contains a high level of unhealthy saturated fats is indeed essential for health and wellness.”
Through her simple test, the cardiologist concluded that if an oil turns solid when in the fridge, it most likely contains high levels of saturated fat. Whereas, oils rich in healthy unsaturated fat will not freeze.
Adanijo advised consumers to check the product label very well, to be able to choose the right healthy oil.
According to her, “oil with high polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and low saturated fats is the best choice. This is because PUFA is good for heart health and lowers cholesterol, while ones with high saturated fats are bad for health.
“Oils such as olive oil and soya oil are rich in PUFAs, which are good for your heart health and low in saturated fat. A good example is Golden Terra Soya Oil, which is available in our market.”