Question about oils?

[pjgtech]

Ok, so seem to remember reading somewhere that diabetics should avoid vegetable oils in cooking and maybe stick to olive oil, or extra virgin olive oil, is this correct?
And if so, why?
My wife and I don't use a lot of oil anyway, we have an air fryer, which obviously uses only very small amounts of oil, and if frying, etc we tend to use those one cal type oil sprays.

What is the issue with vegetable oils, eg: rape seed oil, sesame oil, etc?
NB: I note in the carbs and cal counter book, it lumps veg oil and sesame oil in with olive oil and gives the same results.

I understand the issues with Palm oil, as its grown ever more and takes up land which could be used for other agricultural uses, etc, so there are environmental issues, (plus has lots more cals and fats) etc.

Cheers

 

[Leadinglights]

Ok, so seem to remember reading somewhere that diabetics should avoid vegetable oils in cooking and maybe stick to olive oil, or extra virgin olive oil, is this correct?
And if so, why?
My wife and I don't use a lot of oil anyway, we have an air fryer, which obviously uses only very small amounts of oil, and if frying, etc we tend to use those one cal type oil sprays.

What is the issue with vegetable oils, eg: rape seed oil, sesame oil, etc?
NB: I note in the carbs and cal counter book, it lumps veg oil and sesame oil in with olive oil and gives the same results.

I understand the issues with Palm oil, as its grown ever more and takes up land which could be used for other agricultural uses, etc, so there are environmental issues, (plus has lots more cals and fats) etc.

Cheers

There are some oils that are better than others for anyone regardless and important to use the right oil for the purpose.
It is more the way the seed oils are processed that make them not as healthy as others. Look for cold pressed.
Sometimes it is just people's personal taste.

 

[harbottle]

Seed oils are fine, and in fact contain some good acids that are vital (Omega 6)
The issue used to be that they were processed and had nasty stuff - trans fats - added, but this is no longer the case.

 

[pjgtech]

I also note that the Freshwell website, on their red amber, green chart puts veg seed oils, rapeseed, sunflower, etc in the red section, eg: avoid! But I can't see any info as to why?

 

[Martin.A]

I also note that the Freshwell website, on their red amber, green chart puts veg seed oils, rapeseed, sunflower, etc in the red section, eg: avoid! But I can't see any info as to why?

I suspect it's because they class them as UPF.

 

[harbottle]

I also note that the Freshwell website, on their red amber, green chart puts veg seed oils, rapeseed, sunflower, etc in the red section, eg: avoid! But I can't see any info as to why?

There is no reason but it's best to avoid deep frying.

Scientists debunk claims of seed oil health risks

While the internet may be full of posts stating that seed oils such as canola and soy are “toxic,” scientific evidence does not support these claims.

www.hsph.harvard.edu

In addition, experts said that there is no reason to cut back on whole foods that contain omega-6—the type of polyunsaturated fat dominant in seed oils—such as nuts and seeds. Evidence suggests that a diet high in these foods can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar and reduce heart disease risk.

There seem to be a lot of posters on X obsessed with seed oils. The fact it's on X says it all, as that place tends to be populated by idiots these days.

 

[Drummer]

I don't use seed oils and don't get sunburnt these days - I used to be in pain if I went out in the sun without factor 50 sun screen.
With natural meat sources for fats in my diet, I seem to be getting along very well.

 

[stephenS50]

I think it's a personal choice thing when it comes to cooking oil..I have used Olive oil since the early nineteen nineties but every once in a while I use vegetable oil.As for seed oils..sunflower oil is the best one although I don't use it as much

 

[pjgtech]

I suspect it's because they class them as UPF.

What is UPF? cheers

Edit: ok now looked it up, Ultra Processed Foods, thanx

 

[BobbleHat]

I also note that the Freshwell website, on their red amber, green chart puts veg seed oils, rapeseed, sunflower, etc in the red section, eg: avoid! But I can't see any info as to why?

I believe the thinking is that they are potentially inflammatory (as pointed out already, the evidence is mixed. So far, so very normal for diet/diabetes research) and, as diabetics, we have a harder time managing inflammation than the population at large.

I use olive oil because I prefer it rather than for any concerns about alternatives so I don't tend to let it worry me.

 

[Eddy Edson]

The Internet has lots of misleading twang on seed oils (surprise, surprise). Seed oil woo seems to be low-carb-woo-adjacent for some reason and if Freshwell does indeed red flag seed oils then it's another red flag against them.

Gil Cavalhao has a few nice pieces walking through the evidence:

Includes references to the key studies in the description.

 

[nonethewiser]

Don't believe any of the nonsense around seed oils.

Use veg oil to fry eggs chips roast potatoes, for things like stir fry like to use Sainsbury's toasted sesame oil, adds so much flavour.

 

[Johneds]

I don't think there's much between the quality oils. The important thing is to avoid very cheap over-processed ones. The really cheap stuff is processed under extreme heat and pressure to get the last morsel of oil out. I'm not even sure that's really oil any more?

Personally I like cold pressed Rapeseed oil.

Oh, PS, also don't overheat oils. If an oil goes past the smoke point it can become very toxic.

 

[Jodee]

From memory on my Desmond courSE - cold pressed rapeseed followed by extra virgin olive oil were the best as they were both so dense it was hard for any contamination of the oil to occur, ie they do not go off as easily as other oils would. But also only ever need very small amount. Both are 0 carbs.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

From memory on my Desmond courSE - cold pressed rapeseed followed by extra virgin olive oil were the best as they were both so dense it was hard for any contamination of the oil to occur, ie they do not go off as easily as other oils would. But also only ever need very small amount. Both are 0 carbs.

I've read some stuff about balance between Omega 3 and Omega 6, and IIRC cold-pressed rapeseed scored pretty well on that front. Olive oil is high in mono-unsaturates which seems to be a good thing.

There are some comments about heat stability and smoke point (production of aldehydes?) that sounded interesting too. We tend to use peanut oil in the wok for its heat stability, and cold-pressed rape seed / virgin olive oil for other things.

I try not to get drawn down the rabbit hole about any of this stuff, but at the same time it seems worth making relatively sensible choices and not ignoring the topic entirely.

 

[pjgtech]

I find this is one of the frustrating things about looking stuff up.
Eg: ask three peeps a question and you get three different answers!
So some peeps on here are saying rapeseed oil (cold pressed) is ok, but the Freshwell site says it not, so I'm confused?
It would be very useful if the freshwell site stated why it put rapeseed oil on its red list, but I could not find any reason.
As I said in my OP, we tend not to use a lot of oil anyway, we never deep fry anything, so not a major issue for us, will probably just stick to olive oil/extra virgin for the little we use.
Thanks for all the input peeps....

 

[nonethewiser]

I find this is one of the frustrating things about looking stuff up.
Eg: ask three peeps a question and you get three different answers!
So some peeps on here are saying rapeseed oil (cold pressed) is ok, but the Freshwell site says it not, so I'm confused?
It would be very useful if the freshwell site stated why it put rapeseed oil on its red list, but I could not find any reason.
As I said in my OP, we tend not to use a lot of oil anyway, we never deep fry anything, so not a major issue for us, will probably just stick to olive oil/extra virgin for the little we use.
Thanks for all the input peeps....

Know nothing about this Freshwell site but IMHO I'd ignore what they say about oils, but entirely up to you.

 

[JITR]

As I said in my OP, we tend not to use a lot of oil anyway, we never deep fry anything, so not a major issue for us, will probably just stick to olive oil/extra virgin for the little we use.

That is what Freshwell recommend. They do not distinguish Cold Pressed Rapeseed oil from industrially processed, as well they might: https://www.lowcarbfreshwell.com/documents/6/Freshwell-Low-Carb-Manual.pdf

I use Cold Pressed for omelettes, stir fries and chopped cabbage salads, and Extra Virgin Olive oil for dressing. My wife does not understand the economy, but then she makes a lot of mayonnaise where only the best will do.

 

[s'nic]

I use cold pressed rapeseed oil as it's low in saturated fats and not an UPF, and I use some olive oil.
A decent read on oil production is included in the wiki entry for oils - it gives info on the make up of different oils, and says this about extraction:
"Solvent extraction
The processing of vegetable oil in commercial applications is commonly done by chemical extraction, using solvent extracts, which produces higher yields and is quicker and less expensive. The most common solvent is petroleum-derived hexane. This technique is used for most of the "newer" industrial oils such as soybean and corn oils. After extraction, the solvent is evaporated out by heating the mixture to about 149 °C (300 °F)."

Sounds yummy right?
Basically unless the oil container says "cold pressed" the average seed oil will have been subjected to chemicals and a high temperature before being sold to you. This would explain differing opinions regarding oils.
I would take the view that olive oil would normally be extracted using pressure - this would obviously be easier with an olive fruit than something like a sunflower seed.

 

[Jodee]

I've read some stuff about balance between Omega 3 and Omega 6, and IIRC cold-pressed rapeseed scored pretty well on that front. Olive oil is high in mono-unsaturates which seems to be a good thing.

There are some comments about heat stability and smoke point (production of aldehydes?) that sounded interesting too. We tend to use peanut oil in the wok for its heat stability, and cold-pressed rape seed / virgin olive oil for other things.

I try not to get drawn down the rabbit hole about any of this stuff, but at the same time it seems worth making relatively sensible choices and not ignoring the topic entirely.

Yes it is all very interesting and informative, good to keep in mind. I do tend mostly to use extra virgin olive oil as I found rapeseed cold pressed too strong for my liking. Very occasional I may use a small knob of coconut oil for flavour. I bet the peanut oil in stir fry is delicious 😛