When consuming foods that are high in oil and fat, it's important to do so in moderation. Meanwhile, oil-free cooking offers many potential health benefits, from lowering calorie intake to strengthening your heart. Additionally, cooking without oil can simply make your dishes taste more authentic, fresh and delicious.
Many of the top leading plant-based doctors recommend a reduction or elimination of oil in the diet for improved health. While fat is a key component in the diet and should not be eliminated, oils are considered a refined, processed fat. Let's dive into why some cook without oil and how to do it.
As per experts, avoiding oil completely can make people feel exhausted and unwell. First thing first - our body needs fat. Our brain, neuron system, nerves and conduction system all work on fat. Thus, one must consume a balanced diet, which also has oil, but in limited quantity.
And, according to leading scientists, cooking with vegetable oils releases high concentrations of toxic chemicals called aldehydes, a result of degradation of the fatty acids in oils, which have been linked to diseases, including arthritis, heart disease dementia and cancer.
Benefits to Oil-Free Cooking
It increases our energy and stamina. Due to the above factors, the overall health is taken care of. The importance of Zero Oil Cooking is specially matched to specific diseases like heart risk or obesity.
The simple answer to the question is that as olive oil does not contain animal products, yes olive oil is in theory vegan-friendly. Some vegans, however, avoid using it because of the impact olive oil production has on the environment. Just how much of a detrimental impact it has, is up for debate.
Olive oil has a lower smoke point-the point at which an oil literally begins to smoke (olive oil's is between 365° and 420°F)-than some other oils. When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form.
The healthiest oils are those that are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as vegetable oil and olive oil. These types of fats can help lower your risk of heart disease when used instead of saturated fats.
While you can use these methods to reduce oil, we don't recommend trying to remove all fat from your diet - it's an essential macronutrient that helps keep our bodies functioning optimally. Instead, try to eat some forms of healthy, plant-based fats like avocado, nuts, or seeds every single day.
The world would literally grind to a halt if oil was not available. Nearly two-thirds of the world's oil consumption is used to fuel our various modes of transport, from airplanes and cars to buses and cargo ships.
As far as oil-free cooking in general, you can always use water or vegetable broth to "fry" or sauté various vegetables, etc. You can also try tamari, wine, lemon/lime/tomato juices, vinegars and sherries. When baking, I find substituting 1/2 the amount of applesauce for the oil called for works well.
Adding oil is optional but recommended for better browning. Add the meat to the pan and break it into large pieces. Use a wooden spoon, fish spatula, or other sturdy spatula to break the meat up into large pieces in the pan. Let it brown for several minutes.
While there is some truth to this (olive oil does appear to cause relatively less damage than saturated animal fats), it is important to note that 'less damage' is still damage. The scientific evidence clearly shows that olive oil plays a role both in damaging blood vessels as well as forming atherosclerotic plaques.
Some of the world's top celebrity chefs agree that choosing to use genuine extra virgin olive oil in your cooking is a great way to guarantee quality of flavour in your dishes. It is an extremely versatile cooking ingredient and can be used on salads, as a dip, for roasting or for adding finishing touches to hot food.
Olive oil significance in Italian cuisine
For all popular cooking types in Italy including baking, grilling, frying, sauteing and marinating olive oil is considered as a primary ingredient. We can experience its presence in almost every Italian cuisine from a normal pizza to traditionally baked food products.
Monounsaturated Fats
According to MayoClinic.com, consuming MUFAs improves your blood cholesterol levels, reduces your risk of heart disease and may help stabilize blood sugar levels. Foods high in monounsaturated fats include olive, canola, sunflower and sesame oils, avocados, pecans, almonds, salmon and herring.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
Another concern is the report that canola oil might contain trans-fats that have been linked with significant health problems. In fact, canola oil does contain very low levels of trans-fat, as do all oils that have been deodorized. Deodorization is the final step in refining ALL vegetable oils.
To sum it up, many vegetarians and vegans choose to let go of their non-meat diet for multiple reasons: health, impulse, life events, and mood shifts.
In the pan: You can easily fry meat with no cooking oil in a griddle or a normal, nonstick pan. The natural fats of the meat are enough to cook it, but if you want to add a little something to help it on its way, try a splash of sparkling mineral water.
While food will have more calories and fat when pan-fried instead of baked or air-fried without oil, pan frying has a place in most people's routines. Pan frying is healthier than deep frying or shallow frying because the food will absorb less oil and have less fat and fewer calories.
Bottom line: Olive, canola and safflower oils are healthier choices overall than butter and most margarines. Use them as replacements for butter and margarine in most of your cooking, but watch the amounts – those fat calories can add up fast.