MUFA / PUFA ?
To explain this topic, we need to delve a little into our primary school chemistry. We shall keep this simple and by the end of this article you will be clear with each of these terms.
Any cooking oil is basically a mixture of mild fatty acids. And fatty acids can be classified as
· Saturated fatty acids
· Mono unsaturated fatty acids
· Poly unsaturated fatty acids.
WHO AND AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION (AHA) RECOMMEND A DIET RICH IN MUFA AND TO REFRAIN FROM SATURATED FATS
Saturated Fatty acids:
Saturated fatty acids contain a double bond, because of which these oils are quite stable and do not react easily with other compounds. You might recall from your school days that double bonds and triple bonds are very stable.
Palm oil, coconut oils are rich in saturated fatty acids, and because of which they are very stable at high temperature cooking, and do not oxidize easily
Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids:
These are short chained fatty acids. And generally large health institutions tout this as the best fatty acid. They are called as the good fatty acids as they improve the good colestrol. Olive oil is rich in mono unsaturated fatty acid.
Poly Unsaturated Farry Acids:
These are long chained fatty acids and the most common fatty acids. Sunflower oil is rich The American Heart Association (AHA) World Health Organisation (WHO) and ICAR usually suggest to avoid oils rich in saturated fatty acids such as coconut oil and palm oil, and instead go for oil where there is a 1:1 ratio between MUFA and PUFA. Peanut oil and Sesame oil have a balanced ratio of PUFA and MUFA.
