What Makes Fried Foods Dangerous To Health?

Author: Victoria Aly Time for reading: ~2 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

In this article, learn more about What Makes Fried Foods Dangerous To Health?. The type of fat used determines how harmful fried foods will be..

The tendency of frying to give way to stewing and baking as the main method of culinary processing of food is very positive from the point of view of healthy eating . Although everyone recognizes the taste of well-fried foods, no one can deny the negative health consequences of regular consumption.

Fried foods can be dangerous to health in several ways. The main danger comes from two changes in the natural content of food, which frying at high temperatures provokes.

High in calories

Compared to other culinary processing methods, frying adds a record number of calories to the content of raw food. On the one hand, in many cases, frying is combined with breading , which adds calories from flour and eggs. On the other hand, during frying, foods lose much of their water content and absorb fat. This can increase the caloric content of any fried product several times.

For comparison, 100 g of raw potatoes contain about 90 calories and 0 g of fat. The same amount of french fries (100 g) contains over 300 calories and 15-20 g of fat. Potatoes are the food we most often eat fried. Replacing frying with stewing or cooking will be a huge step towards establishing a healthier diet.

Excessive trans

fats Trans fats are hardened when polyunsaturated fatty acids undergo a process known as hydrogenation . This simple chemical process is an example of how essential nutrients can be transformed into hazardous compounds.

Unfortunately, the hydrogenation of unsaturated fats and their use as trans fats is a very popular and commercially viable method used to make margarine in the confectionery industry and so on.

However, the hydrogenation and transformation of vegetable fats into trans fats also takes place when frying in oil or other liquid fat at very high temperatures. The trans fat content increases further with each reuse of the same fat when frying. It has been proven that olive oil and coconut oil are the most resistant to high temperatures and after even a few hours of heating the content of trans fats in them does not increase.

Trans fats are also found as a natural ingredient in some meat and dairy products, but this form does not show the health hazards of trans fats.

The high content of calories and trans fats in fried foods creates a variety of health risks if consumed regularly. Along with obesity, they increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular problems and some forms of cancer.

What Makes Fried Foods Dangerous To Health?

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

High in calories

Excessive trans

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