Cancer: The cooking oils shown to ‘release chemicals’ linked to cancer (2024)

FAQs

What makes a cooking oil carcinogenic? ›

Repeated heating of vegetable oils at high temperatures during cooking is a very common cooking practice. Repeatedly heated cooking oils (RCO) can generate varieties of compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), some of which have been reported as carcinogenic.

Will eating oils and fats increase my risk of cancer? World Cancer Research Fund has found no evidence that eating vegetable and seed oils in moderation increases the risk of cancer.

Increasing consumption of corn oil has been shown in animal studies to be associated with higher risks of cancer of the stomach, prostate, pancreas, liver and lung. Exposure to cooking oil fumes, including corn oil fumes, has been shown to increase the risk of lung cancer.

However, with any unsaturated oil, including olive oil, heating it repeatedly to a high heat (say for deep frying) will cause the oil to develop compounds that have been found to have carcinogenic properties when tested on rats.

The oils which should be avoided for cooking are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have unstable fats and will decimate the nutritional properties of your food. Oh, and they'll give you a big fat health risk in the meantime.

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.

Myth: Olive oil produces carcinogens when it's heated. Fact. What's true is that when any cooking oil is heated to the point where it smokes (its smoke point) it breaks down and may produce potentially carcinogenic toxins. Different oils reach their smoke points at different temperatures.

The safest oils include avocado oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, ghee or butter, or other animal fats. Avoid using canola and vegetable oils.

Here's the bottom line: extra-virgin olive oil is perfectly safe to cook with. It stands up well to heat due to its monunsaturated fatty acid and phenolic compounds content and fares much better than other vegetable oils. It's a great oil to eat both in taste and health and shouldn't be avoided.

The Consequences of the Wrong Oil

The reason is a very dangerous compound called HSE. Polyunsaturated fats are highly reactive, unstable and affected by heat. Even a slight increase in temperature can create the compound HSE – which has been linked to cancer and neurological disorders.

Can frying with oil cause cancer? ›

Repeatedly heated cooking oils (RCO) produce various byproducts, containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aldehydes, well-known to be a carcinogenic, mutagenic, and tumorigenic properties.

Are there any carcinogenic essential oils? There are carcinogenic essential oil constituents. These include asarone, estragole (methyl chavicol), safrole and methyleugenol. Both estragole and methyleugenol are found in Basil leaves and they are quite concentrated in pesto.

Extra virgin olive oil is the most stable oil to cook with and can be heated as high as 400 F (deep frying occurs at 350-375 F). Even when heated past its smoke point, virgin olive oils produce low levels of harmful compounds due to the high antioxidant content in the oil.

When the oil is heated ahead of its smoke point, it gives off toxic smoke. As olive oil has a low smoking point, cooking with it increases the risk of creating smoke that includes compounds which are harmful to your health. You may not even realise that you are breathing in the toxic fumes.

Many people believe that it is not a good idea to cook with extra virgin olive oil. Several scientific studies have proven over the years that this myth is simply untrue. Not only is EVOO safe to cook with, but it is the most stable and safest cooking oil available.

Choose plant-based oils rich in unsaturated fat.

The heart association suggests the following cooking oils, which meet its health standards: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower, as well as specialty oils like avocado, grape-seed and sesame.

Mounting scientific evidence shows that polyunsaturated oils (vegetable oils that are liquid at room temperature, such as corn and sunflower oil), can generate toxic chemicals when heated to high temperatures.

Omega-6s are found in oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, soy and vegetable and products made with those oils. Excess consumption of omega-6s can trigger the body to produce pro-inflammatory chemicals, and the American diet tends to be very high in omega-6s.

Olive oil and avocado oil are good choices for deep frying. Peanut and palm oils are less suitable, either for health or environmental reasons.

Both olive oil and avocado oil are considered good fats and are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids, which can help improve heart health. On the other hand, olive oil is slightly more nutritious on the whole because it contains more potassium, calcium, iron and vitamins.

What is the healthiest oil to fry chicken in? ›

Canola Oil

Benefits: With a high smoke point and neutral flavor, canola oil is excellent for frying chicken. As an added bonus, it has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which makes it healthier than other options.

Olive oil actually has a relatively high smoke point and is a safe, reliable option for frying. On top of that, it is one of the healthiest cooking staples around. Olive oil has been named “the healthiest fat on Earth,” in part because of its unique ability to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest kind of olive oil because it contains natural chemical compounds known as phenols or polyphenols that provide a host of health benefits, says Mary M.

The smoke point of olive oil is ideal for frying.

Olive oil made up of mostly monounsaturated fat (about 75%) which helps stabilize it and stand up to higher heat. The smoke point of olive oil is 410 °F (210 °C), which is ideal and safe for frying.

The bottom line

Some of the healthier cooking oils that can withstand higher cooking temperatures include olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, and safflower oil. Plus, they contain various unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and other compounds that may offer health benefits.

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.

We do not recommend reusing olive oil for cooking. Olive oil loses stability each time it is heated, which starts the decomposition process. How to responsibly dispose of olive oil? Throwing it in the trash or pouring it down the sink can cause it to leak all over the trash can or lead to an insect infestation.

Don't Use Olive Oil For High-Heat Cooking.

This is why extra virgin olive oil, which has a low smoke point of 350°F to 410°F, shouldn't be used for high heat cooking, especially frying.

Is it OK to fry with avocado oil? ›

Avocado oil is by far the safest oil for high heat cooking, like frying, due to its extremely high smoke point (as high as 500°F). You can use avocado oil just like your regular frying oil to reduce the risk and make a healthier choice.

When oil — or anything else, for that matter — burns, it emits blackened, charred carcinogens. These carcinogens can increase the activity of free radicals in your body once ingested, subsequently increasing your risk of developing cancer. Coconut oil's smoke point is unnervingly low: 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can use a variety of oils for different purposes, but for the best anti-inflammatory potential, make sure your kitchen has a bottle of extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil for everyday cooking, and flaxseed oil for cold dishes like salads.

Our recommendation: With breaded and battered foods, reuse oil three or four times. With cleaner-frying items such as potato chips, it's fine to reuse oil at least eight times—and likely far longer, especially if you're replenishing it with some fresh oil.

Adding oil to any dish adds an exorbitant amount of fat to a meal and will spike blood sugar. there are no health benefits in cooking oil. cooking oils creates free radicals and carcinogenic properties. diets lower in fat and protein are easier to digest.

It increases your cholesterol levels

At high temperatures, some of the fats in oil change into trans fats. Trans fats are harmful fats that increase the risk of heart disease. When oils are reused, the amount of trans fats gets even higher.

Highly toxic essential oils include camphor, clove, lavender, eucalyptus, thyme, tea tree, and wintergreen oils, the researchers noted. Many essential oils can cause symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations and seizures.

Experimental Evidence: Carcinogenicity. Aflatoxin B₁ is the most potent hepatocarcinogen known, being about 1,000 times more powerful than butter yellow (p-dimethylaminoazobenzene) in rats.

Olive oil is considered extra virgin if it has a free fatty acid level of 0.8 percent or lower. Virgin olive oil has a fatty acid level of between 0.8 percent and 2.0 percent. Basically, every olive oil starts with an acidity level of zero, and then acidity rises with time and other factors.

The experts we spoke to recommended opting for extra virgin olive oil since it's the highest quality option on the market. Extra virgin olive oil is processed differently than other types of olive oil, like virgin and refined varieties.

What's the difference between extra virgin olive oil and regular olive oil? ›

Extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than regular olive oil, has the lowest acidity level of all olive oils, contains the most anti-oxidants of all olive oils, and has a lower percentage of oleic acid (monounsaturated fat).

The flavor compounds in Olive Oil are delicate and will evaporate when heated. Furthermore, heating olive oil does not damage the health benefits but it will make the olive oil lose flavor. Overall, Olive Oil is safe to cook with. Heating Olive Oil will not destroy the health benefits or turn olive oil unhealthy.

The short answer is: Yes you can! This is a debated subject, and I want you to use whatever healthy oil you feel comfortable using for your fried eggs. When frying an egg in quality extra virgin olive oil, you'll use shallow amounts of the oil, over medium heat, for about 2 minutes or so.

In a medium (10-inch) cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high until it ripples like the ocean. (This can take 2 to 2½ minutes). Crack the eggs into the pan. To minimize splatters and spreading, open the shell near the oil (not from high up), and slowly let the egg pour out of the shell.

When used in cooking, both butter and olive oil help carry the flavors of the food, and warming them accentuates this property. Butter is smooth and creamy, adding a dairy richness that no oil can match. Olive oil provides a unique flavor and aroma. Together, they enhance the flavor of your foods.

There are carcinogenic essential oil constituents. These include asarone, estragole (methyl chavicol), safrole and methyleugenol. Both estragole and methyleugenol are found in Basil leaves and they are quite concentrated in pesto.

Myth: Olive oil produces carcinogens when it's heated. Fact. What's true is that when any cooking oil is heated to the point where it smokes (its smoke point) it breaks down and may produce potentially carcinogenic toxins. Different oils reach their smoke points at different temperatures.

Certain chemicals, including benzene, beryllium, asbestos, vinyl chloride, and arsenic are known human carcinogens, meaning they have been found to cause cancer in humans.

However, when the World Cancer Research Fund reviewed the latest scientific evidence on fats, oils and cancer risk, it concluded that there was no evidence that eating vegetable and seed oils in moderation increased the risk of cancer. In fact a small amount of these types of fats help our bodies absorb some vitamins.

Why you shouldn't cook with olive oil? ›

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 safest oils include avocado oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, ghee or butter, or other animal fats. Avoid using canola and vegetable oils.

When the oil is heated ahead of its smoke point, it gives off toxic smoke. As olive oil has a low smoking point, cooking with it increases the risk of creating smoke that includes compounds which are harmful to your health. You may not even realise that you are breathing in the toxic fumes.

Olive oil actually has a relatively high smoke point and is a safe, reliable option for frying. On top of that, it is one of the healthiest cooking staples around. Olive oil has been named “the healthiest fat on Earth,” in part because of its unique ability to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Eggs can be a source of carcinogenic chemicals that are formed during high temperature frying. That would be consistent with the bladder cancer data, suggesting fried egg consumption may double cancer risk, but not boiled eggs.