How much cooking oil does the body absorb from food?

How much do you use cooking oil when frying food? Have you ever noticed that the fried foods you eat or cook yourself are too oily? The oil in fried foods or fried foods comes from cooking oil which is absorbed into the food. Do you know how much cooking oil is absorbed in a food?

The dangers of cooking oil in food

Foods that are fried in oil are easier to serve and are liked by almost everyone. But have you ever realized how much oil is absorbed in these foods when you fry them?

Oil that is absorbed too much into the food you eat will increase your risk of developing degenerative diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and heart failure. This can happen because fried foods contain a lot of saturated fat. Saturated fat itself will increase bad cholesterol levels in the body, therefore eating fried foods can cause cardiovascular disease.

One slice of fried calories is equivalent to 2-3 servings of white rice

Cooking oil will usually be absorbed by local food 8-25% of the total food weight the. Indeed, this absorption is influenced by various things such as the type and shape of fried food, temperature, and time during frying.

In addition, fried foods will change their caloric value. Did you know that all the fried foods you eat have a very high caloric value? Cooking oil that is absorbed by food, has its own fat. This fat is also what makes fried foods very high in calories.

For example, one piece of fried food you buy on the side of the road alone can contain around 250-400 calories. This means that the calories you get from eating one piece of fried food is the same as the calories if you eat 2-3 servings of white rice.

What affects the amount of cooking oil absorbed in food?

1. Water content in fried food ingredients

The water content in food is thought to affect the absorption of cooking oil when the food goes through the frying process. In several studies, it has been shown that the absorption of cooking oil is related to the amount of water lost to a food.

More oil will be absorbed by food if the food has a high water content. Foods that consist of a high amount of water will experience evaporation, aka evaporation of moisture during frying. The lost water content will be replaced by oil, so the more water content is lost, the more oil will be absorbed.

2. Density of fried food ingredients

As previously explained, cooking oil will replace the position of water in the food, when the water evaporates. The process of switching between oil and water from food is influenced by the density, surface area, structure, and shape of the fried food.

Actually cooking oil can get into food due to the many pores that are formed from these foods. In addition, the density of food when fried also affects. Foods that are denser and thicker will absorb less oil than foods that are thin.

3. Long frying time and temperature when frying

The time and temperature when frying will actually affect how many pores of the food are formed. Some studies suggest that frying at a temperature that is not too high will lead to greater absorption of cooking oil. If you fry over low heat, the time it takes to fry will be even longer. Both of these can increase the formation of pores on the surface of the food. The lower the cooking oil temperature used, the longer the frying time, the more pores will be formed.