Teflon pans not good for cooking
The material used in Teflon coating is one of the reasons for the rise in endocrine diseases, experts say
Hyderabad, Nov. 21: Cooking in Teflon polymer-coated pans is not good for health, stated researchers at the 45th Annual Nutrition Conference in the city, as the material used in the coating is one of the reasons for the rise in endocrine diseases.
Dr Shashank Joshi, endocrinologist from Bhatia Hospital, who has been working on the subject of cooking oil for a decade, has found that the coating was one of the reasons for the rise in endocrine diseases or metabolic stress. The experts say that fried food kills fast, and any kind of frying till 180ºC releases an oxidative stress in food which is not good for health.
For this reason, the experts say that despite so many experiments with various oils it has been found that no cooking oil is perfect. As the hydrogenated carbons in the oil increase, it is very important to blend two vegetable oils to reduce the effect of trans fat in the body.
Several studies conducted by various experts over a decade have shown that the Indian method of cooking, like heating the oil up to 100ºC and then putting herbs or ginger garlic paste and onions to sauté, is not the right form of cooking for everyday food.
Dr Joshi said, “The heating of oil to that level means that all the food ingredients must be put in one go. When you put only herbs or sauté groups of food, the oxidative agents in the food increase which lead to creation of trans fat in the body. Hence the old system of putting all ingredients in one go was the best, as the food got cooked and didn’t release agents which would later create blocks in the body.”
The contention of the researchers is that the Indian method of cooking has led to the belief that food can be tasty only if cooked in this particular manner, but there is no research to suggest so. Dr Sarath Gopalan explained, “Due to the increasing incidence of various diseases it has become important to go to the basics and understand where are we going wrong. That’s why we are looking at the methods of preparation closely where we can bring about changes that will reduce the incidence of diseases.”