Frying or Deep Frying Food : How Harmful Is It?

Chips Frying

Frying food is one of the reasons why cancer is on the rise in the developed world. Frying food alters the chemical structure of the oil in  food creating an abundance of cancer inducing free radicals. Free radicals can be countered by eating food rich in antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables but these too can be destroyed by the frying process as well. Frying food therefore negatively affects the body's ability to heal itself and prevent diseases naturally and is therefore harmful to the body.

Frying food also destroys the nutrients in the food on top of disturbing the sensitive oils contained in foods such as oily fish. Therefore while frying foods makes the food attractive by browning it and making it palatable it however makes the food harmful to our bodies by making it carcinogenic and should be avoided if we are to live a healthier life.

Even the smoke that emanates from the frying process is also bad for those cooking the food. Studies have shown that those who fry food on a frequent basis and therefore expose themselves to the smoke frequently have a higher chance of lung and throat cancer than those who do not.

Drs Agatha and Calvin Thrash gives us and insight on what happens when we fry or deep fry our foods.'Temperatures up to 600-700 degrees F. may be obtained. If fried foods become burned or scorched, temperatures up to 1000 or 1100 degrees F. may have been reached. At these temperatures ``cis'' fatty acids are converted to ``trans'' fatty acids . . . in other words, the unsaturated fats behave as if they were saturated. Thus, fried foods are more likely than un-fried foods to increase the likelihood of hardening of the arteries. When fat is reheated to frying temperatures the second time, as in a deep fryer [or a popcorn vendor], the fat is more likely to develop the cancer producing agent acrolein.' (Dr Agatha Thrash, Nutrition for Vegetarians, p. 46)

There are however some foods whose oils are least disturbed by frying them. The list is as follows:-

• butter;
• tropical fats;
• peanut oil
• sesame oil;
• canola oil; and 
• olive oil