Sunflower's Poison Recipe

Introduction

Re-heating sunflower and flaxseed oils could put one at a greater risk of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's than olive oil, says a study. It is known that at frying temperature oil releases toxic compounds called aldehydes. In the study, researchers studied three types of oil—sunflower, flaxseed and olive. Each oil was heated at 190°C for 40 hours. Sunflower and flaxseed oil created the most toxic aldehydes in less time. These oils are high in polyunsaturated fats. Adversely, olive oil, which has a higher concentration of monounsaturated fats, generated the compounds in a smaller amount and later.

Source

Down To Earth, March 2012