Protect your heart and fry your food in the healthy options
We've long been led to believe that fried food is bad for us, but new research proves that if you use olive or sunflow oil to make it then it's not doing as much harm.
They found no heightened risk of heart disease of premature death linked to food that had been cooked in the 'healthy option' oil.
The latest study, published in the British Medical Journal, found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption in Spain - where olive and sunflower pils are mostly used - and the incidence of serious heart disease.
However, experts have warned that this 'does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences.'
Writing online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the experts said: "In a Mediterranean country where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no association was observed between fried-food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death."
Researchers said that while eating lots of fried food can increase some heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity, a link between fried food and heart disease had not previously been fully investigated.
In an accompanying editorial, Professor Michael Leitzmann, from the University of Regensburg in Germany, said: "Taken together, the myth that frying food is generally bad for the heart is not supported by available evidence. The study suggests that specific aspects of frying food are relevant, such as the oil used, together with other aspects of the diet."
Tagged in Heart Health Diet University