Why Rice Bran Oil Is The Healthier Choice
“Rice bran oil is a unique edibe oil with nutritionally desirable attributes compared to other edible oils”
The multiple varieties of oil brands available today from MNC companies and Indian companies tend to confuse the consumer with regard to choosing the best healthy oil. And most families use desi ghee or popular oils for cooking. Desi ghee is good as it elevates good cholesterol (HDL) but at the same time, it also elevates the bad cholesterol (total, LDL, VLDL). Therefore, dieticians suggest using quality ghee in a monitored way.
In a seminar recently organized by Nutrition Quest under the aegis of the Weilness Quotient, various benefits of oils were discussed and one of the topics discussed was the benefits of rice bran oil. Experts like Dr Mehta – Vice President of Indian Dietetic Association, Mumbat Chapter highlighted the role of rice bran oil in reducing cholesterol and insulin resistance.
Dieticians say this oil comes closest to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) as it has balanced components of MUFA, PUFA and SFA which makes it very healthy. It has cholesterol-lowering properties due to the presence of essential antioxidants and micro nutrients called oryzanol, tocopherol (vitamin E) and tocotrienol.
According to Dr AB Aizalpurkar, Dy, Director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, “Rice bran oil is a unique edible oil with nutritionally desirable attributes compared to other edible oils. It has cholesterol lowering properties attributed to oryzanol, a minor constituent present in the oil. In fact in the West, this oil is considered as health food.”
This oil contains squalene which is good for the skin. And In fact, women in Japan also use rice bran oil on their skin to make it more supple and radiant. Also, “Compared to other edible oils, RBO has higher squalene which maintains the skin tone, has cholesterol lowering properties, anti-mutagenic behaviour, and ideal PUFA/MUFA ratio as per WHO recommendations,” says Dr TE Raghu Ram, Dy. Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.
The typical usage of oil in India involves cooking methods like frying and deep- trying on high temperature cooking. However, most dieticians suggest that oil should not be reused and nor should it be used beyond its smoke point. Oils with low smoke point become toxic and are not good for the health.
Rice bran oil has a higher smoke point and is healthy and safe for consumption. But excess usage and consumption of any oil leads to weight gain. However, studies have shown that snacks prepared in rice bran oil absorbs 12-15 per cent less oil than those snacks prepared in popular oils. “Rice bran oil enjoys the status of a health food from a cardiovascular view point and routine use of this oil can be recommended as a solo cooking medium,” says Dr Parveen Chandra, M.D. 0M Consultant Cardiologist Escorts Heart Institute And Research Center, New-Delhi. Rice bran oil has been jointly certified as one of the best healthy oil by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) Hyderabad, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Mysore and the Council of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR) New Delhi.
“The health aspect of rice bran oil is not highlighted as much as it should have been done. Be it as a hypocholesterolemic, antiviral, antioxidant and anticancer effect, or even a scavenging effect of carcinogens. All these need to be highlighted,” says Dr V Prakash, Director, CFTRI, Mysore.
Most Indian oil companies have realized the benefits of rice bran oil and are queuing up to enter in to the healthy oil segment as it has already gained popularity in countries like Japan, Korea and China.
Dr AL Gerhardt and Dr N. Galio, Department of Medicine, University of California (USA) are of the opinion that, ihe most balanced and versatile oil in the market and the closest to the American Heart Association’s (AHA) recommendation is rice Bran oil.”
Rice bran oil just like other popular oils, is not very expensive and available in almost all leading supermarkets, hypermarkets and general stores. Leading restaurants have also started using this oil to provide healthy and tastier food.
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