In this blog, Epsom, Surrey based Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist and functional medicine test expert, Natalie @NatNutHC, discusses air fryers and explains why they are not necessarily the health food cooking tool of choice!
Are air fryers good or bad? The answer to that question, is not straight forward, but we at NatNutHC certainly do not advocate their use!
The available evidence suggests that air-fryer use is better than deep frying in polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). The trouble with this evidence, is that anything is better than cooking your food in a polyunsaturated fat (PUFA)!
PUFA at a molecular level, is made up of carbons, which are surrounded by hydrogens. When a fat is fully saturated, like coconut fat, ghee, butter or lard, it means every carbon is saturated by a hydrogen. This means when the oil is heated it remains stable. However, when we heat a PUFA such as rapeseed oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, because not every carbon is saturated by a hydrogen, the hydrogens effectively start to jump around. This changes the molecular structure of the fat (lipid).
Our body needs fats for multiple purposes, they are used to make stress hormones, sex hormones, the lipid membrane of every cell in the body, our brain is mostly fat and thus fat consumption is crucial for cognitive function. Find out more by reading our blog on a low carbohydrate high fat diet compared to a keto diet. However, when we consume fats such as PUFA that have been heated and their molecular structure has thus been changed, the fat becomes damaged. When these damaged fats embed in your cells, they cause dysfunction and increase the risk of multiple diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
Air Fryers good or bad?
Therefore, to compare air frying to deep frying food in a PUFA is a poor benchmark to utilise, meaning these studies are poorly designed science at their finest! One could even argue, the studies used deep frying in a PUFA to ultimately ensure they got the results they wanted to achieve! What we at NatNutHC would like to see, are comparisons of air-fried food in randomise controlled trials with foods cooked in ovens, slow cookers and food shallow fried in saturated fats such as coconut fat, ghee or lard. This is why, until such well-designed trials and evidence is available we will be advising our clients against the use of air-fryers, simply because at the moment there is not sufficient evidence to tell us that air frying does not produce significant amounts of acrylamide (which is implicated in cancer, increased inflammation, increased oxidative stress and reduced male fertility) compared to other cooking methods that exclude deep frying in a PUFA as their benchmark.
We have supported numerous clients throughout London and the South of England especially those living in Surrey including Cobham, Weybridge, Woking, Hersham, Oxshott, Kingswood, Twickenham, Esher, Epsom, Kingston, as well as Sussex and the A3, M3, M23 and M25 corridors including Basingstoke, Hickstead, Horsham, Crawley, Burgess Hill, Guildford, Godalming, Haywards Heath, Brighton and Hove, and along the South Coast of England. This in turn has resulted in numerous health benefits for our clients including reduced migraine frequency and severity, reduced perimenopause symptoms, improved sleep, improved mood, reduced anxiety and depression, reduced weight, better managed premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and improved blood markers in our cardiovascular and cancer patients.
If you would like more information on the best diet for your particular needs, how to manage your blood glucose levels effectively, what type of fats or carbohydrates you should be eating for the most beneficial health outcomes, what type of cooking methods are best for your health, want help with your health concerns, or simply want to be proactive and take a preventative approach to your health risks get in touch today info@natnuthc.co.uk.
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Sources of Information:
Centre for Food Safety (CFS). (2020). Food Safety Focus. [Online]. Available at: https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_164_03.html.
Erasmus, U. (1993). Fats that Heal. Fats that Kill. Summertown, TN: Alive Books.
Gropper, S. Smith, J. Carr, T. (2018). Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. Boston: Cengage Learning. P175-241.
Kashani, M.H. Ramezani, M. Piravar, Z. (2020). ‘The effect of acrylamide on sperm oxidative stress, total antioxidant levels, tyrosine phosphorylation, and carboxymethyl-lysine expression: A laboratory study’, International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine, 19, pp. 625-636.
Ramsden, C.E. Zamora, D. Leelarthaepin, B. et al. (2013). ‘Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis’, British Medical Journal, 346.
Sansano, M. Juan-Borras, M. Escriche, I. (2015). ‘Effect of Pretreatments and Air-Frying, a Novel Technology, on Acrylamide Generation in Fried Potatoes’, Journal of Food Science, 80 (5), pp. T1120-T1128.
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The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or nutritional advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, lifestyle, or health care regimen. Individual needs may vary, and what works for one person may not be appropriate for another.
