GHEE OR OLIVE OIL - WHICH IS HEALTHIER?

RASHI CHOWDHARY | NUTRITIONIST, DIABETES EDUCATOR AND CREATOR OF THE PROTEIN BAKE SHOP

Q I’ve been reading several reports on the benefits of cooking with ghee. But I’ve also been told that olive oil is better. Can you throw light on this?

A There are so many wonderful reasons to switch to using organic coconut oil, desi ghee or organic butter for cooking. Using the right amount and quality of oil can have a major impact on our health.

Just like how the carbs you get from candy is different from the carbs you get from bread or sweet potato, not all sources of fat are created equal. There is a difference in the fat content in olive oil and ghee or other good fats I’ve mentioned. The quality of fat is decided by two factors.

One is the length of the fatty acid chain. The shorter the chain, the better for your body. Olive oil has mainly long chain fatty acids, butter has medium chain fatty acids and ghee and coconut oil have short chain fatty acids.

The shorter the chain the faster it gets used up by the body and does not get stored for future use, depending of course on the amount used.

The second factor is the smoking point. The higher the smoking point the better it is for cooking and for your heart. Olive oil has a lower smoking point compared to the other fats. Smoking point is that point at which the fat content in your oil gets oxidised/converted to bad fats. So when you are cooking with heat, use ghee, coconut oil or butter (even if you are frying) and for salads, you can use olive oil.