Let Food Lift Life

The utility of even approximate individual oil consumption: Expectedly, it is difficult to accurately calculate consumption of oils in terms of quantities by individual members of the family. Undaunted, we have worked out the modalities of closely estimating it given its importance. Oil/fat consumption is an important dietary determinant of an individual’s physiological-analytical parameters like the blood lipid profile, externally observed features like BMI and felt experiences like agility or lethargy. These, in turn, can be strong predictors of serious…

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We now understand that oils are our friends if we have insights in their nature as cooking media. Obviously, smart coking with oils must start with using the right oil in every cooking episode. As a refresher,  the following conditions must be met concurrently for that: The oils should not be altered harmfully during cooking i.e. the cooked food, with oil as a part of it, should be safe as well as tasty (or, at least, free from off-flavors) to…

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How Indian domestic cooking with edible oils is different: In the last post, we noted how industry treats edible oils for its product offerings which is different from what we do at home. HoReCa and organized, billed distribution of ready-to-eats understandably have cooking features borrowed from the industry and domestic cooking. They also have some special (and sometimes unscrupulous) tricks, given their compulsions and freedoms. However, it is interesting to note some specialties of Indian cooking with edible oils at…

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Though the essential similarities between domestic cooking with oils and industrial processing are obvious, it would be surprising if the industry didn’t do anything different beyond scale, continuous processes and automation. That is indeed the case: Industry uses them more technically with emphasis on cost, conservation, compliance with law and suitability for each process. Industry uses refined oils for larger, if somewhat bland appeal. Industry has some special products and processes that are beyond the scope of homes; this post…

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Oil and water as cooking media – nature’s amazing scheme: Oils and water are the only two liquids in our food-life against a slew of solids. The comparison between ‘boiling in water’ and ‘frying in oil’ has been touched upon in the last post. The divergent characteristics of water and edible oils hide an amazing natural scheme that makes all cooking possible. There is hardly any served dish in which both don’t have role and are not a part of….

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Cooking: general and oil-mediated – an overview: Our cooking modes are any one or a combination of some of the following: Cooking by boiling is essentially heating food in direct contact with water, e.g. rice, khichadi, Rajasthani gatte. Par-boiling of potatoes, blanching of tomatoes and spinach and cooking of kheers, porridges, firni, chickpea flour mass for Gujarati ‘khandvi’ or ‘patavadi’, daal making etc are versions of boiling. Dry roasting, e.g. peanuts, fennel seeds, dry spices before grinding, aubergine (brinjal, eggplant)…

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Introduction: Edible oils have a tainted, distorted and misinformed image in our life. It probably stems from their wide-spread association with heart disease, obesity and diabetes and vaguely accepted association with illness in general. A detailed case has already been made about their necessity in our life. This creates a dire need for an exhaustive series of posts, spot-lighting how we use oils, how we should be using them, what happens to oils when they are used in a particular…

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Cancer is autonomous, uncontrolled and limitless proliferation of cells at any location in the body that grows by attacking surrounding tissue and spreads (‘metastasizes’) to other tissues and organs. It can be caused by a large number of factors but generally, a change in the immediate, in-contact environment of any part of the body (e.g. nicotine and other tarry and incompletely oxidized chemicals reaching the lungs) is believed to be the primary cause. This can also be viewed as sustained…

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An overview causes and remedies of diabetes: Unless you are (i) hereditarily predisposed, (ii) determinedly obese, (iii) averse to physical exertion, (iv) given to frequent or extended bouts of emotional events and (v) obsessively fond of fatty-sugary sweets (it is difficult to consistently burn away such a calorie load in today’s times), you can certainly hope to stave off diabetes. Note that only the heredity is inevitable; otherwise it boils down to mindful food consumption combined with a cheerful disposition…

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(This post became large as it needed to be coherent and complete; do stay with it). We saw obesity as a rampant chronic condition that creeps up on us thru a series of factors and is measurably reflected in our BMI. (Ref. post 21, Obesity and food – accumulation of the unused: Part I, Understanding obesity). Diabetes is strikingly similar though it creeps in invisibly and is measured only thru analysis. A staggering close to 11 % of world’s adult…

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