India has diverse geographical and weather conditions and due to its diverse nature the crops we grow vary every few kilometres. The reason being the presence or abundance of water, the nature of soil etc.

The culture and the type of food we consume also vary with each passing city. In India, since time immemorial oil has been an important part of our food. The type of oil we use largely depends on our geographical condition. In Kerala, it’s coconut oil. In Andhra Pradesh, it’s sesame. Central India and Gujarat people are dependent on Groundnut oil.

Different types of oils blend perfectly with different food style and cooking habits. However, picking up the correct type of oil is getting increasingly difficult as newly refined oils make their way onto shelves everyday.

Choosing a healthy combination of refined oils can spare you the risk of heart diseases, cholesterol, diabetes etc. So if you are wondering, which is the best suitable oil, we made a list of 10 best cooking oils for you to choose from.

• Sunflower Oil – Extracted from Sunflower seeds, Sunflower oil is a good source of Vitamin E. It is rich in certain phytochemicals like choline and phenolic acid that are beneficial to prevent cardiovascular diseases. The polyunsaturated fats in it help to keep your cholesterol in check.  Due to its high smoking point, sunflower oil maintains its nutritional value even at high temperatures. It helps prevent arthritis, colon cancer, asthma and also promotes a healthy nervous system. Sunflower oil is mainly used in the deep frying of chips, vegetables, snacks etc.

• Olive Oil – Olive oil is the oil extracted from olives, the fruit of the olive tree. It is rich in healthy monosaturated acids that will help you lower the risk of heart diseases. The presence of antioxidants reduces the risk of various chronic diseases. Olive oil combined with Mediterranean diet appears protective against type-2 Diabetes. When combined with fish oil, olive oil greatly helps to reduce joint pains.

• Rice Bran Oil – Rice bran oil is extracted from the outer layer of a rice grain (Bran).  Relatively new oil on the shelves, Rice bran oil is gaining popularity due to its various health benefits. It has an ideal balance of polyunsaturated fats and monosaturated fats. Both are good kind of fats. Presence of High level of antioxidants boosts your metabolism rate and may also help you with weight loss. Rice bran oil has a chemical known as oryzanol, it is known to be effective in reducing cholesterol. Rice Bran oil is “less oily” when compared to other oils.

• Groundnut Oil – This is a vegetable oil extracted from groundnuts. Presence of antioxidants helps in maintaining the cognitive functions of the body. It contains a balanced percentage of polyunsaturated acids and monosaturated acids. Rich in Vitamin E, the antioxidants present treats dry skin and prevents skin from acne and boosts your hair growth. It is the most suitable all-purpose cooking oil especially in Asian countries where the food is prepared in a wok.

• Mustard Oil – Mustard Oil is extracted from Mustard seeds and is reddish brown in color. Being a rich source of monosaturated fatty acids it helps in reducing bad cholesterol in the body. Mustard oil fights the internal digestive infections, helps blood circulation and has been an important ingredient in treating cough and cold. Mustard oil can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 70%.

• Canola Oil – Canola oil is made from crushed seeds of canola plant. Among all the other oils canola has the least amount of saturated fats and the highest amount of omega 3 fatty acid and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), second to flaxseeds. It is important to include ALA in your diet as our body can’t produce it on its own. It can also help you with weight loss and cut the risk of heart-related diseases.

• Soybean Oil : Soybean is an edible vegetable extracted by heat treating beans with other solvents. Refined Soybean Oil lower the bad cholesterol level and reduce the risk of heart diseases. Due to the presence of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats soybean helps to gain weight. Use of soybean can prove vital for your bone strength and protects you from bone diseases like osteoporosis. Adding soybeans to your food or using it as a cooking oil can boost memory and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s diseases.

• Sesame Oil – Adding Sesame oil to your daily diet helps you to reduce blood pressure. Sesame helps in the production of serotonin and can help you to fight anxiety and depression. Presence of copper, zinc, magnesium helps in blood circulation, metabolism and helps reduce the pain of arthritis. It enhances the dental and oral hygiene of a person.

• Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, a saturated fat that increases the composition of blood lipids. Due to its high melting point, coconut oil is used in deep frying cookings. It significantly increases the good cholesterol level in the body. It helps you in weight control by reducing belly fat and suppressing appetite.

• Palm Oil – Palm oil maintains stability at high temperatures than some other oils and fats. Products containing palm oil maintain their flavor and crispiness for a longer period of time. It has a neutral smell and can be used in different food items without compromising the taste. Palm is rich in beta-carotene which proves helpful in improving night vision, reduces the risk of cancer. Vitamin A, D and E are found abundant in palm oil which supports a healthy pregnancy.

In conclusion, I would like to say that all the oils have the essential nutrients required in the body. The real trick lies in selecting the combination suitable to you.

As the saying goes “Healthy eating leads to healthy living”. With “Healthy” becoming a popular buzzword these days, most of us are making a conscious choice to eat organic and clean. Eating home cooked and organic food is one way of defining healthy eating. Simple food and meal plans, cooked in healthy oils like Sunflower oil , Rice bran oil , Soybean refined oil in measured proportions, with no processed ingredients included, is how clean eating is defined. Healthy eating is an option. Taking t his option or ignoring it, influences one’s healthy living quotient.

Eating right has become a serious issue with the urban population since it is a predominantly sedentary lifestyle. It would, however, be unfair to contribute this urgency only to the current lifestyle solely. The fact is we are hankering after our careers and ambitions, over-working ourselves to make our dreams a reality. We are not even aware anymore that we are losing touch with the fact that relaxation, enough time to sleep and eat are an indispensable part and parcel of living a healthy life. This is an alarming trend. Time, today has become an almost impossible aspect to schedule. Planning workouts or even a simple run has become a task. In such a situation the only way to salvage our health is by planning our diet. Planning does not imply “dieting” as mostly understood. Rather it is a scheduled way of eating while making sure that the food eaten is nutritious and hence beneficial for our health as well.

Planning a Meal :

Before a meal is planned, remember the golden rule that every medical practitioner and nutrition specialist adheres to and advice about: Eat breakfast like a king, Lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. This is the vein of a good meal plan.

A meal plan would include:

• Breakfast ;
• Lunch;
• Snacks; and
• Dinner

Expectation setting and cleansing :

Expectation setting: Before you embark upon the planning bit for meals, define your goals:

• Why are you interested in making a meal plan for; and
• What will keep you motivated?

For someone, it might be a medical condition, or an old dress one wants to fit back into, or it could be a fitness goal or it might be about confidence renewal, once more. The bottom line is never to lose sight of the goals and the motivation, to keep up with the meal plans.

Meal prep:
Since time is a constraint, one of the ways to keep a track of what we are eating, along with the intake amount, is to stick to a meal prep. A “meal prep” is one of the most used coinage these days, which simply means meal preparation, a couple of days ahead.
The key here is to make a list of the recipes, you want to cook for the week or the next couple of days. Keep the recipes simple, ingredients healthy as per your health goals and gather the ingredients. The meals here would be for breakfast as well as for lunch.

Snacking:
That evening craving at the office to eat something is often the culprit that ruins a day of healthy eating. The hunger pangs that inflicts us, after a controlled portion of lunch, can be devastating. This is the time when you need to control the urge to give in to fast food. Hence, carry you portion of healthy snacks. It might be nuts like almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, cheese or yoghurt. If you are interested in salads, you may carry cucumber, carrot and beetroot sticks etc for snacks.

Believe in starting over and stick to your healthy meal plan:
One of the worst psychological set up that we commit to is the thinking that “once a diet plan goes off track (with one of the meals or the snack we are supposed to eat), we consider it a ruined day”. Almost all of the times that this occurs, it is usually an excuse we make to ourselves for cheating on the decided meal plan. Here is where we go wrong. One meal plan, gone off the track is not a ruined day. Start over but do not give in.

Cleansing:
This is one of the crucial ways to stick to, for your healthy diet plan to stay on track. Cleanse your house, fridge and the food shelves of sugars, candies, chips and processed food. The intention for your healthy meal plan is to eat healthy, rather than target weight loss or gain. Clearing off the saturated fat and sodium-rich foods will not only help you ward off temptation but will also help you get over the craving for these foods.

A hint of a healthy Vegetarian meal prep recipe: (Total calorie: 1204)
Breakfast (264 calories)

• A cup of hung curd or non-fat yoghurt
• Half a cup of a mixture of oats and nuts
• Half a cup of strawberries

Snack (105 calories)

• 8 Walnut / Pecan halves

Lunch (330 calories)

• 1 cup of the sautéed mix of onions, tomatoes, garlic and broccoli
• 2 cups of green leafy vegetables seasoned with olive oil

Snacks (70 calories)

• 2 Oranges

Dinner(435 calories)

• Two and a half cups of Bean & vegetables

Conclusion:

Healthy eating is a choice. Unlike the perception that most of us have, healthy food is not necessarily bland and dull. If you pause and think about it, you will realize that most of the time a food item, a dish or a cuisine appeals to our sensory system, due to its look and presentation. Likewise, various vegetables and fruits mixed and matched together can make even the rawest organic dish look irresistibly tempting.