You might choose to eat organic meat for its fantastic flavour, and the fact that it also contains many vitamins and healthy fats is another bonus of cooking the good stuff at dinnertime.
However, it’s not just the food you’re eating that determines your meal’s health factor – it’s also the way you cook it.
If you’re eating organic meat as a healthy choice, it’s important to cook it right in order to maintain its nutritional benefits. This includes what sort of oil you’re grilling your organic beef steak in.
According to the National Heart Foundation of Australia, unhealthy oils such as palm oil and coconut oil are often high in ‘bad fats’ such as saturated fat and trans fats. Using an excess amount of these can have serious consequences for health, including increasing risk of heart disease. This is caused by saturated and trans fats resulting in increased LDL cholesterol, which can cause build up of ‘plaque’ in blood vessels.
When you consider that you’re meant to be eating organic meat for better health, that’s scary stuff!
However, there are healthy alternatives. The National Heart Foundation suggest using healthier “polyunsaturated” or “monounsaturated” oils in cooking, so look out for these terms on the label of your oil bottle. Sensible options include canola oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, sesame oil and avocado or rice bran oils.
It’s also a good idea to use oil that’s fresh and well ahead of its use-by-date. Oil can actually go off, which could potentially ruin the flavour of a perfectly good steak!
Of course, limiting the amount of oil you use in cooking is the best way to avoid coating your organic lamb or beef with unhealthy fats. Better Health Channel Victoria recommends using non-stick cooking pans or applying oil with a pastry brush to avoid accidentally pouring more than you wanted into the pan.
However, a great organic meat dinner tastes that little bit better when cooked in a little oil, so don’t be afraid to use it – just keep some healthy guidelines in mind!
