They say one way of cooking can cause neurological disorders – here’s how to avoid it

Given that reheating oil for multiple meals is common in homes and restaurants around the world, the study’s findings could have significant implications for human health.

Frying (or cooking in oil) is a method of food preparation in which food is immersed in hot oil. It’s an extremely popular cooking method that allows you to make everything from dumplings to falafel. Unfortunately, fried foods are linked to various diseases, including cancer and diabetes.

These dangers are thought to increase when the oil is re-used – as re-heating destroys the antioxidants and other healthy components in the oil, and adds dangerous compounds such as trans fats and peroxides. However, the consequences of using reused oil have not been properly studied until now.

“To our knowledge, we are the first to report that long-term consumption of reheated oil increases neurodegeneration in first-generation offspring,” said study author Kathiresan Shanmugam.

For 30 days, the researchers fed female rats a standard diet or a diet supplemented with regular or reheated oil. At the end of the month, they found that the animals fed the reheated oil had increased levels of liver enzymes – indicating that this important organ was experiencing significant inflammation and oxidative stress.

“This results in significant changes in hepatic lipid metabolism and reduced transport of the important brain omega-3 fatty acid DHA,” Shanmugam said. “This, in turn, led to neurodegeneration, which was evident in the brain histology of rats fed reheated oil and their offspring.”

The results of the study were presented at the Discover BMB meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Prepared by IFLScience.