Frying vegetables in extra virgin olive oil is said to produce higher levels of natural phenols, antioxidants which have been linked to the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes and macular degeneration (a disease that causes blindness), according to the results of a study published in the journal Food Chemistry. But with extra-virgin olive oil. This is how they would keep all their nutritional properties.
Researchers from the University of Granada (Spain) compared the effects of three modes of cooking on the nutritional quality of vegetables. Cooked in boiled water, in a mixture of water and olive oil and fried in olive oil.
With olive oil, a concentration of antioxidants
The results of this study showed that the nutritional quality of vegetables is significantly improved when fried in extra virgin olive oil. This is possible because the vegetables are enriched with phenols transferred from olive oil, which otherwise would not be present.
“Comparing the contents of total phenols in fresh vegetables, we found increases and decreases in their levels, depending on the cooking method used. Frying is the technique that allows greater increases associated with the phenolic fraction. Frying with olive oil increases the production of phenols that protect our cells,” explains Cristina Sánchez Samaniego, researcher at the Department of Nutrition at the University of Granada and author of the study. Olive oil also increases the caloric density of foods.
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