French fries cooked in olive oil = healthy?

[TheNinja]

French Fries are unhealthy because they are highly-glycemic carbs.

Also frying is never the healthiest way to prepare a food.

This is the true point of it all. Sure you can try different oils to make it "less unhealthy" but potatoes are still high GI carbs and frying then in anything won't be "healthy".

And listen, I'm not a guy who says all oils and bad and you should never have friend food. Everything in moderation, but french fries aren't going to be healthy so what I do is just make the as tasty and possible and make it my "cheat" item for the day or whatever. Try to keep everything else as healthy as possible if you have to have your fries.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

French fries are just too damn calorie dense.
McDonald's stuff is certainly not healthy but dayum! Large french fries = 510cals and aren't that filling.

You'll be hamstering on an elliptical at a good pace for a half hour just to burn that off.

 

[mammador]

no...they're not.

sorry, ANY fried food is bad, by design 😀

it soaks in the food, no matter how "good" the oil you're using...

sorry, fried food should be banned....sounds illiberal, but I can see it coming..

 

[Kaido]

no...they're not.

sorry, ANY fried food is bad, by design 😀

it soaks in the food, no matter how "good" the oil you're using...

sorry, fried food should be banned....sounds illiberal, but I can see it coming..

Why should they be banned? You're going to die anyway; eating junk in moderation won't kill you, so you might as well enjoy some treats along the way in life. Half the old people I know eat bacon for breakfast & puff cigarettes all day anyway 😛

 

[GasX]

The lesser known problem with olive oil is that it isn't olive oil. Most imported olive oil is not pure. For drug like profits with far less risk, olive oil makers cut their product with other oils to boost profits. If you buy imported olive oil from anyone other than your Sicilian uncle, you aren't getting olive oil.

 

[PenguinPower]

French fries are just too damn calorie dense.
McDonald's stuff is certainly not healthy but dayum! Large french fries = 510cals and aren't that filling.

You'll be hamstering on an elliptical at a good pace for a half hour just to burn that off.

You'll be going a lot longer than that unless you weigh 350lbs and you go all out. If you're average weight, you'll need to go all out for about an hour.

 

[alkemyst]

The lesser known problem with olive oil is that it isn't olive oil. Most imported olive oil is not pure. For drug like profits with far less risk, olive oil makers cut their product with other oils to boost profits. If you buy imported olive oil from anyone other than your Sicilian uncle, you aren't getting olive oil.

Not really true. The study you are probably talking about found about 70% of the store-brands were actually not 100% olive oil.

However; there are real 100% olive oil products out there.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/

The brands that failed to meet the extra virgin olive oil standards, according to this study: Bertolli, Carapelli, Colavita, Star, Pompeian. Eat Grown Local also reports: Filippo Berio, Mazzola, Mezzetta, Newman's Own, Safeway, and Whole Foods in this list; the data may be from the earlier 2010 study when more brands were evaluated.

The real deal: California Olive Ranch, Cobram Estate, Lucini. Kirkland Organic, Lucero (Ascolano), McEvoy Ranch Organic are also noted by Eat Grown Local.

I bolded Kirkland as most have Costco's near them. Most of the Kirkland brands excel in their product line. Their dry pet food (esp. Feline Maintenance) are top-notch 4-5 star foods and they are all very reasonable.

 

[QueBert]

can't tell if serious.

absolutely does not work this way. CANNOT out work your diet. You are much better off eating less and not doing cardio.

Depends, when I started working out 3 years ago I was going pretty hard for about 2 1/2 hour a day total. I was burning around 1600 calories, I did improve my diet but I was still eating a lot of crappy foods, I was dropping weight though. My goal wasn't to get ripped and look super fit. I wanted to lose weight, but not have to change my diet too drastically. I went from 240 to 170 in around a year. If you hadn't seen me at 240 you probably wouldn't have thought I worked out at hard as I did.

 

[mammador]

Why should they be banned? You're going to die anyway; eating junk in moderation won't kill you, so you might as well enjoy some treats along the way in life. Half the old people I know eat bacon for breakfast & puff cigarettes all day anyway 😛

Freedom isn't worth it....

i'm a libertarian, but meh..

 

[Kaido]

The lesser known problem with olive oil is that it isn't olive oil. Most imported olive oil is not pure. For drug like profits with far less risk, olive oil makers cut their product with other oils to boost profits. If you buy imported olive oil from anyone other than your Sicilian uncle, you aren't getting olive oil.

Yup, this is super annoying because I have a corn allergy (well, intolerance...headaches & stomach pain, but not anaphylaxis). Even other oils can be mixed without labeling (that includes canola & safflower), it's all a huge sham. They've gotten better in recent years due to market pressure, but I still have to be careful about what brands I buy because of this. That, plus any oil isn't healthy for you, it's all marketing - and that includes olive oil:

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/the-big-oil-post-plus-a-giveaway/

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/guest-post-cooking-without-oil-by-cathy-fisher/

That's not to say you shouldn't use it or not enjoy a treat once in awhile. I've switched over to using coconut oil as my primary oil, but I still use olive, canola, and peanut oil depending on what I'm cooking.

 

[Kaido]

Freedom isn't worth it....

i'm a libertarian, but meh..

I'm confused, freedom from what?

 

[Kaido]

Depends, when I started working out 3 years ago I was going pretty hard for about 2 1/2 hour a day total. I was burning around 1600 calories, I did improve my diet but I was still eating a lot of crappy foods, I was dropping weight though. My goal wasn't to get ripped and look super fit. I wanted to lose weight, but not have to change my diet too drastically. I went from 240 to 170 in around a year. If you hadn't seen me at 240 you probably wouldn't have thought I worked out at hard as I did.

Yeah, I know plenty of runners who eat ridiculous amounts of food, and several that survive pretty much off junk food, but they burn it all off. If you don't mind doing a ton of exercise every day, you can pretty much eat whatever you want without getting fat. That's not to say excessive consumption of junk food is good for you even if you're not gaining weight, but...it's an option 😀

 

[Kaido]

can't tell if serious.

absolutely does not work this way. CANNOT out work your diet. You are much better off eating less and not doing cardio.

Sure it does...if you're willing to do copious amounts of exercise to balance it out. Here's a picture of Ryan Lochte (Olympic swimmer) getting ready to pound down a 10,000-calorie meal:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...hte-shares-picture-Olympic-swimmers-diet.html

The problem is that it's really hard to sustain that lifestyle unless you're just naturally motivated to run or swim or bike a lot. Olympic athletes can typically eat like 7,000 calories a day because they're constantly burning it off. Not very many people enjoy or are motivated to do that level of exercise every day.

It depends on the person though. I have a friend who just completed her first marathon & eats more than I do (and I'm a big eater!), but is leaner than I am. But she's constantly active & is a high-energy person, so she never gains weight & doesn't really have to work hard to stay active because she enjoys it so much & just does it anyway.

 

[PenguinPower]

Yup, this is super annoying because I have a corn allergy (well, intolerance...headaches & stomach pain, but not anaphylaxis). Even other oils can be mixed without labeling (that includes canola & safflower), it's all a huge sham. They've gotten better in recent years due to market pressure, but I still have to be careful about what brands I buy because of this. That, plus any oil isn't healthy for you, it's all marketing - and that includes olive oil:

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/the-big-oil-post-plus-a-giveaway/

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/guest-post-cooking-without-oil-by-cathy-fisher/

That's not to say you shouldn't use it or not enjoy a treat once in awhile. I've switched over to using coconut oil as my primary oil, but I still use olive, canola, and peanut oil depending on what I'm cooking.

Quite an assumption with lackluster support.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11905662

Epidemiological data show that the Mediterranean diet has significant protective effects against cancer and coronary heart disease... High consumption of extra-virgin olive oils, which are particularly rich in these phenolic antioxidants (as well as squalene and oleic acid), should afford considerable protection against cancer (colon, breast, skin), coronary heart disease, and ageing by inhibiting oxidative stress.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15554560

Olive oil, especially extra virgin, contains smaller amounts of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, but also contains secoiridoids and lignans in abundance. Both olives and olive oil contain substantial amounts of other compounds deemed to be anticancer agents (e.g. squalene and terpenoids) as well as the peroxidation-resistant lipid oleic acid. It seems probable that olive and olive oil consumption in southern Europe represents an important contribution to the beneficial effects on health of the Mediterranean diet

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22648725

Olive oil was associated with a decreased risk of overall mortality and an important reduction in CVD mortality in this large Mediterranean cohort. This provides further evidence on the beneficial effects of one of the key Mediterranean dietary components.Olive oil was associated with a decreased risk of overall mortality and an important reduction in CVD mortality in this large Mediterranean cohort. This provides further evidence on the beneficial effects of one of the key Mediterranean dietary components.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17879991

...thus tends to produce a better lipid profile and a less prothrombotic environment, promoting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, with a greater endothelial protective capacity. In view of these effects, it would appear that when olive oil is the basic source of dietary alimentary fat it has a major antiatherogenic capacity...

All marketing?

 

[Kaido]

Quite an assumption with lackluster support.

...


"should afford"

"seems probable"

"would appear"

...

All marketing?

Those don't sound like definite words to me :whiste:

Before getting into this discussion, two things: one, I am not a nutrition expert by any means, and two, I don't have any investment into whether olive is or is not healthy for you or not. It's just a thread discussion point. So with that in mind, the latest stuff I've read is that oils in general are not great for you. From Dr. Esselstyn's FAQ:

Why does the diet eliminate oil entirely?

NO OIL! Not even olive oil, which goes against a lot of other advice out there about so-called good fats. The reality is that oils are extremely low in terms of nutritive value. They contain no fiber, no minerals and are 100% fat calories. Both the mono unsaturated and saturated fat contained in oils is harmful to the endothelium, the innermost lining of the artery, and that injury is the gateway to vascular disease. It doesn’t matter whether it’s olive oil, corn oil, coconut oil, canola oil, or any other kind. Avoid ALL oil.

All of my "Mediterranean diet" friends who eat a ton of olive oil (along with the other stuff listed in that diet) are overweight. Of course, in contrast, I consume a lot of olive oil & haven't had any issues...which isn't to say that I won't, but there has been some pretty compelling evidence lately that doing things like removing processed vegetable oils from your diet improves health. Interesting article on Fathead's website on animal fat vs. vegetable oil:

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index....at-beats-vegetable-oil-in-rediscovered-study/

There have also been some studies that high-fat diets are pretty bad for you. Olive oil contains 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. But at the same time, it also contains lots of good stuff, so it's not like it's entirely bad:

http://authoritynutrition.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil/

Is that the same as a truly "good" fat? I don't know. It takes 1375 olives to make a single liter of olive oil, whereas I can eat an avocado whole & get my good fats for the day. I tend not to trust marketers pushing a product because that's how they get paid, and all I see everywhere is "olive oil is healthy", and what I'm reading lately is that oils in general are bad for you because they chew up your artery lining. Seeing as how people are still dropping dead from heart attacks & heart disease all the time, I'd say we still don't have nutrition entirely figured out yet...

 

[Kaido]

All marketing?

Also, some interesting videos to watch on oils:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zheiZX0_Z2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfBKauKVi4M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_o4YBQPKtQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZg3AE4U-ag

Again, I'm in no particular camp, I'm just always interested in learning the latest science & data on nutrition. Here's another interesting article discussing oil in the diet:

http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/fats/are-we-oil-and-fat-eaters.html

 

[PenguinPower]

Those don't sound like definite words to me :whiste:

Before getting into this discussion, two things: one, I am not a nutrition expert by any means, and two, I don't have any investment into whether olive is or is not healthy for you or not. It's just a thread discussion point. So with that in mind, the latest stuff I've read is that oils in general are not great for you. From Dr. Esselstyn's FAQ:



All of my "Mediterranean diet" friends who eat a ton of olive oil (along with the other stuff listed in that diet) are overweight. Of course, in contrast, I consume a lot of olive oil & haven't had any issues...which isn't to say that I won't, but there has been some pretty compelling evidence lately that doing things like removing processed vegetable oils from your diet improves health. Interesting article on Fathead's website on animal fat vs. vegetable oil:

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index....at-beats-vegetable-oil-in-rediscovered-study/

There have also been some studies that high-fat diets are pretty bad for you. Olive oil contains 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. But at the same time, it also contains lots of good stuff, so it's not like it's entirely bad:

http://authoritynutrition.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil/

Is that the same as a truly "good" fat? I don't know. It takes 1375 olives to make a single liter of olive oil, whereas I can eat an avocado whole & get my good fats for the day. I tend not to trust marketers pushing a product because that's how they get paid, and all I see everywhere is "olive oil is healthy", and what I'm reading lately is that oils in general are bad for you because they chew up your artery lining. Seeing as how people are still dropping dead from heart attacks & heart disease all the time, I'd say we still don't have nutrition entirely figured out yet...

The only thing you linked that has any merit (read: has any type of peer review study associated with it) and is relevant to olive oil is the last link which concludes that "Olive oil is super healthy."

Who the hell is Dr. Esselstyn, and why should I care about his FAQ on his website that is obviously trying to push his products?

Aside from the fact that the Fathead link links to another website trying to push a product, the study referred to looked at PUFA. Olive oil is primarily MUFA.

Who cares how many olives it takes to make olive oil, or that you can get your daily intake of good fats from an avocado? How does that have any bearing on the healthiness of olive oil?

I don't know where you're getting your reading materials, but hopefully is from places other than Dr. Esselstyn and the like.

 

[PenguinPower]

Also, some interesting videos to watch on oils:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zheiZX0_Z2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfBKauKVi4M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_o4YBQPKtQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZg3AE4U-ag

Again, I'm in no particular camp, I'm just always interested in learning the latest science & data on nutrition. Here's another interesting article discussing oil in the diet:

http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/fats/are-we-oil-and-fat-eaters.html

If you care about the latest science and data, why are you continuing to cite materials that have no sources or peer-reviewed studies?

 

[Murloc]

I've never heard of french fries made with olive oil, there must be a reason. Maybe price alone.
Still, they probably aren't healthier than the ones fried with the usual sunflower oil.

The whole anti-fat crusade is a waste of time. The main problem with italians is the amount of calories.
Margarine is unhealthy though so do avoid that.

Animal fat used to get lots of unwarranted bad rap but it's not as practical anyway so I don't miss its absence from shops. Who keeps lard laying around ready for cooking anyway? It's necessary to prepare some particular recipes that require frying stuff in the fat, but it's usually complicated sweets anyway.

I only have olive oil and butter at home and it's enough for everything, but I don't eat fried stuff.

 

[PenguinPower]

Who the hell is Dr. Esselstyn, and why should I care about his FAQ on his website that is obviously trying to push his products?

So, I looked him up and seriously? The Forks over Knives guy? I really don't believe a damn thing he says. The China Study has been debunked way too many times by way too many people, and that's what his documentary is based on.

 

[Kaido]

I've never heard of french fries made with olive oil, there must be a reason. Maybe price alone.
Still, they probably aren't healthier than the ones fried with the usual sunflower oil.

The whole anti-fat crusade is a waste of time. The main problem with italians is the amount of calories.
Margarine is unhealthy though so do avoid that.

Animal fat used to get lots of unwarranted bad rap but it's not as practical anyway so I don't miss its absence from shops. Who keeps lard laying around ready for cooking anyway? It's necessary to prepare some particular recipes that require frying stuff in the fat, but it's usually complicated sweets anyway.

I only have olive oil and butter at home and it's enough for everything, but I don't eat fried stuff.

I've tried frying stuff in olive oil before. Taste is too strong. Other oils like canola & peanut are pretty neutral-flavored.

 

[Kaido]

So, I looked him up and seriously? The Forks over Knives guy? I really don't believe a darn thing he says. The China Study has been debunked way too many times by way too many people, and that's what his documentary is based on.

Eating more vegetables instead of junk food doesn't make you healthier? 😀

 

[PenguinPower]

Eating more vegetables instead of junk food doesn't make you healthier? 😀

Because that was ultimately what was said 🙄

The published data from the China study actually contradicted the stated conclusions...

Have fun reading this. It breaks it down fairly well.

 

[Kaido]

Because that was ultimately what was said 🙄

The published data from the China study actually contradicted the stated conclusions...

Have fun reading this. It breaks it down fairly well.

Very familiar with that article (& her subsequent ones and speeches on Youtube). Some of her stuff has been debunked as well, interestingly enough. In nutrition, everything is a blame game, partly because we really don't have sufficient data on everything, and partly because everyone's body chemistry is different - different things work for different people. And looking at the broader picture, diet doesn't even really have anything to do with living longer:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100/transcript?language=en

There's no longevity diet. Instead, these people drink a little bit every day, not a hard sell to the American population. (Laughter) They tend to eat a plant-based diet. Doesn't mean they don't eat meat, but lots of beans and nuts. And they have strategies to keep from overeating, little things that nudge them away from the table at the right time.

...

Diets don't work. No diet in the history of the world has ever worked for more than two percent of the population. Exercise programs usually start in January; they're usually done by October. When it comes to longevity there is no short term fix in a pill or anything else. But when you think about it, your friends are long-term adventures, and therefore, perhaps the most significant thing you can do to add more years to your life, and life to your years. Thank you very much. (Applause)

So...eat some french fries. Maybe not every day, but you're going to die anyway, so unless it's directly making you fat & sick, why not enjoy life a little? 🙂

 

[Kaido]

Because that was ultimately what was said 🙄

Also just curious, have you watched the entire Forks over Knives video all the way through?