Heat and omega 3's

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Ok, here’s something I’ve never been quite clear about. If you heat up omega 3’s too much, they get burned off, right? Like if you tried to stir fry your veggies in flaxseed oil (yuck!) you wouldn’t really get too much benefits from it right? So what happens to fish when you cook it? Is there a certain temperature that you shouldn’t go above that kills them off? Like if you’re baking a piece of fish at 350, I know the fish itself isn’t at 350 when it’s done, it’s more like 125-150 or something. Is that ok?

More importantly, I’m wondering about this casserole dish I make with brown rice and spices and eggs. I use omega eggs to make it, but I’m wondering if I’m losing all those helpful omega 3’s by baking the thing for a half hour at 350. Thoughts?

Nick

2

I asked the same question a while ago and didn’t really get an answer. Let’s hope we can get one this time!

To me it would definitely seem that cooking omega-3 eggs would ruin a lot of the benefit…as well as cooking fish.

3

There is a little info regarding cooking oil at:

http://www.udoerasmus.com/articles/udo/hbaco.htm

and

http://www.udoerasmus.com/pyramid/pyr_index.htm

4

Berardi did an Appetite for Construction that addresses some of these issues. He gives temperatures and such where oils break down.

Do a search on the Home Page.

5

You could try cooking in coconut oil instead and get your omega-3s elsewhere. Coconut oil doesn’t break down like other oils.

6

I have a related question. As far as using a cooking oil for medium heat stuff like omlets and spinach, is smoking point important for the oil used? I’ve used coconut oil, but I obseved it smoking at a really low temp. I’m now using avocado oil, which supposedly has a really high temp for a smoking point. Which is better for cooking, mono-rich avocado oil, or sat. fat-rich coconut oil?

7

aither,

The stability of the highly saturated coconut oil makes it THE best oil to cook with.