Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation in Thalassemia

Olive oil can be used in cooking.

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/cooking_olive_oil.htm

Olive oil is a great oil for cooking.  Strong flavored olive oils can be used for frying fish or other strong flavored ingredients.  A mellow late harvest Mission variety oil could be used in baking a cake.  Olive oil has a high smoke point, 410 degrees F,  and doesn't degrade as quickly as many other oils do with repeated high heating...

Olive Oil Myth:  Olive oil loses its benefits when heated

The Facts: Excessively heating olive oil will evaporate the alcohols and esters which make up its delicate taste and fragrance. Heating olive oil will not change its health aspects, only the flavor. Use a cheaper olive oil which doesn't have much flavor to begin with if you want to fry with it, add a more flavorful olive oil after cooking or at the table.

Olive Oil Myth: Heating a cooking oil will make it saturated or a trans-fatty oil.

The Facts: As far as making a saturated fat, according to Dr. A. Kiritsakis, a world renowned oil chemist in Athens, (Book - OLIVE OIL FROM THE TREE TO THE TABLE -Second edition 1998), all oils will oxidize and hydrogenate to a tiny degree if repeatedly heated to very high temperatures such as is done in commercial frying operations. Olive pomace oil and virgin olive oil are both highly monounsaturated oils and therefore resistant to oxidation and hydrogenation. Studies have shown oxidation and hydrogenation occurs to a lesser degree in olive oil than in other oils.  But in any case, the amount of hydrogenation is miniscule and no home cook would ever experience this problem.

The large refinery-like factories which take unsaturated vegetable oil and turn it into margarine or vegetable lard do so by bubbling hydrogen gas through 250 to 400 degree hot vegetable oil in the presence of a metal catalyst, usually nickel or platinum.  The process can take several hours. You cannot make a saturated product like margarine at home by heating olive oil or any other vegetable oil in a pan. We don't know where this weird notion has come from.  For more see our olive oil chemistry page

Changing a cis-fat to a trans-fat does not occur on a home stove.

Olive Oil Myth:  Cooking in olive oil diminishes the nutritional value of the food.

Olive Oil Fact:   Heating food will break down its nutritional value.  High heat such as frying is worse than moderate heat such as steaming, which is worse than eating vegetables raw. It is not the cooking oil per se, but the high heat of frying. I am not aware of any edible cooking oil which of itself diminishes the nutritional value of the food cooked in it.  Most nutritionists recommend lightly steaming vegetables or eating them raw.  A touch of a flavorsome olive oil added at the table will add taste and healthful anti-oxidants.  Such is the "Mediterranean diet" which has been shown to help prevent coronary disease and have other health benefits.

If it smokes, the heat is too high. Otherwise, it's a good healthy oil to use.

Thanx Andy for another super reply on this topic , thanx for clearing the doubts ...
i will add olive oil and kalonji to my meals as well  , thanx

Take Care
Umair

Thank you so much Umair, your prayers mean the world to me

Hope you are doing great now

manal

Thanks Andy,

For clarifying the facts.

Does it have a different taste then other cooking oils? I mean would it change the taste of the meal?

Thanks Umair.

Zaini.

Olive oil has a nuttier flavor than other oils and is considered to be a superior oil. However, it does cost more. It can be used for frying but not for high heat frying like deep frying. I am biased on this subject. My ancestors grew olives in Sicily.

Yes it is way more costly here,Because its imported,i some time cook separately for Little Z,i'll try to use olive oil in her cooking.

Sharmin,

Would you use same amount of olive oil as any other oil,or its used a bit less?

Zaini.

It can be used for frying but not for high heat frying like deep frying. I am biased on this subject

Andy,
i think that is why doc told me to not to heat that to avoid any kind of complications/questions or mistake , or she won't to go in details of cooking like it is very high temprature for olive oil and you can fry anything in olive oil under this temprature etc etcc ... it make's thhis subject realy big and time killing for a doctor's  .... that could be a reason why my doctor shortly replied not to heat olive oil when you can try it in salad .... Nice sharing and very clear instructions & Factial Reply Andy ,,,, Thanx buddy for making this clear to understand ....

Best Regards
Take Care
Umair

Hi Zaini
I use olive pomace oil for cooking because its flavour goes well with Indian cuisine.You will not notice any change in taste. Extra virgin olive oil doesn`t taste good in our biriyani or curries. But I use it in salads and in chinese dishes.
maha

Thanks Maha,

I'll keep that in mind.

Zaini.

I thought you would like to hear this information, so I will post the article here:

A study from the Harokopio University of Athens (Greece) determines that adherence to a dietary pattern close to the Mediterranean diet, with high consumption of fish and olive oil and low red meat intake, has a significant impact in women skeletal health.

Results suggest that this eating pattern could have bone-preserving properties throughout adult life.

Diet is one of the modifiable factors for the development and maintenance of bone mass. The nutrients of most obvious relevance to bone health are calcium and phosphorus because they compose roughly 80% to 90% of the mineral content of bone; protein, other minerals and vitamins are also essential in bone preservation.

Traditional analysis has focused on the relation between a specific nutrient (e.g. calcium) and bone health. But, researchers of the Harokopio University of Athens, Greece, carried out a study in two hundred twenty adult Greek women, which is valuable for the understanding of the effect of meals, consisting of several food items, in skeletal mass.

Scientists examined whether adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, rich in plant foods and olive oil, low in meat and dairy products, and with moderate intake of alcohol, or other dietary patterns, have any significant impact on bone mass maintenance in adult Greek women. They determined that adherence to a dietary pattern with some of the features of the Mediterranean diet, i.e., rich in fish and olive oil and low in red meat and products, is positively associated with the indices of bone mass.

These results suggest Oleociencia News inform- that this eating pattern could have bone-preserving properties throughout adult life.

This paper has been published in 2009 in Nutrition magazine; and has been written by Meropi D. Kontogianni, Labros Melistas, Mary Yannakoulia, Ioannis Malagaris, Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos, and Nikos Yiannakouris of the Harokopio University of Athens, Greece.

Scientific Reference: Association between dietary patterns and indices of bone mass in a sample of Mediterranean women- Nutrition 25 (2009) 165�"171

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/139709.php

The thing what catched my eye is that they do not talk about the intake of dairy products, but I may have read through it.

Dore

Thanks for this info Dore.  I will be sure to have Little A's phosphorus levels checked - I should have done it with his blood test today but I forgot. 

I hope that you are feeling better,

Sharmin

Maybe is this the right place:

Liver Int. 2009 Jan;29(1):63-72. Epub 2008 May 19.Click here to read Links
    Curcumin reduces the toxic effects of iron loading in rat liver epithelial cells.
    Messner DJ, Sivam G, Kowdley KV.

    Bastyr University Research Center, Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA 98028, USA. dmessner@bastyr.edu

Dore,

Thanks for the info,i am posting the link again...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18492020

I am giving turmeric to Little Z daily,and we use it in our foods on daily basis  .

Zaini.

I have a question about Folic Acid... When I was in Pakistan (back when I was little), I was taking folic acid, but when I moved to US, the hematologist told my parents to discontinue folic acid. I don't remember why, but I do remember strong emphasis on not taking it, perhaps the docs, back then, thought I could get enough in my diet. I have been emphasized to take Calcium and Vit D and perhaps other vitamins and minerals, but not Folic Acid.. Any clue to why folic acid wouldn't be prescribed for thal patients?? I remember there was a reason behind discontinuing it but i don't remember that reason..

I'd like to hear if anyone else has heard the same, not to take folic acid and why? I know in Pakistan, all docs usually recommend taking it.

I'm NOT saying thals should not take folic acid.

I dunno the reason, but I too heard for a period that we should not take folic acid. My doctor was deaf for it, so  I never stopped. Though folic acid is the only med that I never learnt to take regular. I should take it when I step with one foot in bed but 9/10 I forgot.

Dore