The general guideline is that you can reuse frying fat six to eight times. A new scientific study now disproves that, and frying more than once in the same fat can be very harmful to your health.
Six to eight times. According to the general guidelines, you should be allowed to reuse your frying oil that often, unless visible signs have already appeared that indicate that you should replace your oil. However, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology this weekend, a new study was presented that questions that general guideline and recommends using frying fat only once.
Neurodegeneration
The research, which will soon appear in its entirety in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, is briefly summarized in an article from Medical News Today. The scientists indicate a “potential link between long-term consumption of reheated cooking oil and an increased risk of neurodegeneration.” Neurodegeneration is the basis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s disease.
Repeatedly heating the (frying) oil would also disrupt liver function, increase oxidative stress in our body and damage the colon.
“Hepatic lipid metabolism was significantly reduced and the transport of the important omega-3 fatty acid DHA to the brain was reduced. This resulted in neurodegeneration, which can be seen in the brain histology of rats consuming reheated oil and their offspring,” said Kathiresan Shanmugam, author of the new study.
