John Myers
Pumpkin seed oil is healthy. However, only if you do not heat the cooking oil. We will explain to you what effects heating has on the oil and thus also on your health.
That’s why you shouldn’t heat pumpkin seed oil
One of the most important components of the pumpkin seed oil is the unsaturated fatty acids, which are essential for our health. The pumpkin seed oil has around 45 percent of that.
- As good as unsaturated fatty acids are for our health, they have a major disadvantage in the kitchen.
- The higher the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the oil, the faster the so-called smoke point occurs.
- When the pumpkin seed oil reaches the smoke point, the toxic acrolein develops. Among other things, acrolein is suspected of causing cancer, which is why scientists have been warning about it for years.
- You can easily recognize the smoke point by the dense clouds of smoke coming out of the pan. If this happens, you should remove the pan from the heat and discard the oil once it has cooled.
- By heating the pumpkin seed oil, it not only loses its distinctive taste. The cooking oil also has a fairly low smoke point; it is just 120 degrees.
- For this reason, the healthy pumpkin seed oil is many times better suited for cold dishes. In the salad, it can unfold both its full taste and its health-promoting effect.
