Air fryers have had a recent surge in popularity due to a growing awareness of healthfulness and continuing demand for fried foods. An air fryer is a popular kitchen appliance used to make fried foods such as meat, pastries, and potato chips. It works by circulating hot air around the food to produce a crunchy, crispy exterior. This also results in a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction. It occurs when an amino acid and a reducing sugar react in the presence of heat and leads to alterations in the color and flavor of foods.
However, some people are concerned about the possible health risks of using this new form of cooking, primarily due to fears over toxicity and cancer; others are skeptical about the alleged benefits of air-fried foods.
In this article, we look at the health benefits and risks of using air fryers and compare the technique with other cooking methods
Air Fryers vs Deep Frying Method
Air fryers differ from deep fryers in that they essentially work as a countertop convection oven. To air fry foods, a heating element near the top of the fryer emits heat into the cooking chamber. A high-speed fan simultaneously circulates tiny oil droplets and hot air around the food. This results in a cooking method that is closer to frying than baking. Air fryers use very little oil compared to deep fryers. However, they tend to take longer to fry foods especially if there is larger pieces like chicken breasts, because the oil used in deep fryers has a higher specific heat than the heated air used in air fryers.
Benefits of Air Fryer
Air frying is regarded as being healthier than deep frying. This is especially true given the link between fried foods and heart disease. A 2022 analysis of 19 studies concluded that the high consumption of fried foods was linked to a 22% risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), a 37% risk of heart failure and a 37% risk of stroke whereas when same food was air fried and given it educed the risk to 20% of CAD
Improve Weight Control
The regular consumption of fried foods is linked to obesity as we know. A 2018 review published in Nutrients reported that eating fried foods more than three times per week increases the risk of obesity by 37% compared to eating fried foods less than twice weekly. This should not be surprising given that a 100-gram serving of french fries contains 7gms of saturated fat, bad fats that that clogs arteries and 274 calories. By contrast, French fries cooked with an air fryer have 75% less saturated fat than those cooked by deep-frying, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Food Science.
Reduced Exposure to Reheated Oil
With air fryers, brushing of the oil on the food surface is all that is needed to "fry" food. Whereas with deep frying not only more oil is used, but there is also a greater risk of reusing and reheating oil. This poses great health risks as oil tends to get rancid.
Whenever cooking oil is heated at high temperatures, it changes its composition and releases a potentially carcinogenic chemical called acrolein. If the oil is repeatedly used (referred to as "thermally abused oil"), more acrolein is produced. Thermally abused oils have a number of detrimental effects:
The inhalation and ingestion of reused oils can cause chromosomal changes that lead to cancer. A 2019 review of studies reported that reheated cooking oil is linked to an increased risk of breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancer.
Animal studies conducted in 2019 found that consuming reheated oil can cause breast cancer to spontaneously metastasise (spread to distant organs), particularly the lungs. Because only a small amount of oil is used in air fryers, the risk of this is greatly reduced.
Cook More Safely
According to research commissioned by the National Fire Protection Association, grills and deep fryers account for the largest shares of home fires each year. Deep fryers also account for the greatest rate of deaths when compared to all other types of home cooking fires.
Even in the absence of fire, deep fryers tend to cause more severe burns than other types of thermal burns. In deep frying there are high chances of burning cases but as air fryer uses minimal oil, the risk of fires and oil burns is reduced. The units are also easier to clean.
Air Fryers and Cancer
Reheated oil is potentially carcinogenic, but so, too, is the process of deep frying. The two biggest concerns are potential carcinogens called acrylamides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are created in the process of cooking.
Acrylamides
Acrylamide is a carcinogen that can form in certain foods during high-temperature cooking methods, such as frying, roasting, and baking. Acrylamides do not come from the cooking oil itself but rather when sugar and an amino acid called asparagine are exposed to extremely high temperatures. (Acrylamide also forms in cigarette smoke.)
Asparagine is mainly found in plant sources like whole grains, soy, nuts, legumes, asparagus, and potatoes. Animal sources include poultry, beef, eggs, certain fish and seafood, and dairy products. Of all the cooking methods, deep frying causes the highest acrylamide formation. Because air frying uses less oil, less acrylamide is produced
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Asparagine is not the only concern when it comes to cancer. Deep frying foods at high temperatures produces potential carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are aerosolized in cooking fumes and inhaled.
Deep frying produces more PAHs than other cooking methods because more oil is used. Because air frying uses far less oil (and cooking fumes are mostly contained within the unit), the exposure to PAHs is also less.
Summary
There is evidence that deep frying is associated with the production of carcinogens that can lead to different types of cancer. These include probable carcinogens like acrolein, acrylamides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). There is a potential risk of the same with air frying, although it is thought to be substantially less because only a small amount of oil is used, the cooking oil isn't aerosolized during cooking, and cooking oil is not reused which is frequently the case with deep frying.
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