Issue 407 = 25-06-2021

38 25/06/2021 NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
www.samajweekly.com
Mustard Oil emerges as favourite among health-conscious Indians
New Delhi : As health consciousness
grows among Indians, a large number of
people are now reinventing the timetested
goodness of mustard oil in helping
people stay fit.
While our "nana-nanis" and "dadadadis"
always seemed to know about the
healing properties of "kachchi ghani"
mustard oil, new research by scientists
has helped shed light on the exact nature
of these properties.
A landmark study conducted by the
Harvard School of Medicine with All
India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS), New Delhi, and St John
Hospital, Bengaluru, revealed that consuming
mustard oil as one’s primary
cooking and deep-frying oil could
reduce the risks associated with coronary
heart disease by more than 70 per
cent. Today, many eminent cardiologists
like Dr S.C. Manchanda unequivocally
recommend cold-pressed (also known
as Kachchi Ghani) mustard oil for a
healthy heart and vascular system - and
nutritionists and dieticians too are unanimous
in their belief that mustard oil is
among the healthiest cooking oils you
can find in the market.
Kavita Devgan, a leading nutritionist,
dietician and weight management
consultant feels that among the plethora
of cooking oils available today, it is better
to choose natural cold-pressed oils
like mustard oil that are rich in
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA)
Chandan Roy Sanyal’s
’Woh Teen Din’ wins at
Falcon International
film fest, London
Mumbai : Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal’s recent film "Woh
Teen Din" won the
award for Best
Feature film at the
Falcon International
Film Festival,
London.
Directed by Raaj
Ashoo, the film has
been travelling to
various film festivals,
and also features
Sanjay Mishra
and Rajesh Sharma.
Set in a remote village
in Uttar
Pradesh, the story
of the film follows
the events that
unravel after the
characters essayed
by Chandan, Mishra
and Sharma meet
and a comic quest
ensues. "Raaj has
put his brilliance
into the story of
’Woh Teen Din’ and
I’m very happy that
it got its due at the Falcon International Film Festival. A big
congratulations to the entire team. It is an honour to be representing
Indian cinema in a way with this special film. It’s a
comedy which I shot last year around this time.
We shot it amid many challenges and all that hard work
has paid off," Chandan shares his excitement with IANS.
Chandan, who has been part of shows such as "Ashram",
"Kaali" and "Ray", will soon be seen in "Ashram Season 2".
He also features in the anthology "Ray", which is scheduled
for a digital release on June 25.
and Polyunsaturated
Fatty Acids (PUFA)
but low in Saturated
Fatty Acids (SFA).
Umesh Verma,
General Manager
(Marcom) at Puri Oil
Mills Limited (the
makers of P Mark
Mustard Oil) says:
"Speaking at a webinar
organized by our company,
Ms Devgan had
pointed out that coldpressed
mustard oil is,
in many ways, a perfect
cooking medium
in its composition. It
has all the right fatty acids in the ideal
ratio and is packed with natural vitamins
and antioxidants. In our manufacturing
processes, we try to keep this natural
composition of mustard oil totally
intact so that our consumers can enjoy
all the nutrients and health benefits that
cold-pressed mustard oil promises."
Mustard oil, especially, has zero
trans fatty acids (TFA) and that is a vital
parameter for health and fitness-conscious
consumers.
The major advantage of cold-pressed
mustard oil, according to Kavita, is the
fact that it has an ideal ratio of Omega-
6 to Omega-3.
Contemporary diets and food habits
have created a major imbalance in the
Omega 6-Omega 3 ratio and mustard oil
could play a key role in rectifying this.
According to Kavita, this benefit
alone is reason enough for making mustard
oil your primary cooking oil.
Neha Patodia, nutritionist and diet
consultant, agrees wholeheartedly with
Kavita Devgan and points out that the
WHO has recommended a ratio of 5:4
(Omega-6 to Omega-3). Cold-pressed
mustard oil comes closest to this benchmark
with a ratio of 1:1.
Rujuta Diwekar, a prominent nutritionist
and fitness expert strongly recommends
cold-pressed traditional oils
like mustard oil.
She believes if an oil has been used
in a particular region across thousands
of years for preparing local
cuisines, it means that the oil
has become "fine-tuned" to
the health and dietary needs
of that region.
One can discern this
aspect in oil consumption
patterns even today. Across
north India and some eastern
regions, mustard oil is the
dominant oil.
In southern states, the
dominant oil has traditionally
been coconut oil.
According to nutritionist
and dietician Vijaya Agrawal,
oils extracted from vegetable
sources are vital for proper
nutrition because they contain certain
essential fatty acids like Omega-3
which cannot be synthesised by the
human body.
Plant-based oils like mustard oil contain
phytosterols which block bad cholesterol
(LDL) from being absorbed in
the body. One such phytosterol is Alpha
Linolenic Acid (ALA) which significantly
reduces the risk of heart disease,
hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Dr Manjari Chandra who specialises
in Therapeutic Nutrition and Clinical
Dietetics views cold-pressed mustard
oil as a powerful detoxifying agent,
more so when it is combined with the
right foods -- especially vegetables
loaded with healthy phytochemicals like
beta carotene, lycopene, flavonoids,
isothiocyanates, etc.
Dr Simran Saini is a nutritionist and
weight loss consultant who, on a daily
basis, comes face to face with lifestylerelated
health issues like elevated cholesterol
levels, hypertension and heart
disease. She recommends a daily intake
of mustard oil because it is rich in
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA)
which helps in maintaining a healthy
cholesterol balance. And as pointed out
by Vijaya Agrawal earlier, it also contains
Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) that
keeps the heart and the blood vessels
healthy. Nupur Arya is a dietician and
also a certified vegan chef -- so she is
able to look at mustard oil from both a
health perspective as well as a cooking
point of view.
The healthiest thing about coldpressed
mustard oil, she says, is that it is
minimally processed; that is why it
retains all its natural nutrients.
As a cooking medium, mustard oil
with its high smoking point (around 250
degree C) is ideal for Indian cooking
which requires high-flame heating over
prolonged periods of time. Even at high
temperatures, all the nutrients remain
stable and intact.
The verdict from leading nutritionists
is in -- and it is quite decisive. In
their collective opinion cold-pressed
mustard oil is one of the healthiest
cooking oils you can choose.