Do I need to buy an air fryer to eat healthy?

In order to cook less oiled potatoes, Julia Birungi decided she was going to get an air fryer. This was after she was told she would need very little oil to just grease the pan and the rest of the job would be done by the air fryer.

True to that, she started eating roasted-like potatoes out of the air fryer. She did this for other foods too including chicken.

While we have not entirely moved on from deep fryers (where foodstuffs are thrown into hot oil), air fryers are slowly creeping into households with mainly choosing to eat more healthy. This is explained by the minimal or no oil necessary to fry (or roast) the food.

The air-fryer

An air fryer, instead of using hot oil, uses hot air, close to a mini convention oven and does not take a lot of space on your countertop. It makes air-fried food perfectly crispy on the outside, while keeping it moist and juicy on the inside.

According to the foodiephysician.com, air frying gives you the taste and texture of deep-fried food but with little to no oil. Because of the way air fryers work, you can simply spray or brush a small amount of oil on your food before cooking. This cuts back significantly on the number of calories and fat, making air frying a healthy cooking technique.

How healthy can it be?

The air fryer cooking process relies on a mechanism called rapid air technology, in which a heating element within the top of the machine radiates heat through the closed cooking container by heating the air.

“Cooking technologies that allow one to use less cooking fat and oil are beneficial to human health,” Regina Nantege, Lead Dietitian on the Lya Dietitian App says.

Nantege, however, adds that the air fryer works for those who choose them for the characteristic brown and crispy texture of food. Therefore, one does not necessarily need to own an air fryer to cook healthy food as cooking methods like boiling, baking and grilling have no or minimal oil or fat as well.

Air fryer manufacturers made them to create a healthier way to cook deep-fried foods and not to replace traditional methods we might have known all our lives such as  roasting and grilling. There are more benefits to it.

Low calories

Air frying allows food to have the crispy texture of fried food without using a lot of oil as in deep fat frying. This makes air-fried food a lower-calorie option compared to deep-fried food.

“100g of deep-fried potato wedges have 319 Calories while air-fried potato wedges have 250 Calories. Boiled potatoes will have fewer calories,” Nantege says.

This difference in fat and calorie- content can benefit one chasing after weight loss when the latter process is used. This is because reducing regular intake of unhealthful oils can promote weight loss.

Lowers cancer risks

The lower amount of oil reduces the quantity of polar compounds formed during the frying process.

“When oil is heated at high temperatures for long time periods, polar compounds such as dimers, free fatty acids, and acrylamide that have been linked to the development of cancer are produced,” she says.

According to MedicalNewsToday, Acrylamide may have links to the development of some cancers, including endometrial, ovarian, pancreatic, breast, and oesophageal cancer.

By switching to air frying, people can lower the risk of having acrylamides in their food, thus lowering cancer risk.

Safer than open-fire cookery

Cooking meat over an open flame can cause the formation of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The greater the dripping of fat onto the flames, the higher the PAH formation. Charcoal grilling or frying foods produce more PAHs-less cancer risk yet oven roasting and air frying produce fewer carcinogens.

According to a review in ScienceDirect, depending on time, type of fuel, distance from the heat source and drainage of fat, and type of cooking (grilling, frying, roasting), a number of compounds including PAH are formed in the food. The most significant health effect of inhaling PAHs in excess is the risk of lung cancer.

Caution

When using air fryer, do not burn food as it affects both taste and health. The air fryer temperatures are high and can easily cause charring of foods.

Charred food especially oil-containing foods has compounds PAHs that are harmful to human health. Use minimal oil if you intend to achieve a low-fat diet.

If the purchase of an air fryer does not fit within your budget, you can still use other ways to eat healthy. Nantege says it is also important to consider how many times you will use the air fryer as it is not economical to own many cooking appliances in an effort to eat healthy. It may be wiser to spend more money purchasing healthy groceries.