There is a trend all over the cooking world nowadays: Air Fryers. A handy appliance, Air Fryers can be purchased at a price range between $60 and $300 online and in specialized stores.
What is the big deal and why are foodies desperately looking to add an Air Fryer to their appliance list?
Air Fryers come as an alternative to deep-frying. In theory, Air Fryers are more healthy and practical than deep frying.
But with the entire air frying craze out there, it is worth asking: Are Air Fryers safe? Does Air Frying destroy nutrients? Or even you can ask are air fryers healthy?
Are Air Fryers Safe?
Because they use significantly less oil for cooking, Air Fryers reduce calories and fat, and fewer harmful compounds go into your food.
For example: traditionally fried foods contain acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic compound.
Some studies have found there is a relation between consuming acrylamide and an increased risk of ovarian, endometrial and kidney cancer.
Air Frying considerably reduces acrylamide and other similar compounds and therefore the probability of developing cancer also decreases.
Nevertheless, other potentially dangerous compounds such as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) – created when certain foods are cooked at high temperatures– may still be found when air-frying your food.
Also, it is worth noting consuming fried foods increases the risk of obesity and if you want to know what foods can be cooked in an air fryer, then definitely see this post and know about the detailed information about the best foods to cook in the air fryers.
The concept of preparing meals lies heavily in the provision of heat. The heat used by dry hot air such as an air fryer coats nutrients and allows the meals to be cooked at slightly fewer temperatures unlike meals prepared in moist environments such as deep frying or boiling. Air frying, therefore, does not destroy nutrients rather they help in preserving them for a much healthier lifestyle for human beings.
Does Air Frying Destroy Nutrients?
Diverse cooking methods result in the loss of key nutrients in even the healthiest foods. Depending on the procedure, veggies or meats can lose up to 40% of their nutrients when grilled, poached, or boiled.
The benefit of using an air fryer outweighs every other kitchen equipment or appliances by far. This is because it requires less effort and produces a substantial content of nutritious and healthy food.
Air frying is not a miraculous or magical technique that will prevent food from losing any nutrients. In fact, nutrient depletion is con-substantial to cooking foods at high temperatures.
On the other hand, there is no evidence showing air frying destroys more nutrients in your food than other cooking methods.
Quite the opposite: in keeping the surface of the food dry, air frying allows your food to preserve a greater quantity of nutrients.
Tip: If you want your food to retain as many nutrients as possible, be sure to protect it from direct contact with the heat. For example: when grilling, you can wrap or foil veggies.
Because they use a frying basket, Air Fryers prevent food from getting in contact with direct heat.
That being said, Air Fryers allow food to keep more of its potential benefits to health than other cooking methods such as deep-frying, poaching, or boiling.
However, due to changes in technology and availability of knowledge, the concept of marinating has helped individuals who prefer to air fry their food to also enjoy the benefits of tasty foods without a guilty conscience of fried foods.
Air Fryers Can Help You Lose Weight
Another benefit of air frying is that it may help you lose weight. Deep-fried foods are rich in fat and calories, which heavily contribute to weight gain.
Thanks to its drastic reduction in the use of oil, air frying has a substantial effect on your health. In this regard, air frying is beneficial.
However, you should be aware that ingesting fried foods –deep or air fried– poses a health hazard.
Therefore, in order to really reduce harmful effects on your health, you should consider cutting down your fried food consumption altogether.
Be careful not to overindulge eating air fried foods. Remember: air fried food is still fried food!
Summary
In short, it can be said that air frying is a healthier way to cook when compared to other cooking methods such as deep-frying.
Because it uses significantly less oil, air frying reduces fat and calories that go into your food. Moreover, Air Fryers produce less potentially harming compounds such as acrylamide, a carcinogenic compound found in high temperature cooked foods.
For these same reasons, air frying is also an asset when it comes to weight loss.
As a cooking method, air frying allows food to retain more nutrients than other techniques such as deep-frying, roasting, or grilling.
Conclusion & Final Verdict
Research on air fried foods is still very limited. The first Air Fryers were originally introduced to the market in 2010. Ever since the popularity of Air Fryers has soared.
Nevertheless, as a fairly recent gadget, the entire advantages and potential hazards associated with its use are still relatively unknown.
However, we should be able to concisely answer the questions that prompted this article with the available information.
- Are Air Fryers safe? Yes, as long as you don’t overindulge in the consumption of air fried foods.
- Does Air Frying Destroy Nutrients? Not more than other cooking methods such as deep-frying, baking, or grilling. In fact, air frying allows food to retain more nutrients than other cooking techniques.
As we have discussed earlier, there are several benefits associated with air frying instead of deep-frying your foods.
However, you should be aware of the dangers of overusing Air Fryers just because, supposedly, they are a healthier way to cook.
Keep that in mind, but also acknowledge there are some key advantages that come along with using an Air Fryer.
Happy cooking!
