How Healthy is Cooking with an Air Fryer?

A Few Words About the Air Fryer

In recent years, air fryers have become a popular cooking appliance, with their sales skyrocketing.

With the air fryer, we can now enjoy our favorite fried foods without guilt or remorse.

Essentially, the air fryer is a device that uses heated air to cook food in a way that resembles frying, using little to no oil, compared to conventional fryers.

Their operation is extremely simple. First, you put the food in the basket and add (or spray) minimal oil. The fryer’s mechanism calculates exactly how much air is needed to cook its contents and achieve the familiar crispy texture.

What is Frying?

Frying is a cooking method, like baking and boiling, that has been used for centuries.

During this cooking process, various foods are immersed in a vessel containing a hot fatty substance (vegetable oils such as olive oil and seed oil, butter, or other animal fat sources). The high temperature of the fatty substance leads to faster heat transfer to the food, resulting in shorter cooking time compared to other cooking techniques, and the rapid dehydration of its surface, creating the characteristic crispy crust.

There are two basic frying methods based on the amount of fatty substance:

• Shallow frying (pan frying or shallow frying). This is a type of frying where the food is partially covered by oil and the oil level does not exceed 1/3-1/2 of the food’s height. It is usually done in a shallow vessel (pan).
• Deep frying. This is a type of frying where the food is fully immersed in oil, and therefore a larger amount of fatty substance is used to achieve full submersion of the food. It is done in a deep vessel, such as a fryer.

Is Frying Healthy?

Deep frying is a widespread cooking technique, widely used in restaurants and fast food, as a quick and inexpensive method for food preparation. However, fried foods exhibit:

High Calorie Content

During the frying process, part of the fatty substance is absorbed by the food, resulting in an increase in its caloric value. For this reason, fried foods are considered energy-dense foods, as they provide many calories in a small amount of food.

In general, fried foods have a higher content of both calories and fats, compared to the same foods cooked by other methods, such as baking.

For example, a baked potato (100 g) provides 93 calories and 0.1 g of fat, whereas the same amount of potato in fried form provides 312 calories and 14.7 g of fat. ¹

High Content of Trans Fatty Acids

When you fry foods, the vegetable oil you use is converted from a healthy source of fatty acids into a product that can negatively affect your health.

Exposure of oils to high temperatures during frying leads to oxidation and hydrogenation, processes that increase the level of trans fatty acids. When oil is exposed to high temperatures, as observed during frying, part of the fatty acids it contains are converted into trans fatty acids (partially hydrogenated fats). In fact, repeated use of the same oil leads to an ever-increasing concentration of trans fatty acids. These changes can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and other chronic illnesses.

As a result, fried foods contain high concentrations of “bad” trans fats, which are harmful to our health.

Although extra virgin olive oil withstands high temperatures better than other oils/fats, it also undergoes alterations such as oxidation and hydrogenation.

High Acrylamide Content

Acrylamide is an organic compound that forms when a food high in carbohydrates, especially starch (e.g., potato), undergoes thermal processing, such as frying or baking at temperatures above 140^°C.

This substance is suspected of being carcinogenic, which is why it has been particularly studied in recent years by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess its potential risks to human health.

Because of the above, fried foods have been implicated in various negative effects on our health. Specifically, they have been associated with the occurrence of:

Obesity

A meta-analysis that included observational studies showed that individuals with the highest consumption of fried foods had a 16% higher risk of becoming overweight/obese, compared to individuals who had the lowest intake.²

Compared to other cooking methods, as we mentioned, frying adds many calories without benefits for health. Initially, fried foods are usually coated with breadcrumbs or flour before frying, which further increases their calorie content. Additionally, when foods are fried in oil, they absorb some of it, which further increases their caloric value.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Regular consumption of fried foods, due to their high content of trans fatty acids, can be harmful to heart health.

Several studies have shown that dietary intake of trans fatty acids increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, mainly because it is associated with increased levels of total cholesterol, “bad” LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, and simultaneously with low levels of “good” HDL-cholesterol.

A meta-analysis that included observational studies showed that individuals with the highest consumption of fried foods had: ³

• 28% higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases
• 22% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease
• 37% higher risk of stroke, compared to individuals who had the lowest intake.

In fact, the risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases seems to increase even when a small amount of fried food is consumed weekly.

For every 114g increase in fried food consumption, the risk increases by 3%.

What are the advantages of an air fryer?

Using an air fryer seems like a healthier alternative compared to using a conventional fryer. Specifically, some advantages of this new popular appliance are:

It can reduce the caloric content of fried foods

As we mentioned, with the use of a conventional fryer, foods are immersed in a large amount of oil, resulting in the food absorbing part of it and consequently significantly increasing its caloric value.

A key advantage of the air fryer is that it doesn’t require a large amount of oil for foods to acquire their characteristic crispy texture. In this way, the final product has a lower content in both calories and fats – meaning it’s less fattening and healthier.

This is important in dieting and when the goal is weight loss or body weight management.

It can reduce the production of acrylamide

In an air fryer, the formation of this substance is reduced by 70% to 90% compared to a conventional fryer. ⁴

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), acrylamide is classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans”, which means that some research shows that acrylamide may be linked to cancer development.

A variety of foods can be cooked with an air fryer

With this appliance, we can prepare a variety of favorite fried foods, and add our beloved olive oil after the food has been cooked, thus preserving all its nutritional benefits,

You can try making air fryer calamari, which both young and old will love.

Ease of use

Air fryers usually have simple settings and are easy to use. Just add the food, set the time and temperature, and let it do its job.

Air fryers heat up quickly and can cook food faster than a classic fryer.

What are the disadvantages of an air fryer?

Although air fryers have many advantages, such as reducing the amount of oil used in food preparation and avoiding potential harmful substances caused by frying, there are also some disadvantages that should be considered:

• Formation of toxic compounds, such as acrylamide. Although it’s called a “fryer”, this appliance doesn’t fry the food, but bakes it at very high temperatures, with the help of hot air it emits. This hot air circulates uniformly in the space, with the help of a fan. Due to the high temperatures developed, toxic compounds can form, such as acrylamide.
• We don’t know if it’s superior as a cooking method. Compared to frying in conventional fryers, the air fryer can reduce the acrylamide content of the food and the formation of trans fatty acids. However, we don’t know to what extent it’s superior as a cooking method compared to other methods, such as steaming, boiling, or baking in the oven.
• Presence of plastic parts. When choosing an air fryer, it’s important to consider the presence of plastic parts, especially those that come into direct contact with food. In general, you should look for air fryers that are “BPA-free” and have internal parts made of safe materials, such as stainless steel.
• Taste and texture. Air fryers may not offer exactly the same taste and texture that traditional frying offers. This, of course, is quite subjective.
• Capacity. Air fryers usually have a relatively smaller capacity, which can make it difficult to prepare large quantities of food simultaneously.
• Price. Air fryers are an additional appliance that you will need to purchase if you are interested in this cooking method.
• Storage space. Due to their size, air fryers may require more storage space in your kitchen.

Conclusion

The air fryer is a device that has gained great popularity recently, as it promises to offer equally tasty food as traditional methods, but in a healthier way.

For fried food lovers, using an air fryer is a good alternative option to maintain a greater degree of the food’s nutritional value.

Its main advantage is that it requires minimal amount of fat, resulting in a final product with fewer calories, lower fat content, and fewer toxic compounds compared to foods fried in conventional fryers.

However, we must emphasize that cooking with an air fryer does not automatically make the food healthier. It depends on the food we choose and the framework of the diet we follow, which should be balanced.

Also, it’s good not to use it at the expense of other cooking methods, such as baking, steaming, or boiling. Try to incorporate various cooking methods into your daily routine.

Bibliography

1. USDA. Food search. Available at: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/. (Accessed at May 2023).
2. Qin P, Liu D, Wu X, Zeng Y, Sun X, Zhang Y, Li Y. Fried-food consumption and risk of overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension in adults: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2022, 62(24):6809-6820. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1906626.
3. Qin P, Zhang M, Han M, Liu D, Luo X, Xu L, Zeng Y. Fried-food consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Heart. 2021, 107(19):1567-1575. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2020-317883.
4. Sansano Μ, Juan-Borrás Μ, Escriche Ι, Andrés Α, Heredia Α. Effect of pretreatments and air-frying, a novel technology, on acrylamide generation in fried potatoes. J Food Sci. 2015, 80(5):T1120-8. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.12843.