Dr. S Lata Gupta

Sunflower oil vs groundnut oil- which oil should you cook your daily meals in?

Both, sunflower and groundnut oil are preferred for cooking by chefs and homemakers alike due to their ability to enhance the flavour of the food. But which one of them is a healthier choice? Here’s a comparative analysis of the benefits offered by both oils to help you decide, which one you should be using for cooking. 

1. Fat content
There’s no clear winner here. Sunflower oil is a rich source of polysaturated fats, which help keep your heart healthy and decrease the amount of bad cholesterol in your body. On the other hand, groundnut oil is rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which protect you from heart diseases. Groundnut oil also contains omega-6 fatty acids, which help in the proper functioning of your nervous system.

2. Nutritional values
Sunflower oil contains different nutrients like Vitamin E, B1, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron, calcium, manganese and folate. The nutrient content of groundnut oil is also somewhat similar including iron, magnesium, potassium, copper, Vitamin E, B6, calcium and zinc. So, both are more or less tied at the same spot. 

3. Health benefits
Both of them offer a host of health benefits. Sunflower oil can help in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, asthma and high blood pressure, while improving digestion and preventing headaches. Comparatively, regular consumption of groundnut oil can keep you healthy by increasing fertility, enhancing your memory, lowering level of bad cholesterol, diminishing chances of cancer, obesity, heart diseases, depression and by keeping your blood sugar level balanced.

It’s considered to be a healthy practise to keep switching your cooking oils. This ensures that your body can get the benefits of different essential fatty acids as no single oil can satisfy the fatty acid requirement of the human body. 

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The tiny mosquito can pose a lot of health issues. While malaria was the only dreaded disease until some time ago, the incidence of chikungunya is constantly on the rise. In fact, the nonspecific symptoms and absence of vaccination make it extremely difficult to prevent and diagnose this in the early stages.

Causes: First described in the African continent (Tanzania), the word chikungunya means “to walk bent over” in the Makonde or Kimakonde language. This appearance is because of the effect on bones, leading to severe bone and joint pains. More than 90% of the people who are bitten by the infected mosquito develop symptoms.

Chikungunya is a member of the Togaviridae family and is transmitted by bites of the infected female mosquito. In rare cases, the infection can spread through blood transfusions of the infected person.

After entering the bloodstream, it divides and multiplies rapidly in different types of cells including epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and connective tissue cells. These produce the symptoms including the rashes and the joint pains.

Symptoms: The challenge with chikungunya is that there is no specific, telltale symptom indicative of the condition. The patient develops nonspecific symptoms as below, somewhere between 4 to 7 days after the infected mosquito bite.

1. High fever (as high as 40 degrees Celsius)

2. Pain involving multiple joints which can be debilitating

3. Headache

4. Nausea and vomiting

5. Muscle pain

6. Skin rashes

7. Swelling around the joints

8. Conjunctivitis

Though the disease is not fatal, it can be quite limiting. The fever and other symptoms may disappear within a week, but the joint pains can last up to 6 months to a year.

Diagnosis: A blood test is the most diagnostic test for confirming the disease. Dengue fever and Zika virus need to be ruled out, as their presentation is very similar.

Treatment: There is no definitive treatment for this condition and it is mostly symptomatic.

1. The patient is advised rest to recover from the fever and fatigue

2. Pushing fluids, including juices and electrolytes is recommended to prevent dehydration

3. Fever needs to be managed with antipyretic medications

4. Joint pains are managed with nonsteroidal painkillers

5. Avoid aspirin as it increases the tendency to bleed

6. Physiotherapy is recommended to improve severe bone/joint pains to improve mobility and reduce swelling

7. Check with your doctor to see if your regular medications need to be revisited

There is no vaccine to prevent chikungunya, though virus like particles that can be a potential vaccine are in the final stages of trials. Prevention of mosquito bites is also highly recommended as an important step in controlling the disease. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.