What is Air Frying and is it Really Healthy?

Recently, air fryers have become incredibly popular. People say these machines give you the same fried food taste and texture, without using lots of oil. Because there’s less oil, many people believe air frying is healthier. Here, we’ll explain how air fryers work, how it compares to other ways of cooking, and whether it really is the healthiest option. 

 

What is air frying? It’s a process of cooking food through the circulation of superheated air. Tiny droplets of oil are dispersed into the hot air, to cook the food and make it crispy. This produces the familiar fried food experience, with less oil and calories. It’s easy to see why everyone seems to be air frying.

 

However, let’s take a closer look.  Air frying may be healthier than some forms of cooking but unhealthier than others.  It also depends on what you’re cooking.

 

Is air frying healthier than deep frying? What’s your best guess?

Some people consider air frying is healthier than deep frying because less oil is used, and fewer potentially harmful compounds are created during the cooking process. 

 

Let’s look at that.  Air frying does use less oil than deep frying. Studies vary but we can reliably say that oil used can be reduced by as much as 90%. This also means the food has less calories.  Remember though, food is NOT necessarily healthier just because it has less oil or fewer calories. Everyone (everyone) responds differently to fats in their diet.  For some, eating a high fat meal leads to high blood fats (cholesterol) and over time, that can increase your risk of a poorer health outcome (that’s quite a gentle way of saying you’re at greater risk of heart disease). Other people may have much smaller responses to eating fat; it’s so very personal.

 

Overall, air frying is healthier than deep frying. BUT, if you rarely deep fry (or eat deep fried foods) and have a healthy fat intake, an air fryer is highly unlikely to make any difference to your health.

 

What about the harmful compounds? Deep frying can create potentially harmful compounds. The two main compounds are advanced glycation end products (AGEs), linked to chronic disease and inflammation and the other is acrylamide. Acrylamide is formed when starchy foods (chips etc) are cooked this way. Acrylamide is linked to some cancers.  It also needs saying that most of the evidence about these compounds is based on animal studies and we can NOT automatically apply animal findings to humans, so please do not worry if you eat deep fried food in moderation. Just enjoy it for what it is. It’s all to do with the very high temperatures used to cook and the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates.  Some studies suggest air frying creates fewer of these compounds.

 

Air frying vs. panfrying.  We don’t have much reliable research to rely on here, but one (reliable) study did compare air frying and panfrying fish cakes.  The scientists found both these methods created similar amounts of potentially harmful compounds. Being practical, if the health status is the same, I feel I’d choose to use an air fryer here, in the hope of avoiding a huge kitchen clean up from splattered fat.

 

Is air frying healthier than oven cooked food? Again, what’s your best guess?  Both cooking methods primarily rely on hot air, so there’s far less difference between the two. But back to the fish cakes. The study found that oven cooking produced even fewer of the potentially harmful compounds.  A different group of scientists found that water-based cooking produced even less potentially harmful compounds than high-heat cooking.

 

So, does this mean we should boil, bake, and steam everything to be healthy? NOPE, certainly not. Ultimately, rather than focusing too much on cooking methods, it’s more important to consider your overall dietary pattern and your usual, ‘go to’ cooking methods. Personally, I couldn’t imagine a trip to the seaside that didn’t include fish and chips, deep fried whilst I waited and the thought of being restricted to three methods of cooking in the name of health, leaves me cold.  Remember, there is no single best way to cook and foods with less oil aren’t necessarily healthier. If you have an air fryer, enjoy it but vary your cooking methods. If you don’t have an air fryer, don’t worry about it, or feel compelled to buy one in the name of health.