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Air fryers have become increasingly popular in recent years, with many people claiming they offer a healthier way to enjoy foods that would usually be fried. But are air fryers really as healthy as they're made out to be?
Or are they just another way to quickly heat up unhealthy favourites, such as chicken nuggets and chips?
An air fryer doesn't really fry. Instead it works by circulating hot air to cook food from all sides - like baking at a very high temperature. The hot air is generated by a heating element and a fan that circulates the air around the food, which is placed in a basket or tray within the air fryer.
Some of the best air fryers also have a grill, steamer or rotisserie function, which allows you to cook a variety of foods.
Even though it cooks with hot air, your food will still need a small amount of oil added to help the cooking process, brown it up and prevent food sticking to the basket.
This is typically sprayed or brushed on or added to the basket before cooking. This is also an opportunity to add seasoning, so it sticks to the food and not to the air fryer.
“Air fryers can help reduce the amount of oil used to cook foods – especially compared to deep frying,” says Bridget Benelam, Nutrition Communications Manager at the British Nutrition Foundation.
“This means you can make things like chips, with fewer calories.”
If you look at a 70g (2.5oz) serving of deep-fried chips, these come in at around 225kcal. If you make chips from fresh potatoes and cook them in the air fryer using just a little oil, you can cut the fat and calories a lot, to around 90kcal. This is a bit less than oven chips, which tend to come in around around 135kcal. But if you use your air fryer to cook shop-bought oven chips, you won't see much or any health difference from cooking them in the oven.
The British Heart Foundation says that turning 1kg of potatoes into air-fried chips for four people can be done with one tablespoon of oil, which would make them low in fat.
Benelam says air fryers can help if you’re looking to reduce fat and calories, but she cites other methods as being just as healthy, including grilling or stir frying.
Let’s not forget, it also does depend on what you’re cooking.
Air fryer potatoes – if they're smothered in cheese – are unlikely to be as healthy as a seasoned salmon fillet cooked in the same way.
While air fryers reduce cooking time and, in theory, protect nutrients in the food, too little is known so far about whether this is true.
“In terms of nutrient preservation during cooking, this generally relates to cooking vegetables, where nutrients such as vitamin C are degraded by heat and can leach into the water,” says Benelam, who recommends steaming vegetables rather than boiling them.
She continues: “At this stage, we don’t know much about whether this is the case for air fryers – although it may be if used for cooking veg.”
Acrylamide is a chemical substance formed when starchy foods such as potatoes and bread are cooked at temperatures above 120°C (250°F). As air fryers use high heats to cook food quickly, there is some concern that they may increase the presence of this chemical in food.
The Food Standards Agency recommends we reduce the amount of acrylamide we consume as it has been found to cause cancer in animals. More research is needed to understand how much impact air fryer cooking could have on cancer risk. One recent study found that chips cooked in an air fryer had higher levels of acrylamide than deep-fried or oven chips, but that the difference was not statistically significant. The study also found that soaking the raw chips in water for 10 minutes before cooking reduced the acrylamide levels.
“To reduce acrylamide in foods, aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when cooking,” says Benelam. “Also follow the instructions on the pack when cooking packaged foods such as oven chips to reduce it.”
Benelam says healthy nutrition is less about how your food is cooked than what you’re eating. “The healthiness of the dish depends on the ingredients you choose, so, for example, go for plenty of vegetables, keep skins on potatoes and choose lean cuts of meat,” she says.
Here are some more air frying tips that can help make your dishes even better for you:
Carbohydrates and potatoes in particular get a bad rap when it comes to healthy eating, but Benelam says potatoes are a valuable vegetable and shouldn’t be ignored.
“They are a source of potassium and thiamine and also contribute vitamin C and fibre, so can be part of a healthy diet,” she says. “Just avoid adding a lot of fats or oils when cooking, and eat with skins on for extra fibre.”
“Instead of adding salt to your meals, try using herbs and spices like rosemary, thyme or garlic powder to add flavour,” says Amanda Place, an award-winning health coach and nutritionist.
“This can help reduce your sodium intake and add extra antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds to your diet.”
The best kinds of oil for an air fryer are those that have a high smoke point. This means they can withstand the high temperatures of an air fryer without burning.
Sunflower oil is a good all-round choice, which is also an unsaturated fat - the kind which is better for your heart health. Other vegetable oils, such as olive oil and rapeseed oil (often sold as vegetable oil) are also heart healthy-choices.
Remember, most dishes need only about a tablespoon of oil, as adding any more can cause issues with your air fryer.
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