How do different oils factor into a healthy diet? It all comes down to the types of fat found in the oil. We asked Connie Diekman, Director of University Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, to give us an overview of the different types of fats and their impacts on health.

“Fat provides satiety (the feeling of being full) and enjoyment to the food we eat, but it also serves nutritional benefits. Fats are made up of fatty acids which act in a variety of ways, but they are key to the development of hormones, transport and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and helping to regulate body temperature,” she explained.

The most common types of fatty acids include unsaturated fats, saturated fats and trans-fats.

• Unsaturated Fats – These types of fats are usually liquid at room temperature and come in two main forms, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These fats may help reduce heart disease and lower cholesterol levels.
• Saturated Fats – These are typically solid at room temperature. Many studies have linked diets high in saturated fat with elevated cholesterol levels and increased risk for heart disease, so it’s best to consume these in moderation.
• Trans-Fats – Most trans-fats are manufactured through hydrogenation, which helps increase shelf life. They can raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol, a combination that increases the risk of heart disease.

Another thing to keep in mind is all fats have 9 calories per gram, which can contribute a significant number of calories to the diet.

So, are there any health benefits to consuming oils?

Diekman: “Oils can provide more heart health benefits than solid fats, but it is important to know which ones to choose. Olive oil, canola, oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and corn oil provide more unsaturated fatty acids making them better choices than some of the other oils.”

Products labeled as vegetable oil often contain soybean oil and may also contain other types of oil.

What are the most common kinds of cooking oils?

Diekman: “In addition to olive, canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower and corn oils there are specialty oils like peanut, sesame, walnut, avocado, palm, coconut and others. When it comes to best choices, oils with more unsaturated fat should make up most of your oil choices – canola, olive, soybean, sunflower and corn oils are the more healthful choices. Oils like coconut and palm are more saturated and should either be avoided or significantly limited in their use.”

Along those lines, I’ve heard of high-oleic soybean oil. What is it?

Diekman: “Many of the better unsaturated oils contain high amounts of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, which tend to be less stable with heat, light and air, making their usage a bit more precise. High-oleic soybean oil has been developed to shift the balance of more stable fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, up and the less stable polyunsaturated fatty acids down. This shift in the fatty acids makes this oil more stable when used in cooking, making it more versatile.”

To wrap this up, what oils would you suggest?

Diekman: “The goal should be to use oils that provide more unsaturated fat for the majority of your cooking – canola, soybean, corn and sunflower are all excellent choices. Olive oil is harder to use in all cooking so really should be held for finishing or for salads. Also, use specialty oils less often for a healthy balance.”

Oils are made of fatty acids, which play an important role in the diet. When choosing cooking oil, those that provide more unsaturated are choices for healthy balance. High-oleic oil is also a good choice because it is high in unsaturated fat, low in saturated fat and has no trans-fat.

Need a visual to breakdown this information? Our infographic highlights the six most commonly consumed oils, the types of fat they contain and common uses.

The post All About Cooking Oils appeared first on Best Food Facts.

To address our speculations, we had Dr. Alison Duncan, professor in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada, weigh in on the topic.

What are the health benefits of eating avocados?

Dr. Duncan: “Avocados are a type of fruit (also known as the alligator pear) and there are well-established benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables including enjoyment of a tasty diet, an improvement in diet quality and a reduction in risk of many diseases.”

Avocados are also known as alligator pears.
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I understand that avocados are high in fat, but are considered to be good for you. How does that work?

Dr. Duncan: “Avocados are a heart-healthy, nutrient-dense with many essential vitamins — vitamin A, folate, vitamin B6, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, choline, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K — and minerals — copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, zinc — phytochemicals — lutein, zeaxanthin, phytosterols — and dietary fiber.

“They also contain a high amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), which makes them higher in calories than other fruits. But we should care more about the quality of our calories, and avocados have a high nutritional quality. MUFA is a healthy type of fat that has been shown to promote healthy blood lipid profiles. The fat in avocados can also improve our ability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins from avocados and other fruits and vegetables we may be consuming with the avocados. We should care about the quality of fat we consume, and avocados provide us with a high-quality fat that is healthy for us.”

Monounsaturated fats are considered to be healthy because they can help develop and maintain your cells. Medline Plus provides a list of foods and oils that have higher amounts of monounsaturated fats. Some of those foods and oils include:

• Nuts
• Canola oil
• Olive oil
• Peanut oil and butter
• Sesame oil

Even if avocados are healthy, is there a concern about overindulging in them?

Dr. Duncan: “Moderation and variety are the cornerstones of a healthy diet. Like any other food, we want to aim for moderation so we can spread out our sources of nutrients and be more likely to have the best diet quality we can. So although there is no urgent concern about over-consuming avocados, you should always keep moderation in mind and allow yourself to enjoy many different healthy foods.”

We’ve seen that you can substitute avocados into recipes in place of butter. Do you recommend this?

Dr. Duncan: “Yes, that is a great idea. There many ways to alter recipes to make them more nutrient-dense and avocados are a fun and creative way to do this. You can mash the avocados and substitute it for the butter in a 1:1 ratio. You can experiment with how much butter to substitute but you could aim for about half of the butter. The avocados tend to make for a chewier food as well, which could be appealing depending on the recipe.”

The pit of an avocado must have a purpose. Should I be doing anything with it?

Dr. Duncan: “If you want to get creative, there are many things you could do with an avocado pit. You could use it to grow your own avocado plant, you could make a dye, you could make a tea, you can even cut it up and put it in a smoothie.”

What are the best practices for storing and selecting avocados?

Dr. Duncan: “Avocados start to ripen after they are picked from the tree (which is good as they can be shipped in their unripe, hard and more durable form.) Avocados produce ethylene which facilitates the ripening process, and this is best done at room temperature but happen faster if you put the avocado in a paper bag to concentration the ethylene gas. You can tell an avocado is ripe if it is firm yet gently yields to the pressure of your hand. Then you can maintain the avocado in this state best by storing it in the fridge as the lower temperature will slow down the ripening process.”

Do you have any favorite avocado recipes?

Dr. Duncan: “After writing this piece, I am even more motivated to explore the endless possibilities of cooking with avocado. I think right now my favorite is adding them to smoothies for a huge nutrient-booster. I think chocolate pudding or mousse is also a tasty treat to include avocado. You can buy avocado in frozen chunks and this is the way I have been consuming them lately as it is convenient and fast and enjoyable!”

With proven health benefits, rich flavor and versatile uses, maybe we should change the saying to “an avocado a day keeps the doctor away.”

The post Health Benefits of Eating Avocados appeared first on Best Food Facts.

What’s the truth? We went to nutrition expert Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton at Penn State University for some answers:

How about the claim that margarine was developed originally to fatten turkeys? 

Dr. Kris-Etherton: I checked several sources and this is the consistent conclusion. It dates back to 1860s France and has nothing to do with fattening turkeys. Napoleon wanted a delicious alternative to butter to help feed his army and the French people. He started a competition for people to invent such a spread and it was Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès’ recipe that became margarine. The original formula was based on beef tallow and milk in combination with margaric acid, and was called oleo-margarine. Current margarine products are made with vegetable oil blends.

And, the claim about margarine’s similarity with plastic and paint?

Dr.Kris-Etherton: No truth whatsoever!  Margarine is made from liquid vegetable oil. The author of this article does a very good job debunking the myth that margarine is bad for consumers.

So, what exactly is margarine and what is butter?

Dr. Kris-Etherton: Margarine is a “spread” made from vegetable oils while butter is made from churning heavy cream from milk-producing animals (dairy cows, goats).

What are the nutritional differences between the two? 

Dr. Kris-Etherton: Butter is high is saturated fat.  It is a source of dietary cholesterol.  Margarine is high in unsaturated fat (monos, polys, either or both).  It is low in saturated fat and does not contain any dietary cholesterol.

What is your advice to people trying to decide what’s best for them? 

Dr. Kris-Etherton: Choose a soft margarine over butter as a way to substitute unsaturated fat for saturated fat. Use margarine sparingly because it is a source of calories.

Butter and margarine are similar, but distinct foods. Butter is made from heavy cream and is high in saturated fat. Margarine is made from vegetable oils and is low in saturated fat.

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What are omega-3 fatty acids?

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat. There are three main types of omega-3 fatty acids: EPA, DHA and ALA.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are found mainly in fish and are sometimes called marine omega-3s. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the most common omega-3 fatty acid in most Western diets, and is found in vegetable oils and nuts (especially walnuts), flax seeds and flaxseed oil, leafy vegetables and some animal fat, especially grass-fed animals. The human body generally uses ALA for energy, and conversion into EPA and DHA is very limited. While the human body can make most of the types of fats it needs from other fats or raw materials, this isn’t the case for omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats because the body can’t make them and we must get them from food.

What are the health benefits of including omega-3 fatty acids in a balanced diet?

Omega-3 fatty acids are an important part of cell membranes throughout the body and affect the function of the cell receptors in these membranes. They provide the starting point for making hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. They also bind to receptors in cells that regulate genetic function. Likely due to these effects, omega-3 fats have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema and rheumatoid arthritis, and may play protective roles in cancer and other conditions.

What foods are omega-3 fatty acids found in?

Fatty fishes like salmon, albacore tuna (both fresh and canned), sardines, lake trout and mackerel, walnuts, soybeans, chia seeds, seaweed and all vegetable oils.

Start incorporating more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet with these tasty recipes:

Sweet Glazed Salmon with Peach Salsa, The Cookie Rookie

Lemony Smoked Trout Dip, Bon Appetit

Berry Chia Overnight Oats, Pinch of Yum

Cilantro-Lime Sardine Salad in Avocado Halves, The Kitchn

Sour Cream and Onion Tuna Noodle Casserole, The Pioneer Woman

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