Oils and Health

[Shannow]

Saw another health special recently where the were associating butter (a solid fat) with arterial plaque, and pointing out that if it's solid, then of course it plates out in your arteries.

I tried most of the solid fats in my house, and invariably, they are liquid at palm temperature, and must be moreso at core temperature.

Moreso, I've taken the (semi) solids from the (not much used) canola oil, sunflower oil, whatnot...even took a piece of 30+ year old linoleum, and can't get them to "melt in my hand".

Not a question, nor a statement, but an issue that I'm, trying to put together at present.

Maybe an annual AutoRX treatment to descunge the pipes, or GCC (German Cooking Castrol)

 

[Pablo]

Read this book:

Fats that heal, fats that kill : the complete guide to fats, oils, cholesterol, and human health / Udo Erasmus.
by Erasmus, Udo.
Burnaby, BC, Canada : Alive Books, c1993.
ISBN:
0920470386 (pbk.)
0920470408 (bound)
Notes:
"Revised, updated, and expanded edition of the best-seller Fats and oils."
Description:
xxiii, 456 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Edition:
Rev., updated and expanded ed.

 

[ebaker]

Generally, the more solid a fat/oil is the worse it is for you. Lower melting temp fats aren't as bad.

 

[pitzel]

Hydrogenated/hydrocracked/hydrotreated oils might be good for your car, but the evidence is mounting that they really aren't good for you. You know, trans-fats and all. Their anti-oxidation properties are useful in motor oils, but terrible in your arteries where they cannot be broken down very well. PAO, on the other hand, is practically indigestable and can't be broken down -- hence its use as 'olestra' as a fat substitute marketed by Proctor and Gamble.

I try and use olive oil as much as possible in my cooking, and will be buying some coconut oil next time to make my favourite chocolate chip cookies instead of using Crisco-brand shortening.

 

[moribundman]

I have been using nothing but safflower and oilve oils for many years. I do use butter on occasion, but always in moderation and only it's needed to get the proper taste. While safflower oil has a neutral flavor, even light-colored olive oil does impart its distinctive flavor, which is not always desireable.

All that said, my grandma ate plenty butter all her 91 years and had an enviable cholesterol level even for someone 1/3 her age. Had she made some better choices, she might very well still be yelling at me.

 

[Tree Hugger]

If you seriously think that the fats (or the cholesterol) you eat end up in your bloodstream, you have no understanding of the process of digestion.

 

[Pablo]

I wouldn't have put it as TH did but he/she is sorta right. In fact refer to post #2 in this thread.

 

[Shannow]

Tree Hugger,
I never for a minute suspected that there were layers of bacon fat lining my arteries.

Just this "health" show where they were showing how bad solid fats were, and "you can just imagine this clogging your arteries", when these products are liquid at hand temperature.

Also, my uncle was on a restricted diet due to ridiculous cholesterol. 100g of steamed fish/chicken per day, no eggs etc...and it went up.

That's all.

Pablo,
I'll get the book...Mother in law was reccomended flax seed oil to help her handle the chemo (plus more fruit/veges).

 

[ebaker]

The fat you eat does go into your bloodstream. If you draw a blood sample 15 minutes after a fatty meal the serum is milky white from the absorbed fats.
Generally the more harmful saturated (hydrogenated) fats have a higher melting temp.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I bought that Enova cooking oil. Why not? More costly than Mobil 1!

 

[Tree Hugger]

I don't dispute that what you eat affects serum cholesterol levels and your serum triglyceride levels etc. But your body is 'making' the cholesterol etc. at levels affected by (amongst other things) the particular fats and lipids you are eating. It's not passing directly, or even indirectly, into your bloodstream.

And it's 'he', BTW

 

[Pablo]

Indeed - eating cholesterol does not increase your cholesterol blood levels......but eating hydrogenated, trans-fats and even some refined oils does increase cholesterol levels.

I do eat some butter for flavor with no issues.

I eat Smart Balance (and the new kind with flax oil) plus virgin (unrefined!!!) olive oil.

The rest you can keep!

 

[Shannow]

Pablo,
same here...we use 500ml olive oil over about two months, and similarly a stick of butter.

usually supliment that with fish oil caps a few times a week.

But since Mother in-law's advice, we've been mixing salad dressings with flax oil.

 

[moribundman]

Actually, insulin levels directly affect cholesterol levels. Carb intake has a pronounced effect on insulin and on how much and which type cholesterol is produced. Wonder why eskimos, who live basically on a super-fat high protein diet, don't have high cholesterol? They aren't corn-fed. Corn is for cows.

 

[Shannow]

moribundman,
I seriously don't think that corn is for cows either.

They turn grass into meat, and give their best (healthiest) meat and milk doing so.

let them eat crows.

 

[moribundman]

Pablo, flaxseed oil contains 57% ALA (alpha linolenic acid), which is not good. Olive and safflower oil contain 0% ALA. ALA blocks the production of all eicosanoids, good and bad ones.

 

[Pablo]

quote:

---

flaxseed oil contains 57% ALA (alpha linolenic acid), which is not good.

---

IF you eat too much....but you would go broke first. Nothing wrong with ALA in moderation, you just need to get the ratio right. The best ratio is in hemp oil.