The Truth About Oils...

[caseydog]

I found this on Yahoo, and thought I should share it, as we all love cooking, and oils play a big part in making good foods.

Health Tips About Oil: Pros and Cons
Posted by Dr. Maoshing Ni

There is a lot of confusing information circulating about oils. Hopefully, the tips below will help you navigate your way to the good oils that will benefit your health in the long run.

The Lowdown on Oil
Oils that originate from vegetable, nut, and seed sources provide the essential fatty acids that are critical for our nerve and brain functions. The typical vegetable oils that can be found at supermarkets have undergone chemical and heat processing that destroy the quality of the oil — bleaching, cooking, defoaming, distillation, extraction, refining, and the addition of preservatives. Additionally, many of these oils are exposed to light and air and are even potentially filled with pesticides.

All of this causes the formation of free radicals, which undermine the health benefits of consuming essential fatty acids. To ensure that you are receiving all of the possible benefits from your oil, buy organic, cold-pressed, minimally processed oils at your local health food store. Be sure that you consume oil within three months; to prevent it from becoming rancid, store your oil in the refrigerator in dark glass containers.

Fats: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
There are three types of fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated.

Monounsaturated fats — including olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, almond oil, flax oil, and fish oil — are good fats. These contain essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that are critical in brain development and function, skin health, vascular health, proper immune function, fertility, and normal physical development.

Polyunsaturated fats, such as margarine, corn oil, hydrogenated safflower oil, and sunflower oil, also contain essential fatty acids. Unfortunately, these fats are highly refined and contain large amounts of trans fat. Trans fat, created by hydrogenating vegetable oil to make it spreadable, is implicated in both cancer and heart disease.

Saturated fats are the bad kind of fat. Included in this category is butter, peanut oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and lard. These saturated fats elevate cholesterol and triglyceride levels, leading to an increased chance of heart attack and stroke. These oils are best avoided.

Two Stand-Out Oils
The essential ingredient of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, has been found to have beneficial effects on blood lipids and it may even lower blood pressure. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 60 percent of strokes and 50 percent of heart disease are associated with high blood pressure.

Hypertension is estimated to be the cause of 7.1 million deaths per year worldwide. A recent study has concluded that olive oil intake is “inversely associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.” The bottom line: consuming more olive oil is linked to lowered blood pressure.

Sesame oil — the most common oil consumed by Chinese centenarians — is enjoyed for its delicious nutty flavor and also possesses some considerable therapeutic properties. Chinese medicine lists sesame as a blood builder, a kidney and liver tonic, and a bowel protector and regulator. It is rich in phytic acid, the antioxidant that may prevent cancer. Lignan sesamin, one variety of sesame oil, appeared to radically reduce cholesterol levels in the bloodstream and liver of rats.

To benefit your health and enhance your meals, add some olive oil to your food and salads; sprinkle sesame seeds and oil into your dishes regularly. Some other excellent choices for oils include: walnut oil, flaxseed oil, and soy oil.

I hope I have cleared up some of the confusion surrounding oil. I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

—Dr. Mao

[caseydog]

Being Italian, I use olive oil a lot.

Who here uses Sesame Oil? I plan to try it, but never have used it.

Any tips?

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

I use a lot of olive oil and going down the list, I was doing great... until I got to butter.
Gonna have to try some sesame oil...

[wolfix]

Having grown up in a Greek food culture I have seen the advantages of olive oil and garlic. [fresh] I bought some garlic oil last summer....I would recommend it also.

[dmb90260]

I use a lot of olive oil and going down the list, I was doing great... until I got to butter.
Gonna have to try some sesame oil...

I will rely on a great Chef, Julia Child. Later in her career she did a number of low or lower fat dishes but she refused to give up butter and maybe cream. There are limits. Use the butter and just eat less.
Sure, that's gonna happen.

[Micro469]

Two words....BEEF FAT......

[Miriam C.]

All this information is great if taken in moderation. Truth is Crisco was the latest health thing at one time. No cholesterol.

[Laredo]

Same for Wesson oil, back in the day.
Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (aka vegetable shortening -- which is margarine without the artificial butter flavor and yellow dye) is now supposed to be nearly the ultimate poison.

[asianflava]

Now that Trans Fat is required to be listed, it seems like nothing has trans fats.

We went to an Italian restaurant last night, this place has THE BEST infused oil at the table.

[Q]

I've been a vegetarian all my life and one of my favorite things is sesame tahini which is simply ground sesame seeds. I use it in place of peanut butter on bread, on salads, on baked potatos, on rice, and lots of other things. The best brand is Joyva which comes in a 15 oz can. Health food stores sell it for about $5 per can but I buy it by the case for $2.33 per can with free shipping from here. http://www.vitaglo.com/f940254.html

Besides being good for you, tahini doesn't require refrigeration during my long summers living in my teardrop.

For a great snack try mochi cut into strips and baked until the outside is chunchy, and use tahini as a dip. Yum.

Q

[Gaelen]

I don't eat much meat but I do eat a lot of fatty fish, nuts and seeds, EVOO and butter. I tend to just use extra virgin olive oil for nearly everything--if it's good enough for Mario Batali, it's good enough for me.

I do use roasted sesame oil for flavoring oil in certain things...mmmm...and tahini is the best. I can't afford it often but walnut oil and macadamia nut oil are also great flavoring oils. I buy it a pint at a time and use up my EVOO fast enough that I never worry about it going rancid, but the sesame and nut oils I keep in the 'fridge to keep them stable.

As for saturated fats being 'bad,' well...mileage varies. Virgin unfiltered coconut oil (which has a strong coconut taste) is actually solid at room temp, and works just like butter or lard in baking and lard in frying. And it contains medium chain fatty acids which your body, especially your brain, actually *needs* and which we tend to not get from our typical food choices. Butter or butter and EVOO are my sauteeing fats of choice, and pork fat is...well, it's bacon, and who can argue with bacon done right? I low carb, so saturated fats are not 'evil' in that eating plan. And my lipid panels pre-chemo made my docs all jealous...saturated fats and all.

[coreyjhen]

Being Italian, I use olive oil a lot.

Who here uses Sesame Oil? I plan to try it, but never have used it.

Any tips?

I drizzle a few drops on just about every stir fry I make, just before serving. It adds a great aroma to the food. I also use it in my marinades for beef and pork if the dish is to be at all spicy, because it adds a depth of flavor that is hard to beat.

[sdtripper2]

A word of exploration before one tries the sesame oil that has lots of flavor
that might not agree with the dish you are making.

Try Grapeseed oil.
Grape seed Oil is recognized as a heart-healthy cooking oil. It is high in
antioxidants and vitamin E. It has about half the saturated fat of an olive oil
and has been known to raise HDL and lower LDL cholesterol's.

In short Grapeseed oil is:
High smoke level so used with olive oil flavor = good magic combo~
Nutty flavor that works well with herbs and garlic. & wonderful for popcorn~
Heart friendly

http://www.napavalleygrapeseedoil.com/cooking.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/grapeseed-oil

I use Grapeseed, Olive oil, and butter mostly and uses Sesame oil for
Asian dishes. As another selection, flax seed oil is renowned to be one of
the best oils to use for health.

[IndyTom]

Steve,

You hit the nail on the head with the grapeseed oil. It has become my favorite for any kind of cooking where I used to use EVOO.

It has a great flavor, high smoke point and as close to good for you as any oil can be.

But that's just me.

Tom

[Ira]

What? I wasn't paying attention:

I was too busy eating fries frizzed up in 7-day-old used Costco vegetable oil.

And man, did they taste GOOD!

And I'd rather die than deny myself this taste treat.