OK maybe not but my ex just sent me this since I am a proponent of saturated fats and have taken flack in the past for my use of olive oil, butter, tropical and even animal fats. If you use margerine do yourself a favor and toss it out, it isn't food, it isn't healthy, it doesn't taste very good nor improve any recipe.
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Hey, it's Mike Geary with another Lean-Body Secrets Ezine
Today, I wanted to give you my take on a confusing subject to most
people...
*why some oils you may use in cooking, baking, or other food use are
actually harmful to your body, and why some are healthful.
Here's the deal...
A lot of people seem to think that anything labeled as "vegetable oil" is
good for you. NOT A SHOT!
Most of what is labeled as "vegetable oil" is simply heavily refined
soybean oil (processed under high heat, pressure, and industrial
solvents)...sometimes perhaps it may also be heavily refined cottonseed,
safflower, grapeseed, or other oils too.
In most instances, almost all of these processed oils are NOT HEALTHY for
you.
If you buy processed food or deep fried food, you can usually be certain
that these unhealthy oils are used to prepare your foods (or worse, it
may use hydrogenated versions of these oils... aka - trans fats!).
You may have even bought some of these oils for your own cooking or
baking at home.
The problem with soybean oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, safflower
oil, and other similar oils is that they are mostly composed of
polyunsaturated fats which leaves them prone to oxidation and free
radical production when exposed to heat and light.
Processed polyunsaturated oils are the most inflammatory inside our
bodies because of their high reactivity to heat and light. This
inflammation is what causes many of our internal problems such as heart
disease, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases.
Note: It's ok if a polyunsaturated fat isn't processed such as in whole
foods like various nuts and seeds... In that case it's not inflammatory,
and is a great source of healthy polyunsaturated fats for you. By the
way, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both polyunsaturates.
However, all of the vegetable oils listed above are generally heavily
refined during processing, so that makes them already inflammatory before
you even cook with them (which does even more damage).
Here's the actual order of stability of a type of fat under heat and
light (from least stable to most stable):
1. polyunsaturated
2. monounsaturated
3. saturated
Here's something that mainstream health professionals will never tell
you...
Saturated fats are actually the healthiest oils to cook with!
Why? Because they are much more stable and less inflammatory than
polyunsaturated oils.
This is why tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils are best for
cooking... they have very little polyunsaturates and are mostly composed
of natural saturated fats which are the least reactive to heat/light and
therefore the least inflammatory in your body.
That's also why natural butter (NOT margarine) is one of the best fats
for cooking. This all goes directly against what you hear in mainstream
health talk... because most health professionals don't truly understand
the biochemistry of fats, and falsely believe that saturated fats are bad
for you... when in fact, they are actually neutral in most instances...
and saturated fats from tropical oils are actually good for you as they
contain mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are lacking in
most people's diets.
In fact, lauric acid is one of the abundant MCTs in tropical oils and is
known to strengthen the immune system. Lauric acid is even being studied
currently in medical studies for controlling contagious diseases.
To summarize... your best cooking or baking fats are generally butter or
tropical oils. Olive oil is ok for lower cooking temps as it's mostly
monounsaturated, so moderately stable. The polyunsaturated oils like
soybean, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, etc, are the least healthy for
cooking.
My choices for top oils that I use:
-Virgin Coconut Oil
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Real Butter (grass fed if possible)
Of course, with all of that said... we should keep in mind that trying
minimize our cooking with oils can help to reduce overall calories.
Cooking with oils in moderation is ok and can actually help satisfy your
appetite more, but be careful not to overdo it as the calories can add up
fast.
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]8/17/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 41
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 984
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $172.20
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 18