Picking and Choosing The Right Fats!

by Kathi
(Pennsylvania)

The title of this article may scare quite a few people because the word "Fat" brings up so many negative connotations. But the reality of it is - don't let it!

The human body needs fat to survive. The problem here isn't fat itself, it is the types of fat we put into it that creates the problems. Therefore by learning to pick and choose the right kind of fats to use, then utilizing this information in your daily selections, you have now mastered what the human body has wished you would be giving it all along.

A Trip Down The Cooking Oils Aisle

We all know what it feels like going into the cooking oils section of a grocery store. There is probably a hundred different choices there and they all have that word - Fat - on them. And that's one of the last things we wish to see on our body.

So how can you figure out which one of those bottles or cans is going to make you healthy and not hefty?

Starting at the beginning, what was wrong with the use of butter or margarine anyway? My parents and grandparents used it all the time. They did not have to worry about all these bottles of fats in a store.

Although butter and most good quality oils both have 120 calories per tablespoon, the difference here is the type of fat. Fats come in 3 varieties:

• Saturated fats** - a man-made form of fat often sold as trans fats, butter or margarine. These contain up to 66% of artery clogging fats in the human body.
  
  
• Polyunsaturated fats - vegetable oil (usually soybean),canola oil and corn oil. Most of these oils contain up to 27% of artery clogging fat in the human body. Although this is much lower, care and concern must be taken in your choice of variety to avoid any product produced with GMO's
  (genetically modified organisms).
  
  
• Monounsaturated fats - olive oil or avocado oil - usually comprised of 5 to 7% saturated fats
  

**one exception here is virgin coconut oil: although it is a saturated fat, it is comprised of a different chain of fatty acids supplied by nature - not manufactured by man. It therefore results in a different chain reaction of events in the human body, thus having a much lower percentage of artery clogging fats in the body.

Therefore the saturated fats varieties, with its high percentages of usually man-made trans fats, need to be avoided as this category is known for inducing the troublesome difficulties which can lead to heart disease and many of its complications.

Choosing A Quality Olive Oil

So it is obvious monounsaturated fats is going to be the best way to go from the chart above (or virgin coconut oil.) But how do you narrow down the choices now on olive oil? Why is there so many bottles with so many different names?

• Cold-pressed is a chemical free process of extracting the oil from the olive. It is done by using pure pressure.
  
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil> is a cold-pressed variety meaning it has been obtained from the very first press. This is usually the most expensive variety. It is not recommended for high heat cooking.
  
  
• Virgin Olive Oil is also a cold-pressed variety but it is from multiple presses, usually much more acidic to the body (our bodies were designed to run on alkaline foods for peak performance)
  
  
• Fino Olive Oil is a blend of extra virgin and virgin. No acceptable percentages of combination has been named.
  
  
• Light Olive Oil Although this one is the version most people assume is the best (because of the word Light) for health, the word here is just a description of the transparency (light filtration) of the finished good. Light olive oils are paler in color, less intense flavor and fragrance. It can be used in baking and high heat cooking because it has a higher smoke point(temperature it must reach before burning).
  

So, navigating that cooking oils aisle can be a whole lot easier now since you are better familiar with the reasons behind all those titles.