Why are some oils healthier than others? Some oils are healthier than others because of the amount of saturated fat they contain, the way they are made, and what they are made from. We all know that olive oil is good for you and many people cook with it and drizzle it on their salads. However, these days, the price of olive oil is going up year by year. Are there any other oils that are healthy and what makes them healthy?
What is saturated fat? Saturated fat is fat that is saturated with hydrogen molecules. All fat is made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Saturated fats have a lot of hydrogen molecules and single bonds between carbon molecules. Unsaturated fats have a double bond between the carbon molecules. This chemical structure means that saturated fats are solid at room temperature and unsaturated fats are liquid. Saturated fat is found in animal fat, butter, cheese, coconut oil, palm oil, and many other things. Saturated fat is said to be bad for your heart because it raises bad cholesterol. It does this by interfering with the LDL receptors in our liver, which prevents the liver from taking LDL cholesterol out of the blood. Too much LDL cholesterol is bad for your heart, although it turns out that none of the research that we have heard about over the decades proves that. Research carried out in 2017 showed that there was no significant connection between the amount of saturated fat people ate and death from heart disease. They actually found that saturated fat seemed to lower the risk of stroke. The problem seems to come because of the highly processed nature and the quantity of oil most of us eat these days.
Some oils are naturally higher in saturated fat, such as palm oil and coconut oil. Some oils are higher in monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil and avocado oil. These are fats that have a double bond between the carbon atoms. And some oils are higher in polyunsaturated fats, such as corn oil and soybean oil. These fats have two or more double bonds. Because of its effect on LDL the removal of LDL cholesterol, oils that contain a lot of saturated fat are considered more unhealthy. However, that is not the only reason. Oils tend to more unhealthy than solid fats because we can consume a lot more oil than we could butter. We also consume an awful lot of oil that we are not aware of.
Oils like olive oil and avocado oil are healthier than palm oil because of the extra things they contain. Olive oil contains antioxidants and vitamin E. Antioxidants can stop or reduce cell damage in the body and vitamin E is good for the brain and the blood. Avocado oil contains phytochemicals and oleic acid. Phytochemicals can prevent DNA damage and slow down cancer development. Oleic acid can lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Other oils also contain a lot of things that can be good. Sesame oil contains vitamins. Canola oil contains oleic acid. (Incidentally, I also like to remind people that canola oil is actually rapeseed oil but the Canadian Rapeseed Association called it “Can” and “ola” from Canada and oil.) A lot of other oils contain good things, but this is where we get to the point.
Palm oil and coconut oil are cited as being unhealthy and olive oil as healthy, but that depends on how much the oil is processed. Natural palm oil straight from the press that hasn’t been filtered and processed is called red palm oil and it actually good for you. It contains vitamins, carotenoids, which boost the immune system, phytochemicals, antioxidants, squalene, which can lower cholesterol, and other things. Unfiltered coconut oil contains vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients, and other things too. The problem is not the oil itself, but how much it is processed. Olive oil and avocado oil will be unhealthy if they are processed to the point where only the fat is left.
Any unprocessed oil from a plant or seed source will contain a lot of the beneficial things that are found in the plants. They obviously contain a lot of the fat as well, but that comes with the things that are good for us. Once the oil is processed, all of those good things are taken out and we are just left with the fat. Palm oil, coconut oil, and even vegetable oil are often found in processed foods. They are highly processed because virgin oils have a flavor that the food companies don’t want. They need to mix the oil with other chemicals to give it different tastes. This means the oils have to be processed until they have no scent, no flavor, and no color, and nothing that is healthy. The food companies use the oil to give food texture and to help preserve it. If they are unprocessed virgin oils, then all oils can be healthy in moderation. Once they are processed, they become unhealthy. And once they are hidden in processed foods, we no longer have any idea how much oil we are actually consuming. It is estimated that many Americans are eating up to 80 g a day of hidden oils in their food. And that is what I learned today.
Try these next:
Sources
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/expand-your-healthy-cooking-oil-choices
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/are-vegetable-and-seed-oils-bad#bottom-line
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200903-which-cooking-oil-is-the-healthiest
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/healthy-cooking-oils
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saturated-fat#impact-on-health
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat
https://www.heartuk.org.uk/low-cholesterol-foods/saturated-fat
https://www.tabledebates.org/essay/health-impacts-red-palm-oil-lesser-known-sister-refined-palm-oil
https://www.truemeds.in/blog/virgin-coconut-oil-benefits
Photo by Ron Lach : https://www.pexels.com/photo/fresh-olive-oil-for-preparing-pasta-10046938/