Learn How to Change Your Oil

Mar 17, 2011 by admin

Get Yourself an Oil Change

Learn the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats, trans fats, unsaturated and polyunsaturated oils, and why these differences are important to your health.

Decrease These:

Saturated Fats

Any oils or fats from animals (except fish):  Butter, lard, whole-milk dairy products, butter, cheese, fats from chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb.  Saturated fats clog arteries and can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Hydrogenated Oils

Hydrogenated oils occur mainly in anything involving oil and fat that is processed, such as margarines, crackers, cookies, frozen foods, salad dressings and pizza.  Read your labels as you’ll even find hydrogenated oil in popular sports drinks!  Hydrogenated oils act like saturated fats in the body.

Omega 6 Fats

The typical American diet contains a large amount of omega-6 fats.  These fats promote inflammation in the body which can lead to headaches, heart disease, suppressed immunity, and some cancers.  Omega-6 fats are found in corn oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil.  Look out for “healthy blends” in the cooking oil section; you’d do much better with olive, walnut or peanut oils (see below).

Increase These

Unsaturated Fats

These “good” fats reduce inflammation in the body and don’t generally aggregate (create clogs) in arteries.  An easy way to tell them apart from the “bad” fats is how they behave at room temperature: saturated fats are solid or semi-solid, while unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.  These “good,” unsaturated fats include olives & olive oil, macadamia nuts, and canola oil.

Omega 3 Fats

These healthy unsaturated fats are found in fish oil, walnuts and flax.  Omega-3 fats can reduce inflammation in the body, thereby protecting against heart disease, enhancing immunity, and promoting a general sense of overall health. Eat more foods containing these omega-3 fats; eat fewer foods containing omega-6 fats.