Oils and heart disease

WHETHER we like it or not, all of us eat fat. Fat is not bad either. We just eat too much of it. The average person needs to consume less than fourteen grams of fat to meet the daily requirements of essential fatty acids, which your body needs to synthesize a variety of important substances. Unfortunately, the average person consumes at least 15 percent average times that amount. Overtime, this extra fat builds up in the arteries. All fat is comprised of three components in varying proportions : saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. saturated fat raises your blood cholesterol level, whereas polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat do not. However, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat do not lower your blood cholesterol level.

All oils are 100 percent fat. In other words, oils are liquid fat. One tablespoon of any oil contains almost fourteen grams of total fat, with different proportions of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. Although many people believe that adding olive oil or safflower oil to their food will lower their cholesterol levels, this is unfortunately simply not true. The fact is, adding any oil to your food will raise your cholesterol level. The reason for this is simple. While some oils are higher in saturated fat than others, all oils contain some saturated fat. So, the more oil you eat, the more saturated fat you consume. Olive oil, for example, contains 1.9 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon (about 14 percent saturated fat). So if you add olive oil to your food, you are adding saturated fat to your food and the more you add, the more your cholesterol level will increase.

The same is true for safflower oil you add to your food, thus the higher your cholesterol level will rise. Even canola oil has some saturated fat. In contrast, coconut oil (found in many prepackaged foods) is a whopping 92 percent saturated fat. Where did this misconception come from? Several studies have shown that replacing oils high in saturated fats (like coconut oil) with oils high in monounsaturated fat (like olive oil) or oils high in polyunsaturated fat (such as safflower oil) will in fact, lower cholesterol levels. This is

because olive oil and safflower oil contain less saturated fat, not because they contain more

monounsaturated fat or polyunsaturated fat. In other words, olive oil and safflower oil are not “good” for you; they are less “bad” for you.

When you read food labels, you may often see a reference to “partially hydrogenated oils.” Hydrogenation is the process of making a fat more saturated, so partially hydrogenated oil contains more saturated fat. Why would anyone want to do this, since saturated fat is harmful? Because hydrogenation extends the supermarket shelf life of the products. Unfortunately, a longer life for the product may mean a shorter life for you. Many of us select or want to buy oil that is cheaper to save our groceries but at the expense of our health and life. Other labeling can also be confusing. Lately, more and more foods are advertised as being “cholesterol free” yet they are often laden with saturated fat. And eating saturated fat will raise your blood cholesterol level even more than eating cholesterol.

Oil that are high in polyunsaturated fats are harmful for two reasons. First, as just discussed, these oils also contain some saturated fat.

Second, diets high in kinds of polyunsaturated fat prominent in corn, safflower and soybean oils

disrupt the immune system. (These fatty acids are also called Omega-6 fatty acids, in contrast to the Omega-3 fatty acids found in whole grains and in fish oil.) This impairment of immune system

function may increase the risk of developing

infections or even cancer. According to Dr. John Kinsella, a lipid biochemist at  Cornell University in U.S., high levels of dietary polyunsaturated fat may foster the growth of tumors, at least in

animals. This may help explain the findings in several large clinical studies that diets high in polyunsaturated fats decreased rates of heart

attack but increased the death rates due to

cancer and other causes.

Canola oil (also given the unfortunate note rapeseed oil); is the oil lowest in saturated fat.

Also, canola oil is the highest in Omega-3 fatty acids and highly recommended by Dr. Dean

Ornish, a famous heart doctor from U.S and

author of a book entitled “Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease.” He advised that if you see any oil, canola oil should be your choice.

What do other research studies tell us about the effects of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat? In a study conducted by the Epidemiology (the study of populations), scientists observe large groups of people, often for many years, without giving them any type of treatment. In their studies, people in most of the less-industrialized countries of the world, they found out that those who eat a low-fat vegetarian diet have low blood pressure, low blood cholesterol levels and low rates of heart disease. They have low blood pressure and low blood cholesterol levels no because they are on medication but because of how they live and what they eat.

Many anthropologists believe that our ancestors were primarily for plant based foods, and our intestinal tract is long to allow for the slow digestion of high-fiber plant foods, rather than the short digestive tract needed to process meat and dispose of the resulting toxic wastes quickly. One reason why high-fiber foods can help reduce the incidence of colon cancer is by decreasing the time that it takes to

digest animal products so that the toxic wastes

remain in your colon for a shorter period of time.

Omega-3 fatty acids

During the past 10 years, there has been increasing interest in the potential beneficial effects of what have been called omega-3 fatty acids. These are believed to help protect blood vessel walls from the harmful effects of LDL cholesterol. When LDL is combined with oxygen (oxidized), it becomes even more injurious. A high fat diet tends to promote

oxidation of LDL. Omega-3 fatty acids tend to

prevent this from happening. They help to prevent blood clots and coronary artery spasm. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish oils but they are also found in whole grains, beans, seaweed and soybean products. I recommend more the vegetarian sources of Omega-3 fatty acids for the following reasons:

Fish contains saturated fat and cholesterol, so fish and fish oils tend to cause LDL to increase.

Fish oils are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than whole grains and soybean products. This may

increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. In people with diabetes, fish oils may cause insulin resistance and elevation of blood glucose levels.

Fish caught in coastal water may be contaminated with pesticide, chlorinated hydrocarbons and heavy metals.

Fish oils are prone to oxidation and spoilage.

I am not against in eating fish. In fact two to three servings of fish each week may be acceptable if your blood cholesterol level is low. I still believe eating fish will reduce the mortality risk of a person. But again if you already have coronary heart disease, I recommend  a vegetarian diet. Eating fish is a better source of Omega-3 fatty acids than taking fish oil pills.