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Evil Oils vs Good Oils - Twitchin Kitten - 04-02-2008
The biggest problem with weight and heart disease in America is the use of trans fats in our food products and cooking processes.
Many restaurants are starting to get away from using trans fats and some cities and states have gone even farther and banned them all together.
These trans fats are poison! This stuff is poison. Once ingested, it is kept in the body and takes many, many years to be eliminated, if at all.
This is the cause of artery clogging and weight gain, trouble with losing weight and general health all together.
Taken from Wikipedia:
Trans fat is the common name for a type of unsaturated fat with trans- isomer fatty acid(s). Trans fats may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated.
Most trans fats consumed today are industrially created by partially hydrogenating plant oils — a process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911. The goal of partial hydrogenation is to add hydrogen atoms to unsaturated fats, making them more saturated. These more saturated fats have a higher melting point, which makes them attractive for baking and extends their shelf-life. Another particular class of trans fats, vaccenic acid, occurs naturally in trace amounts in meat and dairy products from ruminants.
Unlike other dietary fats, trans fats are neither essential nor salubrious[1] and, in fact, the consumption of trans fats increases one's risk of coronary heart disease[2] by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. [3] Health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more deleterious than naturally occurring oils.[4]
Chemically, trans fats are made of the same building blocks as non-trans fats, but have a different arrangement. In trans fatty acid molecules, the hydrogen atoms bonded to pairs of doubly bonded carbon atoms (characteristic of all unsaturated fats) are in the trans rather than the cis arrangement. This results in a straight, rather than kinked, shape for the carbon chain, more like the straight chain of a fully saturated fat. Read more here
I have gone back to the days of making things from scratch. It really doesn't take all that much time longer and I KNOW what is in my food.
Olive oil is the ideal oil to use.
You can fry in it, bake with it and almost everything else.
Olive oil does NOT raise cholesterol. It is one of the 'good' cholesterol items allowed.
Use extra virgin (the dark green) for salads and raw eating.
Use extra light (the light yellow) for cooking.
Blended oil is also very good to use, especially for those who do not like olive oil.
This is usually a Canola / Olive Oil combination.
The extra virgin and regular virgin tends to burn when cooking, but the light will hold up very well.
Now, I do understand the olive oil has become VERY expensive lately. But I find I use less of it as it it is packed with flavor and the need for it is less.