Are Those ‘Healthy Heart’ Vegetable Oils Really Good For You?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/are-those-healthy-heart-vegetable-oils-really-good-for-you.html

by Steve Williams November 17, 2013 6:11 pm



We’re often told to substitute saturated animal fats for healthier vegetable oils, and while that is generally good advice, a new study suggests certain vegetable oils haven’t been shown to live up to the claim that they lower cholesterol or prevent heart disease.

In 2009, the governing body in charge of Canada’s food label regulation, the Food Directorate, approved a food industry request that the industry be able to label vegetable oils and foods containing these oils as being able to lower a person’s risk of heart disease by reducing so-called bad cholesterol. For brevity, we’ll call that the “healthy heart” claim. At the time this was uncontroversial as there was, and still is, a strong body of evidence to support the wider claim that when compared to saturated animal fats, these oils are better for our heart health.

However, research published this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) points out that this broad health claim may in fact be inappropriate because while on the whole vegetable fats tend to be better for our hearts, there isn’t evidence enough to suggest that all of those vegetable oils actually lower cholesterol. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that certain vegetable oils may increase heart disease risk.

The research, conducted by Professor Richard Bazinet of the University of Toronto and Dr. Michael Chu, a heart surgeon at the London Cardiac Institute in Ontario, found that two oils in particular may not warrant the “healthy heart” label: corn and safflower oil. These oils are regularly used in Canadian food products like mayonnaise, creamy salad dressings, some margarines, and chips. The oils also regularly appear in many European and U.S. products.

FULL story at link.

[Warpy]

1. I'm a little suspicious about this

since Canada is the main canola oil producer. I'll wait awhile and see if the "science" here is replicated.

In the meantime, I use mostly olive oil and only occasional safflower or peanut oil. Canola oil makes my stomach do terrible things to me.

Oh, and butter. While you can do bechamel and veloute based sauces with oil, they're not nearly as good as they are with butter. The per serving amount is not huge.

[mucifer]

2. Everything in moderation

Except I went a little nuts on the animal rights part of it and went vegan.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. 80% of Corn Oil comes from GMO Corn.

85% of Canola oil comes from GMO plants. Safflower oil is little better. Olive oil and grapeseed oil doesn't have these negatives.

[roody]

4. You can assume corn and canola oil

are made from genetically modified plants, unless they are organic.

[MineralMan]

5. Butter!

[Major Nikon]

15. Don't forget lard

[MineralMan]

17. Lard!

I use that, too, but less often than butter.

[newfie11]

6. I just use what I like

Butter & olive oil

[SoCalDem]

16. same here.. used sparingly..n/t

[Jamastiene]

7. Which oils are the best, I wonder?

I wish I could always afford EVOO, but I can't. So, which vegetable oil is best?

[wickerwoman]

12. Regular olive oil is fine for most things.

I'd go with peanut oil if you need a cheap, neutral oil that you can deep fry with and you don't have an allergy. Corn and canola are generally both GMO and heavily sprayed with pesticides to boot.

But really I think it's a lot more about the quantity than which oil you use. I plunk down for the decent stuff and just use less.

[Jamastiene]

13. Thank you.

I have been wondering about this for quite a while now. I rarely deep fry any more, but when I do, I want to use something good for my family, that will also fit the budget.

[Dorian Gray]

20. What is canola oil

made from?

[librechik]

21. rapeseed

nope--I dunno what it is either!

[Dorian Gray]

24. Well, now

i just looked up rapeseeds. Who knew?

[tsuki]

18. Expeller processed. Or cold pressed.

I use coconut shortening/oil for baking pie crusts. Not real expensive, and works well. Stay away from hydrogenated oils and trans fats. Husband and I are in our 60's and have no problems.

[Revanchist]

25. If you're cooking with extra-virgin, you're wasting your money

It's really meant to be used sparingly as a condiment.

How To Cook with Olive Oil:

Cooking with olive oil is like cooking with wine.

Never use a wine or olive oil that does not taste good to you. An inferior one will leave an aftertaste. If you do the taste test and compare the "pure" to the "extra-virgin" and the you'll understand the difference.


Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: When cooking with olive oil, save your extra-virgin expensive oils for salads, dressings, and vinaigrettes. You can also drizzle it over slices of crusty bread or onto open-face sandwiches. Use it on a baked potato or add it to mashed potatoes instead of butter. Extra virgin olive oil tastes great on cooked vegetables or brushed onto fish or meat before serving.
Marcella Hazan who wrote the cookbook called Marcella Cucina, wrote the following:

"The taste of a dish for which you need olive oil will be as good or as ordinary as the oil you use. A sublime one can lift even modest ingredients to eminent heights of flavor; a dreary oil will pull the best ingredients down to its own level. Partial clues to the quality of the olive oil you are buying are supplied by the label and the price, but ultimately, the only way to determine which one, among those available, is right for you is to taste and compare."


Frying: When sautéing or frying, use either a combination olive oil (one that is simply a blend of extra virgin and regular olive oil) or a straight olive oil.

For deep frying, the olive oil grade "olive oil," is excellent because it has a higher smoke point (410º F) than virgin or extra virgin oils.

[G_j]

8. Walnut oil, Olive oil

my choices ..and sometimes a little toasted sesame oil for flavor

[BlueToTheBone]

9. Duh

These are very high in saturated fats. Corn especially and frankly, with corn being 90% gmo crops, they are doubly bad in my book.

Good vegetable oils in my book? 1st cold pressed olive oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, hemp oil, almond oil are my choices. Keep them all refrigerated to prevent them from becoming rancid.

[vanlassie]

10. Coconut oil.

[Revanchist]

26. I have one of those old-fashioned crank stovetop popcorn poppers

And coconut oil is all we use in that, never have to add butter, the oil alone is enough.

[vanlassie]

29. Yum!! I LOVE that! I have put it on toast too!

[Omaha Steve]

11. Marta and I have been using Smart Balance for years

http://www.smartbalance.com/

ttp://

Delicious, real butter and pure canola oil blend
Made with a naturally sourced ingredient1 that helps block the cholesterol in the butter
40% less saturated fat than butter
Excellent source of Omega-3s EPA/DHA & ALA
(32mg EPA/DHA, 20% of 160mg daily value, 500mg ALA, 30% of 1600mg daily value)
Easy to spread
Available in 7.5 oz

[librechik]

22. + (´specially smart balance LIGHT!)

[Major Nikon]

14. All fats are calorie dense as opposed to nutrient dense

Certain oils can have a place in a healthy diet, but overconsumption is where the problem comes in.

[bluestate10]

19. I use extra light extra virgin olive oil for all pan searing and any frying that I do.

I use it because of it's relatively high smoke temperature and food that I use it for don't have a "grease" after taste.

[librechik]

23. as a heart patient i now substitute veggie broth for oil in sautés --

great tip i got from Dr. Neal Barnard

[djean111]

27. For me, no canola, corn, any other vegetable oil, safflower, soy, margarine.

Butter, coconut oil, olive oil, nut oils, sesame oil. Must look into hemp oil. A little of any of these goes a long way and tastes better, too.
Wish there was a commercially available mayonnaise without soybean oil.

[vanlassie]

30. Me too.

[ananda]

28. Olive oil is OK, also sesame seed oil.

..