Diva Cheryl doesn’t blog about anything economic or political, so you know this isn’t about fuel. My oil crisis concerns cooking oils. I’ve researched and studied all fats, trying to choose what’s best for my family’s health. Which oils lower cholesterol, which raise the good (HDL) cholesterol, etc. I think I finally have it figured out, so I’m sharing my findings with you.
First, why worry about it at all, especially if you cook without oil? Well, cooking without any oil isn’t so good for you, either. A little fat in our diets is necessary, a source of vitamin E. As long as we don’t overdo the fats, we should have some each day; but be selective. Make your fat a MUFA if possible (MonoUnsaturated FAt).
If you understand cholesterol, skip the next two paragraphs. If you don’t, don’t expect a thorough explanation. All I know is, cholesterol is responsible for the buildup in the arteries that can lead to cardiovascular disease. I nursed my sister back to health after bypass surgery. I have two friends partially paralyzed from a stroke. Trust me, you don’t want cardiovascular disease.
Experts tell us to keep the total cholesterol number below 200, but that’s not enough. You should strive for a strong HDL/LDL ratio, which means your HDL (good) cholesterol should be at least 40 (or 50 if you’re a woman) and your LDL (Harmful) cholesterol should be less than 100. Then there are triglycerides, another number affecting your cardiovascular health. Triglycerides build from an excess of calories in our diet, especially sugar and fat.
I knew that saturated fat raises cholesterol. It raises total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL. I figure that’s a bad thing. But what are the alternatives? Monounsaturated oil? Polyunsaturated oil? Trans fat? Until recently, no one realized that trans fats are actually worse for you than saturated fat. Why? Because while trans fat (anything hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated) raises total cholesterol and LDL, it lowers HDL! That’s the one form of cholesterol you want to raise.
Now it’s clear, right? Eat butter, not shortening. Lard isn’t looking as bad all of a sudden, which is wonderful for pie crusts. There’s no better fat for a good, crispy pie crust than lard. Yum yum. But I digress. Obviously, you want to choose a fat that lowers your cholesterol (or at least has a neutral effect). So what is it? Monounsaturates or polyunsaturates?
Not so fast. Remember those pesky triglycerides? We still need to monitor the total fat we consume, and make sound choices. While I won’t refuse the occasional piece of pie, I want to focus on the good oils in my cooking. So what are good oils?
Polyunsaturated fats are better than saturated fats because they lower cholesterol. Unfortunately, they may lower HDL, too. Polyunsaturated fats are still not the most healthful.
Monounsaturates, however, appear to be on the opposite end of the health spectrum from trans fats. Monounsaturated oils (which include olive oil, safflower oil, and canola oil) lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, and either raise or maintain HDL cholesterol! What more could we ask for? That settles it for me. I’m a monounsaturated cook from now on! But which are the best?
My sister sent me a cartoon of two bottles of olive oil side by side. The first bottle is labeled “Extra Virgin Olive Oil.” The other bottle’s label reads “Not virgin but has a heart of gold olive oil.” All right, so it’s a romance novelist’s joke. It’s cute, but it also makes a point about all the choices we have to make regarding cooking oils. Extra Virgin or Virgin? Full-bodied or Light? Refined? Cold Pressed? Organic? Not all olive oils are created equal. Just remember, you can’t go wrong with extra virgin, cold pressed. Cold-pressed means no heat or chemicals are used in extracting the oil. It’s expensive, but you shouldn’t go cheap on cooking oil (unless you’re deep frying a turkey, but that falls into the lard-in-the-pie crust area, an infrequent indulgence).
If you watch Rachael Ray, you know she uses EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) for most of her cooking. EVOO is a good choice unless you’re cooking at high temperatures or are baking. I bake with canola oil (No, it’s not dangerous, regardless of the hoaxes flooding our e-mail Inboxes). Canola oil is high in alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat. Choose organic if you’re concerned about possible exposure to pesticides.
But my new favorite oil is Safflower oil. Why? Its mild flavor, versatility, and health benefits make it a good multi-purpose monounsaturated oil. It is the most healthful oil of all, having tested well in lowering LDL and raising HDL. I use it for sautéing and in salad dressings. When possible, I buy the “expeller processed” variety because the method is without the use of chemicals.
There is a product out now called Enova® that is 80% diglycerides. The body doesn’t absorb as much diglycerides as it does triglycerides, so this may make it the healthiest oil of all. I’ve tried two bottles of it. It is versatile and holds up to higher temperatures, but I prefer the taste of Safflower oil. For more on Enova® visit their website at http://www.enovaoil.com/ .
For those times when you have to have the taste of butter, try melting a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of a monounsaturated oil. I do this for Shrimp Scampi, and it tastes great.
I do hope I’ve demystified the subject of cooking oils. At least now you can say when it comes to oil, you know the drill.
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