Are all fats bad? What are the best oils?

Christopher Thomas

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. Nutrition, Recent Articles — By Christopher Thomas on January 12, 2012

Not all fats are bad and neither are they all good

All natural products have a balance of saturated and unsaturated fats. It is the saturated fat – packed in tight – that we should try to limit in our diet. Foods containing a higher proportion of saturated fat include butter, coconut, dairy products (especially cream cheese and milk chocolate), meat and eggs. In each case, there are low-fat alternatives. So read the label, compare and choose the one that has the least saturated fat. Keep in mind that low fat sometimes means high carbs.

Some fats are essential for good health, including the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Good sources of omega-3 include cold-water oily fish, meat from animals that eat grass, organic eggs, flax seed (linseed), kiwifruit, black raspberries and walnuts.

Some simple rules when using oils

When we feel we have to use some oil on a salad or in a meal, choose the good oil:

For high temperature cooking try grape-seed, rice bran, peanut, macadamia oils as these are more stable. However, prolonged or very high temperatures (e.g. deep frying) will destroy many of the antioxidants and phytochemicals contained in the oil. Prolonged deep frying can also generate trans fats. Even if we use trans fat free oil we need to change it regularly.
Consider a drizzle on the salad, like the Greeks do, not spa bath for potatoes (as the French would fry). For dressings and flavor, try sesame, olive, or walnut oils. Try some fresh ‘hand-picked’ oils from local producers. They taste much better.
Choose organic or virgin (not refined) oils where we can, as these contain more polyphenols. ‘First cold press’ means that it came from the first press, and generally contains the most phytonutrients. ‘100% Pure Olive Oil’ is often the lowest quality available. Good quality extra virgin olive oil should have a distinct green color, and be stored in the dark. If your oil is light or yellow, its polyphenol content is probably also low.
Use canola oil sparingly as well as butter as oil surrogates in your cooking.

Go for variety and try something new!

Vegetable oil/canola oil for cooking	Peanut oil (organic), rice bran oil and macadamia oil (good for high temperature cooking)
Margarine	Organic butter, non-organic butter, olive oil and butter blend, hummus, drizzled olive oil, avocado

Fats, oils and aging

One of the things I find challenging is to remember the details for things like eating the right type of fat. So I thought I'd do a piece on fats to remind myself which oils I should and shouldn't be eating. Here's an excerpt from our book Fast Living, Slow Ageing on fats: All natural products have a balance of saturated and ...

Bad and good cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipid found in the membranes of every human cell, where it functions to keep our cell membranes flexible. It also has an important role in the function of bile which is important for the digestion and absorption of fat, as well as fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K. Cholesterol is also used ...

Fats and aging and Omega-3 fatty acids

Good oils, bad fats Dietary fat has a bad name and rightly so. It has twice the calories of sugar. Cholesterol clogs our arteries as we age. Yet fats are more than just the means to a sticky end. In this post we look at some of the fats in our body and our diet, and the ways we can maximise ...

Is MSG really that bad for us?

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is widely viewed as a dangerous food toxin that is responsible for adverse reactions to Chinese food and other meals. But is it really the MSG that’s to blame? Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid, used chiefly in our body to make protein. Most of us normally eat around 10 grams of glutamate ...

Fats, oils and aging

Bad and good cholesterol

Fats and aging and Omega-3 fatty acids

Is MSG really that bad for us?