This Simple Food Swap Could Drastically Improve Your Health

In this day and age, food can be manufactured just like any other product. It’s not solely grown anymore. And because of that, we have access to a wide variety of processed food items.

One item that is used quite frequently in the average American home is cooking oil.

There are many different kinds of oils you could choose from when shopping at the grocery store. Two common types of oils that are marketed as being healthy are vegetable and seed oils. These include oils like regular vegetable oil, soybean oil, canola oil, safflower oil, and peanut oil.

Though food authorities out there claim these as healthy, they’re anything but. Research has shown us that these oils are damaging to our health and well being. Here’s just some of the problems these food items cause.

1. Chronic inflammation 

Inflammation is a natural response by the body when you have an injury or infection. However, when it occurs chronically, disastrous consequences can occur. Studies have shown us that inflammation can contribute to various diseases like cancer and heart disease (1).

This occurs when you have a higher ratio of Omega-6 fatty acids to Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6’s promote inflammation while Omega-3’s reduce it. And which type of fat are vegetable and seed oils primarily made of? You guessed it, Omega-6.

2. Increased trans fats

There are 3 main categories of fats found in food:

• Saturated: These are found in foods like meat, cheese, butter, and coconut oil. Many nutritional gurus still claim these fats contribute to heart disease, but this has been shown not to be the case (2).
• Unsaturated: There are two types of unsaturated fat- monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated can be found in avocados and nuts. Polyunsaturated is found in things like seafood.
• Trans: This is the fat that has been chemically processed. It’s used to increase the shelf life of food and can be found in things like crackers, margarine, and baked goods. These fats have been shown to increase risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer (3).

Of all three of these, trans fats have been shown to be the least healthy. And once again, vegetable and seed oils are among the food items that contain trans fats.

3. Increased risk of Cardiovascular disease

This one is kind of a given, based on the other information provided, but it still needs to be mentioned.

Cardiovascular disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States. One thing that increases the risk of this disease is the type of food you eat. Certain foods can cause plaque build up in the arteries, which is never a good thing.

One study found that when saturated fat was replaced with chemically processed safflower oil, the incidence of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease increased (4). The researchers concluded that foods with high amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids and low amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids be avoided. Like I mentioned earlier, this is the typical make-up of processed cooking oils.

Now that you know why vegetable and seed oils should be avoided, let’s talk about the simple swap you can make that can drastically improve your health.

All you need to do is swap out your vegetable and seed oils for extra virgin olive oil. Yep, that’s all there is to it!

Why is extra virgin olive oil the better choice? Well, there are several reasons.

• It has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties (5). This means it lowers inflammation rather than increases it, a big player in reducing overall disease risk.
• It has been shown to reduce high blood pressure and prevent unnecessary blood clots (6,7). This can be important to the prevention of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
• It also possess a high antioxidant content. This has been speculated to aid in the prevention of cancers and heart disease (8,9).

As you can see, extra virgin olive oil is quite the nutritional powerhouse. And the cool thing about it is, it will act like any other cooking oil. Whether you are using it to sauté a particular food or bake something for an upcoming event, olive oil is the more nutritious choice.

So do your health a favor, and make this simple swap. You’ll be glad you did.

References:

1. Calder, P.C. n−3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids, inflammation, and inflammatory diseases. Am J Clin Nutr. June 2006
vol. 83 no. 6.

2. Siri-Tarino, P.W. et al. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. January 2010.

3. Ascherio, A. et al. Health effects of trans fatty acids. Am J Clin Nutr. October 1997 vol. 66 no. 4.

4. Richard P. B. et al. Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Is a broad cholesterol-lowering health claim appropriate? Can Med Assoc J. November 2013.

5. Beauchamp, G. K. et al. Phytochemistry:  Ibuprofen-like activity in extra-virgin olive oil. Nature. 437, 45-46. September 2005.

6. Ferrara, L.A. et al. Olive oil and reduced need for antihypertensive medications. Arch Intern Med. 2000 Mar 27;160(6):837-42.

7. Brzosko, S. et al. Effect of extra virgin olive oil on experimental thrombosis and primary hemostasis in rats. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2002 Dec;12(6):337-42.

8. Owen. R.W. et al. The antioxidant/anticancer potential of phenolic compounds isolated from olive oil. Eur J Cancer. 2000 Jun;36(10):1235-47.

9. Aviram, M. et al. Dietary olive oil reduces low-density lipoprotein uptake by macrophages and decreases the susceptibility of the lipoprotein to undergo lipid peroxidation. Ann Nutr Metab. 1993;37(2):75-84.

Photo credit:

1. www.efolioca.org