Fats and Oils

Information on good and bad fats and oils including trans fats, saturated, and unsaturated fats.

Vegetable Fats - Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure. Although many different parts of plants may yield oil, in commercial practice, oil is extracted primarily from seeds.

Hydrogenated Oils - Unsaturated vegetable fats and oils can be transformed through partial or complete hydrogenation into fats and oils of higher melting point. The hydrogenation process involves "sparging" the oil at high temperature and pressure with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst, typically a powdered nickel compound.

Essential Oil - An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not as a group need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances. They are not to be confused with essential fatty acids.

Macerated Oils - Macerated oils are vegetable oils to which other matter, such as herbs, has been added. Commercially-available macerated oils include all these, and others. Herbalists and aromatherapists use not only these pure macerated oils, but blends of these oils, as well, and may macerate virtually any known herb. Base oils commonly used for maceration include almond oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil as well as other food-grade triglyceride vegetable oils.

Fatty Acids - A fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail (chain), which is either saturated or unsaturated. Carboxylic acids as short as butyric acid (4 carbon atoms) are considered to be fatty acids, whereas fatty acids derived from natural fats and oils may be assumed to have at least eight carbon atoms, caprylic acid (octanoic acid), for example.

The human body can produce all but two of the fatty acids it needs. These two, linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), are widely distributed in plant oils. In addition, fish oils contain the longer-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Other marine oils, such as from seal, also contain significant amounts of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), which is also an omega-3 fatty acid. Although the body to some extent can convert ALA into these longer-chain omega-3 fatty acids, the omega-3 fatty acids found in marine oils help fulfill the requirement of essential fatty acids (and have been shown to have wholesome properties of their own).

Saturated or Trans Fatty Acids - A trans fatty acid (commonly shortened to trans fat) is an unsaturated fatty acid molecule that contains a trans double bond between carbon atoms, which makes the molecule less 'kinked' in comparison to fatty acids with cis double bonds. These bonds are characteristically produced during industrial hydrogenation of plant oils.

These fats are solid at room temperature and are contained in food products like butter, shortening, or the fat on meat products. Some types of oils like palm kernel oil and coconut oil, contain saturated fat. Whole dairy foods also contain trans fats.

Trans fat is formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils, a process called hydrogenation which increases the shelf life and flavor of food containing these fats. Trans fats can be found in many types of pre-packaged items, like cookies, crackers and potato chips. Trans fats are also found in many fried foods such as french fries and doughnuts. Saturated fat and trans fat raise blood cholesterol levels, increasing a person's risk of developing heart disease.

Research suggests that amounts of trans fats correlate with circulatory diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease more than the same amount of non-trans fats, for reasons that are not fully understood. It is known, however, that trans fats raise the LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lowers the HDL ("good") cholestrol. They have also been shown to have other harmful effects such as increasing triglycerides and Lp(a) lipoproteins. They are also thought to cause more inflammation, which is thought to occur through damage to the cells lining of blood vessels.

Unsaturated Fats - These fats are in a liquid form when at room temperature and in the refrigerator, they can be polyunsaturated or monounsaturated. Polyunsaturated fats help your body rid itself of newly formed cholesterol. They keep your blood cholesterol level down and reduce cholesterol deposit build up in your artery walls. Examples of polyunsaturated fats include - fish and fish oil, sunflower oils, corn and soybean. Monounsaturated fat is found in olives, olive and canola oil, most types of nuts and their oils and avocados.

Further Information Regarding Fats and Oils

Omega-3 Fish Oils and Rheumatoid Arthritis
New research from Queen Mary, University of London and Harvard Medical School has revealed precisely why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.

Study Supports Brain Power of Fish in Seniors
Experts estimate that over 24 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and many of these people live in low and middle income countries. Recently, there has been growing interest in whether dietary factors, particularly oily fish and meat, might influence the onset and/or severity of dementia. Oily fish are rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Safflower Oil and Conjugated Linoleic Acid Lower Body Fat
A study comparing how two common dietary oil supplements affect body composition suggests that both oils, by themselves, can lower body fat in obese postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes. The two oils compared were safflower oil, a common cooking oil, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a compound naturally found in some meat and dairy products that has been associated with weight loss in previous studies.

Facts About Fats and Cholesterol
I have become greatly concerned with the abundance of bad and nonsensical nutritional advice being hurled at us from television and popular magazine advertising, particularly on the subject of fat and cholesterol.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Impact Age-related Macular Degeneration Progression
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University.

Eating Fatty Fish Reduces Male Risk of Heart Failure
Eating salmon or other fatty fish just once a week helped reduce male risk of heart failure, adding to growing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids are of benefit to cardiac health. Analysis of numbers showed that men who ate fatty fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, whitefish and char) once a week were 12 percent less likely to develop heart failure, compared with men who ate no fatty fish.

Shoppers Avoid Certain Trans Fats Products
News coverage about the harmful effects of trans fat, combined with labeling information, may influence consumers' short-term purchases of foods high in trans fat, but is not enough to prompt shoppers to avoid these potentially artery-clogging purchases over the long term, according to a study in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Benefit Cancer Patients Undergoing Major Operations
New research from Trinity College Dublin published in this month's Annals of Surgery points to a potentially significant advance in the treatment of patients undergoing major cancer surgery.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer
Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer, and this effect may be modified by a genetic variant in the COX-2 gene, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Olive oil is a good addition to a healthy diet. The reason for this is it contains a good combination of both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. They are necessary for a strong immune system that will enable the body to fight against many diseases.

Why We Need Essential Fatty Acids
Your body needs essential fatty acids for optimal health and wellbeing. Essential means that the body cannot produce the specific fatty acid and has to take them in from outside sources - either through food or supplements.