The Skinny on Dietary Fats & the Mediterranean Diet

Researchers studying the Mediterranean diet for clues to the low incidence of heart disease in the region, and the longevity of Mediterranean people,now believe that credit should go to the low intake of animal fat and the extensive use of olive oil, and olive oil’s high monounsaturated fat content.

More Skinny on Dietary Fats

As researchers study the Mediterranean diet for clues to the low incidence of heart disease and the longevity of Mediterranean people, they are coming to some interesting conclusions. They now believe that credit should go to the low intake of animal fat and the extensive use of olive oil, and olive oil’s high monounsaturated fat content

. Researchers studying the Mediterranean diet for clues to the low incidence of heart disease in the region, and the longevity of Mediterranean people, now believe that credit should go to the low intake of animal fat and the extensive use of olive oil, and olive oil’s high monounsaturated fat content.

Canola oil slightly exceeds olive oil in monounsaturated fat content. It has a much milder taste, also.

Both olive oil and canola oil are great to use at home, the only place you can control the healthiness or lack of same when cooking with fats.

Flaxseed oil is really rich in the hard-to-find omega-3 essential fatty acids. Not particularly good for cooking, flaxseed oil is great to use in salad dressing or anytime the oil is not heated.

According to Udo Erasmus, Ph.D., in the book Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, flaxseed oil contains the following:

  • Omega3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: 58%
  • Omega6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: 14%
  • Monounsaturated Fatty Acids: 19%
  • Saturated Fatty Acids: 9%

One other word on fats. At best, they become rancid quickly. They need to be stored in a cool, dark place to retard this.

Although they are probably not dangerous when they get that strong, rancid taste, they should still be discarded, if only for the sake of your taste buds.

I always buy oil in the smallest possible quantity for this reason, and keep them all in the refrigerator, even freezing my flaxseed oil in small quantities, since I do not use it as much.

Fat-free. No way. Fat-healthy is the way to go.

Fat-healthy, in my opinion, precludes eating flesh, dairy, or egg products except as a very rare treat. Amazingly enough, after an American lifetime of a diet heavy in meats, chicken, dairy and eggs, you do quickly begin to lose your taste for these birds and animals and their eggs and milk.

A fat-healthy diet does not preclude sautéing vegetables in olive or canola oil, or having a good non-fat-free salad dressing made with olive or flaxseed oil. Although we need to cut our bad-guy saturated and hydrogenated fat consumption to the bone (no pun intended), we still need the good-guy fats in our diets.

The goal of CyberParent is to bring you true, correct, and up-to-date nutritional information that is not influenced by the financial considerations of advertising and advertisers. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. They are not medical advice and do not necessarily express the position of CyberParent. Please consult your medical professional.

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