Every day, our meals cannot do without oil. Cooking and frying all require oil. Now, the market offers a wide variety of food choices. When you walk into a supermarket, you are greeted with a dazzling array of edible oils, making it difficult to choose the right one based on your body’s condition. Choosing a safe cooking oil that suits you is crucial for everyone. If you randomly choose, you may end up consuming too much fat, leading to obesity or increasing the risk of various cardiovascular diseases. So, what oils can be consumed with “high blood lipids” and which ones should be avoided? Let a nutritionist explain it all to you at once.
Our daily consumption of cooking oils and processed foods often contains added oils that contain both “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol,” which can affect cardiovascular health when consuming oils containing bad cholesterol.
Oils not recommended for consumption:
1. Palm oil and coconut oil
These two are common “bad oils” that are rich in fatty acids, increasing the body’s levels of bad cholesterol. Palm oil has a high smoke point, making it ideal for high-temperature cooking without smoking. This oil is used extensively in processed foods due to its attractive appearance, taste, and low cost. When buying convenience foods or bread, carefully check the ingredient list on the packaging for names like palm oil, refined vegetable oil, refined cooking oil, indicating the use of palm oil. Consuming these oils in excess can lead to obesity and high blood lipids, so it’s advisable to consume them sparingly.
2. Lard
Lard, commonly referred to as fat, is favored by many households for its flavorful cooking. However, lard contains a high level of saturated fatty acids at 39.2%. While it may enhance the taste of fatty meats or cooked dishes, opting for lean pork and reducing the use of lard in cooking is better for reducing the instances of cardiovascular issues from a health perspective.
3. Butter
Butter is widely used in Western cuisines and pastries and also contains a considerable amount of saturated fatty acids. It’s advisable to consume butter in moderation.
4. Hydrogenated vegetable oil
This oil is made from plants like soybeans and rapeseeds and contains a significant amount of trans fatty acids, which can harm cardiovascular health when consumed.
5. Reused oils
It’s generally not recommended to consume fried foods from outside vendors, as there’s no guarantee that they use fresh oil. They may reuse oil multiple times to cut costs, resulting in the production of trans fatty acids, acrylamide, and other carcinogenic substances when repeatedly frying at high temperatures. This practice increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and poses a cancer risk.
So, which type of oil is beneficial for health?
1. Choose oils rich in oleic acid
Common oils in this category include olive oil and rapeseed oil, which can help prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, these oils have relatively low vitamin E content.
2. High linoleic acid oils
Common oils in this category include soybean oil and corn oil, with about 50% linoleic acid content and higher vitamin E content.
3. High alpha-linolenic acid oils
Common oils like flaxseed oil and walnut oil fall into this category. These oils can help regulate blood lipids, and supplementing the diet with nuts can also increase alpha-linolenic acid intake.
4. Homemade blended oils
Blending one part flaxseed oil with two to three parts peanut oil or soybean oil can be beneficial when used for consumption, as can blending with olive oil and tea seed oil, all serving health maintenance purposes.
In addition to knowing how oils should be consumed by individuals with high blood lipids, attention should also be paid to a low-fat, low-salt diet and reducing the intake of high-calorie foods. This is essential for controlling blood lipids and preventing more serious cardiovascular diseases from occurring. In conclusion, choosing health starts from the smallest details around you, beginning with the most common aspect – oil selection – opt for oils that are beneficial for your health and reject those that are harmful.
