- Give Your Heart A Healthy
Beat
- Sorting Out Saturated,
Polyunsaturated, and Monounsaturated
Saturated,
Polyunsaturated, Monounsaturated--What Does It All Mean?
While a rose is a rose is a
rose, not all fats are the same. There are three kinds of fat -- saturated,
monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated -- and foods contain a mixture of all
three. Butter, for example, is 65 percent saturated, 4 percent
polyunsaturated, and 30 percent monounsaturated fat. It's labeled as a
saturated fat because that's the fat that occurs in the greatest amount.
Monounsaturated fats
-
Are liquid at room
temperature.
-
May help lower your
total blood cholesterol level.
-
Are thought to raise
HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
-
Are found in greatest
abundance in canola, olive, and peanut oils.
Polyunsaturated fats
-
Are liquid at room
temperature.
-
Are found mainly in
vegetable oils, except tropical oils (coconut, palm, and palm kernel
oils).
-
Are thought to lower
both HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol.
-
Have been implicated in
colon cancer.
Saturated fats
-
Are usually solid at
room temperature.
-
Are found in many
animal products and tropical oils.
-
Cause the total blood
cholesterol level to rise.
So what do you do with
these facts? First, keep your calories from fat to 30 percent or less of your
total calories. Less than a third of the fats you do eat should come from
polyunsaturated fats. And less than another third of the fats you do eat
should be saturated. The remaining calories should be from monounsaturated
fat.
You won't need a chart to
accomplish this. Just eat more chicken and fish and less pork and beef. And
choose oils over solid fats.
Hydrogenation: A good
oil turned saturated
Have you ever wondered how
corn oil can turn into corn oil margarine? Or other vegetable oils become
shortening? The process is called hydrogenation.
Hydrogenation is a process
of changing a liquid oil into a hard or solid fat. Partial hydrogenation only
changes some of the individual fat molecules from polyunsaturated to
monounsaturated. More hydrogenation will then turn more polyunsaturated fats
to monounsaturated fat or change monounsaturated fats to saturated fats. When
enough have been changed, the oil becomes "visible" as a hard fat.
Food companies hydrogenate
oils either to improve their shelf life or to make an oil into margarine or
shortening. When oils are fully hydrogenated, the process turns them into
saturated fats...the fat to be avoided.
The oil that may have been
heart-healthy in the beginning, may then be no better than lard--so watch out.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Service
Warning:
This program is a heart disease risk reduction program consisting of
information on healthful eating and walking, with an emphasis on your individual
capabilities. There exists the possibility of certain biological changes
occurring during your participation in the walking exercises. These changes
include, but are not limited to: abnormal blood pressure, fainting, disorder of
the heart beat, and in rare instances, heart attack or death. Thus, prior to
participating in this exercise program, you should consult a physician.
The North Carolina Extension Service shall
not be liable for any claims, demands, actions, or cause of action, whatsoever,
to person or property arising out of or connected with participation in Give
Your Heart a Healthy Beat.
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Heart a Healthy Beat: Sorting Out Saturated, Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated
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