Differentiating Between Oils and Oil Benefits

These days, when looking for an oil for cooking or reading a nutritional label and seeing all the different kinds of fats, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the different names and types. The first thing to note that makes things a little bit easier is just to know that an oil is just a fat in liquid form. But in the realm of fats there are different levels of saturation: polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated. And there are other distinctions like trans fats and partially hydrogenated fats. Knowing at least a little bit about these different types of fats and how they effect your body is important because health concerns like heart disease, cholesterol, and blood pressure are always a danger.

There are many differences between the different kinds of fats and oils, differences in nutrition, cooking value, and effects on cholesterol and blood pressure. A lot of oils are very nutritious and can be consumed by the spoonful, but might not be the best for cooking due to their tendency to be damaged by heat. Other oils are great for cooking but aren't very nutritious for the body. In the last few decades, a lot of mistruths have circulated about many fats and oils, and a lot of unhealthy products like margarine have surfaced, claiming to be healthy, and have contributed to the rise in dangerous conditions like high LDL cholesterol, heart disease, and others.

Most oils that you'll hear about these days contain a variety of Omega essential fatty acids. Most people have heard of Omega essential fatty acids but aren't quite sure what they are. There are three types of Omega essential fatty acids: Omega 3, Omega 6, and Omega 9. All three are very valuable to the body and the difference between them has to do with where the double bond between 2 carbon atoms within the molecule first takes place. With Omega 3s, the first double carbon bond happens at the 3rd carbon molecule, which is different from Omega 6s whose first double carbon bond takes place at the 6th carbon molecule, and so on with Omega 9s. These 3 types of Omega essential fatty acids are all polyunsaturated fats and are used heavily by the body. Every cell in the body has a membrane surrounding it that's composed primarily of Omega 3 essential fatty acids, and Omega 6s and 9s have function in a wide variety of different bodily functions.

In years past, the good name of a lot of oils has been damaged by "lowfat" oil makers who have called most healthy oils too fatty. But in recent years, many studies have shown that oils high in polyunsaturated fats, instead of contributing negatively to things like cholesterol, heart disease, and blood pressure, actually have been shown to have positive effects. There are a few different reasons why this is so, but the main reason is due to the fact that these oils contribute to elevating HDL cholesterol, which is the good kind of cholesterol, while at the same time decreasing LDL cholesterol, which is the bad kind. So even though the overall effect of some of these oils might be an elevated level of cholesterol, high HDL and low LDL is generally seen as a healthy state. HDL cholesterol is a very helpful and essential compound to the body, one which can actually help to decrease the risk of heart disease and plaque buildup. Just lowering the total level of cholesterol, as many prescription drugs do, is a method that's coming into some criticism.

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These days, the sheer amount of different oils you can buy is staggering.&nbsp; There are a lot of mistruths about many of these oils and a lot of healthy benefits that you really ought to read up on.&nbsp; For more about all of the different kinds of beneficial oils out there, visit:<br />http://oilbenefits.net

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