Cholesterol and olive oil |
|||
| Heart and Olive Oil | Cancer and Olive Oil | Skin and olive oil | Back |
Reproduction of articles: Copyright 04/06/08 The Olive Oil Source. All rights reserved for all countries. Content from this site may be reproduced with attribution and hyperlink to The Olive Oil Source.
ADM Kao LLC Launches Enova Cooking Oil
Enova is a soybean/canola combination that has been found to reduce body weight and fat mass via diacylglycerol (DAG), a naturally occurring substance found in many vegetable oils. It promises to heat up the competition in the "healthy oil" category.
The oil in Enova has the same fatty acids as olive oil; Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, and Linolenic acid. Fatty acids are rarely found free in cells; three of them are bound to glycerol as a triacylglycerol lipid in most cooking oils. Most oils also have a few diacylglycerols (DAGs) in them.
These DAGs are concentrated in Enova. So how does eating DAGs instead of triacylglycerols manage to lower one's weight? When we consume oils they are absorbed through the gut wall and are assembled into little packets with a membrane around them. These packets flow through the blood to every part of the body. They can be picked up by fat cells leading to obesity.
The body has difficulty packing up DAGs in these little packets so they end up going by themselves to the liver where it clears them and burns them for energy, instead of storing them as fat.
Of course just adding Enova to the diet wouldn't cause weight loss unless it replaced other fats. Unlike other designer fats, Enova isn't a "fake fat" that can't be used for cooking. It is useful for baking, sautéing, and frying.
Company literature claims that consuming 20 grams of the oil a day lowers serum triglycerides by about 50% and can lead to lower weight and lower body fat percentage. Enova is one of many new designer oils which are competing for the healthy oil title. California boutique olive oil producers who sell a premium and flavorful oil may have to start stressing the taste instead of the health benefits of their oil.
If this article wasn't technical and dry enough for you go to the Enova site for a full scientific discussion.
FDA Wants to Add Trans-Fat Content to Food Labels
Trans fats, found in baked goods, snack foods and stick margarine, may be as bad as animal fats as far as raising cholesterol and increasing heart disease risk. The evidence is mounting as more studies are done. Unfortunately, trans fat content need not be revealed on food labels per current FDA rules. Foods can be labeled "Cholesterol free" and imply they are healthy because they contain no animal fats yet contain trans fats which may have the highest artery clogging potential. Under proposed rules, which would take effect after a 90 day comment period, the listing of saturated fat would indicate that trans fats are added and give the number of grams in each serving. Currently trans fats can be identified by looking for "hydrogenated" on the list of ingredients. Margarines, snacks and prepared foods use oils that have been hydrogenated into trans fats to keep them solid at room temperature and to increase shelf life. Americans prefer a solid shortening for spreads. Tub margarines have fewer if any trans fats so are a healthier choice. Even healthier would be liquid oils such as olive oil. In parts of Europe labels have identified trans fats for years. Hopefully food makers will be induced to use healthier olive and canola oils.
Which is the Best Cholesterol Buster: Canola, Sunflower or Olive Oil?
San Rafael - Some recent studies have suggested that not all monounsaturated fats are the same in their ability to lower cholesterol. Scientists at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science in Germany fed hamsters a moderate amount of canola, olive, sunflower, or polyunsaturated palm oil. All the monounsaturated fats did better than the palm oil in lowering cholesterol and weren't significantly different from each other. This is good news for olive oil lovers if we can assume that similar effects would be found in humans. In a separate study, hamsters fed corn oil had significantly lower LDL and VLDL cholesterol concentrations than those fed olive oil. Unfortunately, HDL cholesterol, the good olive oil, also dropped.
Olive Oil is the Healthy Choice for Frying San Rafael - Heating olive oil to frying temperatures ruins its delicate flavor but can also decrease antioxidants and create a host of new chemical species. These new chemicals include hydroperoxides, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, free fatty acids, esters, ketones, lactones, furans and others (Kiritsakis). The same is true for any oil. In a study at Ankara University in Turkey, ( Department of Biochemistry durak@pallas.dialup.ankara.edu.tr) investigators examined the effect of heating olive oil, sunflower oil and soy oil to 180 degrees C. Olive oil fared the best. It retained its natural antioxidant defense potential and formed the fewest potentially cancer causing aldehydes. This may be because of its low linolenic acid content. Researchers have found that oils high in linolenic acid develop more off-flavors during frying. During frying oils change from one shape to another, called isomers. The "cis" isomer changes to a "trans" isomer with possible harmful health effects. Trans isomer fatty acids are used differently in the body and can cause damage to proteins and enzymes, damage to lungs, formation of age pigments, disruption of cell membranes and even cancer. Repeated frying also increased the ratio of saturated to unsaturated oil. Studies showed that it took 10 to 15 heatings to create these new oil forms. Some investigators heated the oil to 200 degrees C for 25 to 100 hours to produce toxic compounds. In commercial practice, oils should be replaced before these unhealthy chemicals are formed. Frying foods higher in water content seemed to protect the oil longer.Is Benecol Really "Bene"?
John Deane
San Rafael, California - What’s the scoop on cholesterol and plant stanol esters? There has been a great deal of publicity about plant stanol esters and their ability to lower cholesterol since Johnson & Johnson came out with Benecol, a table spread based on these substances. Plant stanols are present naturally in wood and vegetable oils, and in small amounts in corn, wheat, rye, oats and olive oil. Recent articles in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and The New England Journal of Medicine seem to support the advertising claims. Study participants who followed a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet resembling the National Cholesterol Education Program Step II diet and used Benecol as their table spread were able to lower their LDL cholesterol by an average of 24 percent versus only 10 percent for the control group using diet alone. Plant stanol esters work to block transportation of cholesterol from the digestive tract and may inhibit cholesterol production in the liver. So how will this affect consumption of olive oil? Olive oil is still a good fat compared with animal fats and saturated vegetable fats such as coconut and palm oils. In the U.S. top quality California olive oils are still used more as a condiment than as a basic cooking ingredient or table spread. While Olive oil naturally has a small amount of stanol ester, an olive oil based table spread fortified with plant stanol esters would be a welcome product.
Selected References