Increasing Good Fats-Vegetable Oils, Nuts, and Fish
Research shows that the type of fats that you eat strongly affect your cholesterol levels. While saturated and trans-fats increase your LDL or bad cholesterol, unsaturated fats (including monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats) actually reduce levels of bad cholesterol and increase levels of good cholesterol. Unsaturated fats are found in plant-based products such as most vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The one nonplant source of these good fats is deep-water or fatty fish, which is a rich source of polyunsaturated fat.
Dietary fat is not the “enemy.” Clearly, heart-protective unsaturated fats play an important part in a healthy diet. The key is to try to be careful what type of fat you eat-reduce saturated fats, eliminate trans-fats, and then replace those fats with unsaturated fats in the diet. Historically, dietary guidelines have recommended a fat intake of between 20 and 30 percent. However, with this new knowledge of the benefits of unsaturated fats, this recommendation is now increased to up to 3D-percent fat intake by experts who recommend consumption of heart-healthy fats.
Here are some tips on how to incorporate unsaturated fats into Your daily diet:
- Cook with unsaturated liquid vegetable oils such as olive, canola, or safflower oil.
- Buy tub or liquid margarines with an unsaturated vegetable oil, such as soybean oil, as the first ingredient.
- Throw a few nuts or sesame seeds into your morning cereal
- Spread natural peanut butter on celery sticks or green peppers for a healthy snack.
- Dip bread in limited amounts of olive oil instead of spreading on butter.
Polyunsaturated fats are oils that remain liquid regardless of temperature. Corn, safflower, sunflower, sesame, cottonseed, and soybean oils are all polyunsaturated fats. Deep-water fish also contains polyunsaturated fat.
Monounsaturated fats are oils that solidify at cold temperatures. Olive, canola, peanut, most other nuts, and avocado oils are all monounsaturated fats. Foods that contain monounsaturated fats include almonds, cashews, peanuts, and walnuts.
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