dyer@dec-vaxuum.UUCP (02/25/86)
Fats______________________________________________________________
[This article addresses both the "good for you?" article and
the "hydrogenation" article.]
There are four types of fats: saturated, monounsaturated,
polyunsaturated, and hydrogenated. The hydrogenated and saturated
fats are the worst, and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated
fats are better, but not extremely better.
Consuming large amounts of any of these fats makes blood cells
stick together in clumps. These clumps hinder the blood flow and
thus deprive parts of the body of oxygen and nutrients for about
12 hours. Any fat will do this, but saturated fats will also
cause more hindrance of blood flow by attaching to platelets.
Large amounts of fats - any kind - have been associated with
various types of cancer, adult-onset diabetes, and hypoglycemia.
Saturated fat raises cholesterol levels, and this why most
people concerned about health avoid them and opt for polyunsatur-
ated fats instead. Consumption of polyunsaturated fats actually
*lowers* the amounts of cholesterol in the blood, and that's why
somebody might say that they're "good for you."
They're wrong, though. Consumption of large amounts of poly-
unsaturated oils will remove large amounts cholesterol too fast,
via the gall bladder and colon, doing damage to both!
There is one source of monounsaturated fat: olives. This
kind of fat has been recently found to have a character of its
own, different from saturated or polyunsaturated fats. The infor-
mation on it is just coming in, though, so not much is known.
Hydrogenated fats are typically vegetable fats that have been
saturated with hydrogen to make them solid. The process was or-
iginally (and still) used to make margarine, but now hydrogenated
vegetable oil is used in all kinds of processed foods to give them
some kind of texture or viscosity or something. Vegetable short-
enings are also hydrogenated.
Hydrogenated fats are like saturated fats, only worse. Some
of the fats that are created - called "trans-fats" - don't occur
in nature, and they've been implicated in even higher levels of
cholesterol and triglycerides than normal saturated fats. (It
should also be noted that margarine, for this reason, is actually
less healthy than butter!)
Brominated fats are like hydrogenated fats, except that the
process uses bromine instead of hydrogen. Bromine is an extremely
volatile substance, and brominated vegetable oil has been linked
to even more health hassles than hydrogenated vegetable oil! It
has been banned in some countries, but is still routinely used in
processed foods in the United States.
It is important to get some fat in our diets, because they are
sources of linoleic and linolenic acids, which our bodies need.
These can be gotten, though, without ever using oils, since plant
foods contain fats with these acids in them (which is where the
vegetable oils get them, after all). It is recommended that fats
only make up 5% of the typical diet, though children, thin adults,
active adults, and lactating mothers may have more fats than that.
You don't need oil to do a stir-fry. I occasionally use a
tablespoon of a flavorful oil (e.g., peanut oil), but I generally
make the stir-fry work by using (1) high temperatures, and (2)
a liquid like sherry and/or tamari sauce. I also use a cast iron
pan or wok which has been seasoned with safflower oil, but that's
not a requirement.
Indeed, I do most of my frying and sauteing without oil (or
tamari - I try to limit my sodium intake too): I use vegetable
juices! Give it a try: tomato juice and carrot juice are the
ones I've done the most with. You can also use wines - the alco-
hol burns when cooked. (Don't buy the "cooking wines" that come
in little tiny bottles; they have salt added to them.) And last
but not least, there's plain old water.
::::.-----.:::::<_Jym_>:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::/ | \::::.-----.:::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer :::::::::::::::::
::/ | \::/ o o \::::::::: Dracut, Massachusetts ::::::::::
::\ /|\ /::\ \___/ /:::::: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA :::::::
:::\ / | \ /::::`-----':::::: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax} ::::::
::::`-----'::::::::::::::::: decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer :::::jin@hropus.UUCP (Jear Bear) (02/27/86)
I agree with you except on one point: Olive oil is not the only source of mon-unsaturated fatty acids. It may be the best source (and certainly the tastiest) but the following oils and fat all have over 50% mono- unsaturated fatty acids (courtesy of UDSA Handbook 8-4): Goose Fat: 56.7% Almond oil (not bitter!): 69.9 Apricot Kernal: 60.0 Hazelnut: 78.0 Olive: 73.7 Rapeseed (edible variety): 55.5 I have heard that highly polyunsaturated oils may promote cancer. I have no references to this but do believe that olive oil use may contribute to the low cancer and heart disease rates amoung Mediteranean (sp?) peoples. Anyone have any data? -- Jerry Natowitz ihnp4!houxm!hropus!jin The Master Baker
swb@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Scott Brim) (03/03/86)
In article <1354@decwrl.DEC.COM> dyer@vaxuum.DEC (Jym _n_!) writes: > There are four types of fats: saturated, monounsaturated, >polyunsaturated, and hydrogenated. The hydrogenated and saturated >fats are the worst, and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated >fats are better, but not extremely better. > ........ > Hydrogenated fats are like saturated fats, only worse. Some >of the fats that are created - called "trans-fats" - don't occur >in nature, and they've been implicated in even higher levels of >cholesterol and triglycerides than normal saturated fats. (It >should also be noted that margarine, for this reason, is actually >less healthy than butter!) Aren't "saturated" and "hydrogenated" synonyms, since the "saturated" refers to the fact that all possible hydrogenation sites are taken? Hang on a sec....(dictionary): "hydrogenation: the addition of hydrogen to the molecule of an unsaturated organic compound". Perhaps do you mean that new fatty acids are created out of vegetable oils artificially? Just looking for clarification. ----------------------- Scott W. Brim swb@devvax.tn.cornell.edu Cornell Theory Center {decvax,ihnp4,cmcl2,vax135}!cornell!swb 265 Olin Hall 607-256-8686 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853