Healthy oils are important for out body to function correctly. These oils are valuable sources of essential fatty acids. Don’t dread all fats, as you could be missing out on important benefits for your health, and also for your fitness results. Healthy oils are the great “elixirs” due to the many properties they have for our body in general.

These quality oils do not only add taste to your food, but also aid in good cardiovascular function. That’s why we call these “heart- healthy” oils. Another main benefit is that they help to keep down your bad blood cholesterol and support the increase of the good cholesterol.

Functions of healthy oils

Healthy oils are needed to boost proper brain function. They are also key to produce energy. This will improve endurance, recovery from exercise and mental stamina. Also, essential fatty acids are stars for reducing inflammation. As well, a great benefit is that the essential fatty acids can improve hormone function.

What about weight management? It is also true that the fatty acids in healthy oils can help shift the body from burning glucose to burning fats. In other words, these will stimulate more fat burn from your body reserves to produce energy. For those that have problems with blood sugar, consuming more healthy oils improves the use of insulin in the body, which is great for fitness results.

There are some more extra benefits associated with healthy fats, like improving the immune system. Also, in terms of skin care and hair health, healthy oils play an important role. They help to keep your skin, nails and hair moisturized.

Advice

As a nutritionist, the recommendation for fats consumption should be around 25-30% of total intake. From the total consumed, less than 10% should be saturated fat. Basically, that means consuming mainly healthy oils. You should also be cooking with these types of oils exclusively, since, as mentioned, you don’t want to clog your pores and suffer from heart disease.

The best oils should be organic, unrefined and cold-pressed (made without added heat). The refining process removes phytosterols, which are components that protect the heart from suffering attacks and cancer. As long as you start distinguishing the differences between each type of oil, the choices will be easier for you.

Some great oils you must use

• Olive oil

This should be the top one in your list. Olive oil is the star for lowering bad cholesterol and protecting the arteries from high blood pressure. There are mainly three types of this oil: virgin, extra-virgin and pure. This oil is kind of “delicate” and loses its properties during high temperatures. Therefore, you want to avoid using this oil for cooking, especially frying.

Olive oils is best if you use it as a dressing for vegetables, salads, or you can use for recipes such as making garlic bread, for example. You should store this oil away from light and heat.

• Canola oil

This one is a good source of alpha-linoleic acid (ALA). It is lightly flavored. Canola oil is good for salads and cooking. Since it tolerates higher temperatures, you can use it for frying or stir-frying your vegetables.

• Safflower oil

This oil is star source of polyunsaturated acids and vitamin E, the main antioxidant for good heart health and beautiful skin. Sunflower is very similar to this type of oil. This oil works better as a vinaigrette or dressing for salads. Experts do not recommend this oil for cooking, since it doesn’t take high temperatures.

• Sesame oil

Sesame oil is becoming more popular due to its nutritional benefits. This oil is great mainly for its use to add flavour, as an ingredient of recipes. It has low smoke point, so we do not recommend it for cooking.

• Flaxseed oil

This is one of the best sources of both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This oil is best if you use it in salad dressings, or in post-workout, protein shakes.  Flaxseed oil is not good for cooking, it will lose its properties if you use it for frying.

• Almond oil

You gotta love almond for its multiple properties. Almond oil is high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, antioxidants, vitamin E, and phytosterols, which help to lower (LDL) bad cholesterol levels. Consuming more almond oil can boost the amount of good blood cholesterol

and therefore remove risks of artery blockage.

Almond oil is a great ally in weight loss process.

As other oils, you should add this to the food after cooked. Do not use this oil for frying, due to the low smoke point. You can also get the most of this oil as part of your beauty routine for skin, hair and nails.

• Coconut oil

Even though coconut oil may be high in saturated fats, there are more benefits of this great oil that you don’t want to miss. This oil contains medium chain triglycerides, which are mostly used by the body as energy fuel, and less likely to be stored as fat. The MCT in this oil may help raise HDL (good) cholesterol. Coconut oil components are also associated with increasing your body’s ability to burn fat as fuel.

The best way to use coconut oil is at its liquid state. If it’s solid and white, you need to heat it up. Coconut oil is widely used in ethnic dishes, like caribbean food, as well as an ingredient for other types of recipes. Organic refined oil can be used for mid-temperature stir-frying and baking, due to its smoke point.

To wrap up…

Take advantage of these top vegetable, heart-healthy oils. There are many uses and benefits that will help to boost your body function. These oils should be your main source of fat, in order to promote good cardiovascular health and fitness performance. You also want to stay away from the saturated fats, processed dressings. Natural and homemade is always best! Use these for your recipes, share this insight with your friends and fit pals!