Healthy Fats and oils

A walk down the grocery aisle will confirm our obsession with low-fat foods. We’re bombarded with supposedly guilt-free options: baked potato chips, fat-free ice cream, low-fat candies, cookies, and cakes. But while our low-fat options have exploded, so have obesity rates. Clearly, low-fat foods and diets haven’t delivered on their trim, healthy promises. Despite what you may have been told, fat isn’t always the bad guy in the waistline wars. Bad fats, such as trans fats, are guilty of the unhealthy things all fats have been blamed for—weight gain, clogged arteries, and so forth. But good fats such as the monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3s have the opposite effect. In fact, healthy fats play a huge role in helping you manage your moods, stay on top of your mental game, fight fatigue, and even control your weight. The answer isn’t cutting out the fat—it’s learning to make healthy choices and to replace bad fats with good ones that promote health and well-being.
Polyunsaturated fats is one of two main fats. When you pour liquid cooking oil in a pan, there’s a good chance you’re using polyunsaturated fat. Corn oil is a common example. Polyunsaturated fats are required for normal body functions, but your body can’t manufacture them and so must get them from food. Polyunsaturated fats help build cell membranes, the exterior casing of each cell, and the sheaths surrounding nerves. They’re vital to blood clotting, muscle contraction and relaxation, and inflammation. They reduce LDL more than they lower HDL, improving your cholesterol profile. Even better, they also lower triglycerides. There are two types of polyunsaturated fats: omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids. Research has shown that omega-3s help prevent and even treat heart disease and stroke. Evidence also suggests they have similar benefits against autoimmune diseases such as lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis. Omega-3s come mainly from fish, but also from