Types of oil

[Guest guest]

Many years ago, I heard from a doctor that soybean oil is used to help

lower cholesterol. Is there any benefit to olive oil over soybean

oil?

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IRA L. JACOBSON

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mailto:laser@...

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm not the big expert, but since I started this thing:

It doesn't matter in what form the polysunsaturated fat is: it's just

the amount of it. The straight oil is so much more concentrated, of

course, but you take less of it.

According to a data base, 1 cup (approx. 240 ml) of soy milk contains

2.04 g of polyunsaturated fat, which is 31 % of the Recommended Daily

Allowance (for what that's worth).1 cup of soybean oil contains

126.22 % of polyunsaturated fat, which is 1893 % of RDA. (I guess the

details depend on the brands.)

Both saturated and polyunsaturated fats are healthy in and of

themselves, as long as they're of good quality. But saturated fats

are at least not prone to oxidation within the body. Polyunsaturated

fats got popular in the West some 30 years ago because of marketing

strategies, and it looks like it's time to reduce the intake, at

least by avoiding much unnecessary fat in the form of vegetable oils

(including in some " preassembled " foods), margarine, and so on. The

sources I gave up would say that we should save our anti-oxidation to

what it's meant for, and not " artificial " levels of polyunsaturated

fat. Vitamin E supplements (3-400 mg a day) could also help a little

for the oxidation.

Medium-chain saturated fatty acids are the healthiest, as they can't

clot in the vein, at the same time as they contain anti-microbal

agents.

Also, among the polyunsaturated fats, many people should concentrate

on omega 3, as this is usually more difficult to get from western

food than omega 6. I looked up and found that it's hydrogenated

soybean oil that contains much more omega 6 than 3: for soybean oil

that's not hydrogenated, it's a little more omega 3 than 6.

People would have to " investigate " these claims for themselves.

-- Helge

>Helge - This is interesting information, does this include the fat

>or oil content that may exist when one drinks soy milk? I drink

>a lot of that, usually go through a 4-5 liters of edensoy a week.

>Or is this just the straight oil? Thanks!