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Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

theatlantic.com

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Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#21
post #3

I try to avoid eating vegetable oil. I understand that the polyunsaturated oils are preferentially stored to protect the body from these unstable oils. The Center for Science in the Public Interest needs to eat some crow.

The entire nutrition science industry needs to start reporting confidence levels associated with studies. Almost all nutritional advice is based on small studies. That's why you see them contradict each other on a frequent basis. You need a 5 sigma result to discover a new particle. Discovering new particles doesn't kill people.

> Almost all nutritional advice is based on small studies.

I doubt they'll ever really expand beyond small studies in that field. There's certain groups that routinely do meta-analyses of nutritional (and other) studies, like the Cochrane Collaboration. E.g., Effect of cocoa on blood pressure: http://www.cochrane.org/CD008893/HTN_effect-of-cocoa-on-bloo...

That's really the only way to be confident, short of setting up a massive (expensive) randomized controlled trial.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#24
post #4

How about olive oil? The oils they name there already got a bad rap in the press here for not being very good for you. But olive oil persists. Also; you have to wonder about these tests... Anecdotal, but too many times I see people take cola light, a light sugar substitute for their tea and veg oil based butter with their 3000 kcal burger & fries & chocolate sunday. Also, the more I read up about it, I think stress i…

It's not clear that any of the oils are harmful in the sense you're implying, i think. Though olive oil certainly has its own unique health benefits.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#25
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, I read vegetable oils. I do not know the difference between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, but will read up on it. In our region they use olive oil for everything hence I was curious.

Some important differences, as I understand it: - polyunsaturated fats are the category that includes omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. Even further, omega 3's can be ALA (from plants) or DHA (e.g. salmon) variety. Omega 3's and in particular DHA have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and other health properties. Which is to say even within polyunsaturated fats there is a wide variety of alleged health effects, but…

Good comment. A few things:

>- polyunsaturated fats are the category that includes omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. Even further, omega 3's can be ALA (from plants) or DHA (e.g. salmon) variety. Omega 3's and in particular DHA have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and other health properties.

You missed EPA which is also in fatty fish. ALA doesn't convert very well in humans to DHA or EPA. So eating lots of flax to get Omega3 is pretty useless.

Opinion: The conclusion I came to a few years ago is that we have too much PUFA in our foods, of which Omega-6 is just one form. Eating fatty fish and cutting down on vegetable oils high in O6 help to restore a more natural ratio that humans are more tolerant to. But ultimately saturated fats are intended to be the primary fuel.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought no reputable vegetable oil brand uses trans fats anymore.

As far as I know, that shift has only occurred in the past decade or so, after the FDA started requiring trans fat to be listed on the Nutrition Facts label. It might be too soon to look for the effects of that change on long-term risks for cardiovascular disease.

The sad thing is that the FDA first had to be convinced to allow trans fats to be listed. Later it required them to be labeled.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How about olive oil? The oils they name there already got a bad rap in the press here for not being very good for you. But olive oil persists. Sorta an apples and oranges comparison. Olive oil is primarily a monounsaturated fat. The article covers polyunsaturated fat. Olive oil is more stable than linoleic oil, but still less than any decent saturated fat. I think it's kinda funny the article references cholesterol…

Ah, I read vegetable oils. I do not know the difference between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, but will read up on it. In our region they use olive oil for everything hence I was curious.

Apologize in advance for not listing sources (busy) but my comment can perhaps still be a source of some information for you. The last I'd read up on it, one aspect of Olive (and perhaps, others) oil has to do with additional compounds which act as more specific anti-inflammatory substances. Again, sorry for no source, but my brain says that the recommended daily intake of Olive oil (per "official" mediterranean diet) is similar to ~1/10th a dose of aspirin. There is some speculation that the additional benefits of Olive oil consumption may be related not to just to the fat type but also to the additional anti-inflammatory compounds.

Whether this type of benefit could be replicated (/ is safe) by taking low dose aspirin directly is probably a subject of some investigation. I hope this is helpful despite a my non-cited fuzzy memory.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#28
post #3

I try to avoid eating vegetable oil. I understand that the polyunsaturated oils are preferentially stored to protect the body from these unstable oils. The Center for Science in the Public Interest needs to eat some crow.

Temperate vegetable oils are really, really bad for you. Example bad temperate oil: Canola oil. Temperate plant oil is designed to provide nutrients to the germinating seed at lower temperatures. After it gets warm enough and the seed germinates the oil is no longer needed. So it oxidizes. Oxidation is a serious problem for the mammalian body plan.

Eat only unprocessed tropical oils, extra virgin olive oil or raw unprocessed avocado oil.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#29

There is nothing wrong with butter. Oils can become rancid. Clarified butter or ghee is even better as they have longer shelf life.

It's an animal product with the obvious ethics problems and cow methane boosting the co2 footprint.

Re: Replacing butter with vegetable oils does not cut heart disease risk (2016)

#30
post #3

I try to avoid eating vegetable oil. I understand that the polyunsaturated oils are preferentially stored to protect the body from these unstable oils. The Center for Science in the Public Interest needs to eat some crow.

Temperate vegetable oils are really, really bad for you. Example bad temperate oil: Canola oil. Temperate plant oil is designed to provide nutrients to the germinating seed at lower temperatures. After it gets warm enough and the seed germinates the oil is no longer needed. So it oxidizes. Oxidation is a serious problem for the mammalian body plan. Eat only unprocessed tropical oils, extra virgin olive oil or raw unp…

Do you have citations for any of this?
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