The Tale of Fats, Cancer, and Heart Disease
The Fats and Oils Story
A hundred years ago, shoppers had few fats to choose from. Usually, only butter and lard were available to consumers.
Today, there are enough fats and oils on the market to confuse anyone. But all of them fall into one of three categories:
- Table fats (butter and margarines)
- Cooking and salad oils
- Shortenings
To make things simpler, remember just one thing. All of these items are high in fat. In fact, the fat content of shortenings and oils is virtually identical. Butter and margarine have slightly less fat because these spreads contain a small amount of water that shortenings and oils lack.
The Different Types of Fat
The only important difference between the many fats has to do with what nutritionists call “type of fat.” Some of the fat in food is saturated, while other fats are monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. The saturated type of fat promotes heart disease, but others do not seem to do so. Somehow, still there are controversies among experts and scientists regarding correlation between saturated fats and heart diseases or/and cancers.
Categories: Cancer, NUTRITION Tags: blood cholesterol, breast cancer, Cancer, colon cancer, fats, heart disease, High blood cholesterol, margarine, monounsaturated fats, oils, polyunsaturated fats, prostate gland cancer, saturated fats, shortenings
More Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber
Two More Benefits of Fiber
(This part is continuation of the previous article)
The soluble forms of fiber have value in control of blood cholesterol and blood sugar. Fruits, vegetables, beans, and oat bran are good sources of these forms of fiber.
The soluble fibers don’t lower blood cholesterol nearly as much as the cholesterol’s sources raise it. But a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has a mild cholesterol-lowering effect, thanks to the fiber. Lower blood cholesterol, of course, means lower rates of heart disease.
These soluble forms of fiber have also revolutionized the treatment of diabetes. New research has shown that a high-fiber diet helps diabetics control their blood sugar better than the diets used in the past. Their insulin requirements often drop on a high-fiber diet. Changes in insulin doses should be made only on a doctor’s instructions.
Fiber’s ability to keep the blood sugar under control may very well help people who do not have diabetes. A low-fiber meal can cause the blood sugar level to rise quickly, then drop abruptly. Headaches, hunger, and irritability can set in as a result.
Categories: NUTRITION Tags: blood cholesterol, blood sugar, diabetes, dietary fiber, estimate fiber content, insoluble fiber, soluble fiber
