Good
Fats Rule!
Canola
oil is in, olive oil is out
(Posted
Feb 15, 2008)
Unless you have been
living under a rock and not heard, not all fats are bad - in fact, some
are good for you. At WHP we have been using a little bit of olive oil in
our dough mix for "lubrication" purposes - and it serves as the
base for the "white sauce" and we drizzle it on the cheesy bread
stixx. First off, all oils are 100 percent fat. Which is not a bad thing,
per se. Of interest, however, are studies that have shown that olive oil
reduces your blood flow to various parts of your body, whereas canola oil
(made from rapseeds - see pic on left) and salmon does not. Blood flow is
a good thing by the way. Note much of the health benefits you read about
that are associated with olive oil are usually in studies where they
replaced bad things such as butter or palm oils - which are higher in
saturated fat - with olive oil. In these cases, olive oil will always win
out as the healthier choice.
The science is starting to reveal that omega fatty acids in oils - such as
omega-3 and omega-6 - are essential to human health. We have all heard of
them. Ideally, the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids
should be 1 to 1, or 2 to 1 - give or take. Unfortunately, in the average
American diet this ratio is between 10 to 1 and 30 to 1. Though olive oil
has a reputation of being "good for you," it has nearly 13 times
the amount of harmful omega-6 fatty acids as beneficial omega-3s. Corn oil
is worse, with a ratio closer to 46 to 1. Note many of the
"other" pizza joints in town are using corn oil. You might want
to check before you bite into a slice.
At WHP we care. So, we have been researching the subject and have decided
to switch from olive oil to "more" healthy canola oil. The
transition has already started.
|
