To function properly the body needs fat, because it provides some essential fatty acids that our bodies can’t produce on their own. We need to have the right kinds of fats to maintain essential bodily functions, and for good health. It’s very important that we consider dietary fats and the role they play in our overall health. Here Dr. Mercola, Mercola.com, reflects on dangers associated with vegetable oils used in cooking and other fats:

“Dietary fats can be tricky business, as they’re not all the same. While some are necessary for optimal health, others need to be balanced and some need to be avoided altogether, and understanding which is which is quite crucial, considering how important fats are for optimal health.

Image courtesy of: trontnort

Here, I will review some of the basics, including the importance of balancing your omega-3 and omega-6 intake, and why replacing saturated animal fats with omega-6-rich vegetable oils is such a bad idea.

Some of this information, which will be more thoroughly covered in my upcoming book, “Superfuel,” is based on research by my coauthor, James DiNicolantonio, a doctor of pharmacy and cardiovascular researcher.

For Optimal Health, Mind Your Omega-3 to Omega-6 Ratio

For years, I’ve stressed the importance of balancing your omega-3 to omega-6 intake to protect your health. Eating too much damaged omega-6 fat — found in abundance in processed vegetable oils — and too little animal-based omega-3 sets the stage for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, depression and Alzheimer’s, just to name a few.

Image courtesy of: PeteThomas.com

The ideal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats ranges from 1-to-1 to 1-to-5, but the typical Western diet tends to be between 1-to-20 and 1-to-50. Most people, especially Americans, are guilty of this lopsided omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, and to correct it, you typically need to do two things:

Replacing Saturated Fats With Vegetable Oils Harms Heart Health

Unfortunately, many health authorities have insisted omega-6-rich vegetable oils are healthier than saturated animal fats such as butter and lard, and this myth has been a tough one to dismantle, despite the evidence against it.

Image courtesy of: Cosmic Jans

For example, a 2013 study³ in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found replacing saturated fat with omega-6 oils raised the risk of death if you have heart disease. As reported in a BMJ press release:⁴

“Their analysis involved 458 men aged 30 to 59 years who had recently had a coronary event, such as a heart attack or an episode of angina. Participants were randomly divided into two groups.

The intervention group was instructed to reduce saturated fats (from animal fats, common margarines and shortenings) to less than 10 percent of energy intake and to increase linoleic acid (from safflower oil and safflower oil polyunsaturated margarine) to 15 percent of energy intake. Safflower oil is a concentrated source of omega-6 linoleic acid and provides no omega-3 PUFAs [polyunsaturated fats].”

The control group received no specific dietary advice on fats and was allowed to eat whatever they wanted. Both groups kept food diaries for an average of 39 months.

It’s worth noting that this study did not differentiate between types of saturated fats, lumping together animal fats with margarines and shortening high in saturated fat but also toxic trans fats. (The harder the margarine, the more saturated fat it tends to contain, in some cases more than butter or lard.) Despite this discrepancy, the results showed that:

• The omega-6 linoleic acid group had a 17 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease during the study period, compared with 11 percent among the control group
• The omega-6 group also had a higher risk of all-cause mortality

Omega-6 Oils Do Not Provide Cardiovascular Benefit

The researchers also conducted a meta-analysis of linoleic acid intervention trials, finding no evidence of cardiovascular benefit. According to the authors, “These findings could have important implications for worldwide dietary advice to substitute omega-6 linoleic acid, or PUFAs in general, for saturated fats.”

Jane Collis, an independent researcher not affiliated with the research also commented on the BMJ study, saying:⁵

“Commercial food processing destroys a significant amount of EFAs [essential fatty acids], along with their oxygenating ability … Polyunsaturated oils are unstable and very quickly become rancid.

Oxidized fatty acids are dangerous to your health. Lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress are important factors in this damage. Further damage is also caused by heating polyunsaturated fats in cooking (particularly frying foods).

Many omega-3 research trials did not consider the omega 3/6 essential fatty acid ratio which is vital to the eicossanoid balance. The correct omega 3/6 ratio is fundamental to holistic health for all.”

If you would like to learn other solutions to help control your health … click here?

Read More … Article Source: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/10/01/omega-6-vegetable-oils-promote-heart-disease.

 

Photo By joyosity

Photo By JeepersMedia