Tagged with 'monounsaturated-fat'

Different types of dietary fats play an important role in heart health, but it's likely not what you think.

There are so many good things in nuts and seeds — monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Please don't let the high fat and calorie content of nuts and seeds scare you away from eating them. In fact, it's quite the opposite...research shows including one serving of nuts per day protects against heart attack, stroke, or death from other cardiovascular causes in people at high risk due to type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Also, people who frequently consumed both total nuts and walnuts had a lower rate of death from cancer. 

Rather than focusing on one nut or seed, I encourage you to include a variety in your diet.

Ideas for Incorporating Nuts and Seeds into Your Diet

1) Try a new nut or seed toasted, such as pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or hazelnuts to add to salads, oatmeal, pilafs, quinoa, or other ancient grain dishes. 

2) Add nuts and seeds to a morning smoothie. Toss in a spoonful of pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and chia seeds to boost protein, fiber, and omega-3 fats.

3)  A DIY trail mix is always better with extra nuts and seeds. Along with your typical mix, add in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or flaxseeds, chopped almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or pecans. If you buy a prepared trail mix, add extra nuts and seeds to whatever you buy.  

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Live Superfoods

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All nut butters are versatile and add creaminess, heart-healthy fats, fiber, and protein to your diet. Nut butter can serve as a healthful way to add richness to any dish or a satisfying snack on their own. Choosing natural varieties will ensure your nut butter doesn’t contain hydrogenated fat (aka: trans fat).

Here are 11, hard to argue, reasons to eat nut butter every day.

1. It’s delicious!

2. Nut butters contain a significant amount of fat, but the type of fat is predominantly monounsaturated fat, which lowers LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol and appears to lower cardiovascular risk.

3. The healthy fat, in addition to the fiber and protein found in nuts, leads to greater satiation (feeling of fullness) and have been shown to have zero influence on body weight. One or 2 T of almond butter will keep you feeling fuller longer than say, a handful of pretzels.

4. A breakfast containing almonds may help stabilize blood sugar levels for the rest of the day. When your blood sugar is steady you often have more energy and are less likely to feel “starved” and give in to food cravings.

5. Nut butter is a great source of plant-based iron.

6. Almond butter provides about 50% of your daily needs for vitamin E.

7. Eating one ounce of tree nuts per week is associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of risk factors that leads to diabetes and heart disease. Tree nuts include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts.

8. In research, people who ate more than ¼ ounce of tree nuts daily weighed less, had lower systolic blood pressure (the top number), higher HDL ("good") cholesterol and had lower intakes of sugar, saturated fats and sodium than those who didn't eat nuts.

9. When individuals with type 2 diabetes replaced a portion of the carbohydrates in their diets with two ounces of tree nuts daily, their total cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, blood pressure and 10 year risk of coronary heart disease all declined.

10. Many nut butters, such as JEM nut butter, work excellent for satisfying your sweet tooth, whether eaten alone or with other food.

11. Walnut butter contains omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants called polyphenols. Both have anti-inflammatory properties that make them an important nutritional recommendation for people suffering from inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Bear in mind that despite their health benefits, nuts are relatively high in calories, so enjoy them in moderation. I usually eat nut butter with fruit - my favorites are JEM almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower seed butter. How do you like to incorporate nut butter into your day?

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

Your body relies on healthy blood circulation to provide the continuous supply of nutrients and oxygen it needs to survive. The circulatory system is composed of the heart and blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries. Circulatory system diseases, such as atherosclerosis (hardening of your artery walls) prevent healthy blood flow and put you at risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and coronary heart disease. Various factors, particularly activity level and food choices, affect the health of the circulatory system.

Here are three big changes you can make to improve the health of your circulatory system.

#1) Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

As far as I’m concerned, fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of a diet that’s beneficial to the blood circulation. As you’ve probably heard, fruits and vegetables contain many nutrients that benefit the circulatory system, including fiber, potassium and vitamin C.

What you may not have heard is how these nutrients benefit the circulatory system. Vitamin C provides structural support for your blood vessel walls, protecting you from ruptures that impede healthy blood circulation.

Potassium plays a role in every heartbeat. A hundred thousand times a day, potassium helps trigger your heart to squeeze blood through your body. It also helps your kidneys filter blood.

Dietary fiber reduces blood cholesterol levels, which may lower risk of heart disease.

One meta-analysis, which is a review of several studies, found consuming at least five serving of fruits and vegetables daily helps lower your heart attack risk by approximately 15%. Fruits and vegetables also lower your blood pressure, which helps relieve strain on your blood vessels.

#2) Eat Less Processed Foods

To help support healthy blood circulation, avoid processed foods. Processed foods come packed with sodium, a mineral that increases your blood pressure—increasing the strain on your blood vessel walls—and contributes to cardiovascular disease. Processed foods can also contain artificial trans fat (or trans fatty acids), a type of fat that raises your bad (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your good (HDL) cholesterol. Read the ingredients list on packaged foods and avoid products made with partially hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fats.

#3) Eat More Monounsaturated Fats

Monounsaturated fats can help reduce bad cholesterol levels in your blood which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Oils rich in monounsaturated fats also contribute vitamin E to the diet, an antioxidant that’s essential for circulatory health. Good sources of monounsaturated fat include olive oil, avocados, sunflower seed butter, almond butter, cashew butter, and many nuts and seeds.

Bottom Line: Keep your ticker healthy by making a few simple changes. Start small and gradually implement more changes as you adopt them. 

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

Olive oil truly is liquid gold with its many health benefits. Considered the most important component of the traditional Mediterranean diet, this extraordinary fruit juice and its effects are still not fully understood. Yet some of the ways olive oil can preserve and improve human health have been firmly established.

Here are the five most scientifically supported health benefits of olive oil today.

1. It Can Help Lower Your “Bad” Cholesterol

Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), also known as the body’s “bad cholesterol,” transports and deposits cholesterol in the tissues and arteries, which can eventually cause plaque and block the artery. Monounsaturated fats can lower LDL thus protecting against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Plus, monounsaturated fat does not negatively affect the levels of High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) known as the “good cholesterol,” which carries all cholesterol away from the arteries. High levels of HDL are associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.

Olive oil is one of the best sources of monounsaturated fats and has the advantage of being less susceptible to oxidation. In addition, oleic acid, a fatty acid abundant in olive oil, appears to also protect from oxidation of LDL.

It is important to mention, to achieve this reduction in bad cholesterol you cannot just add olive oil to a diet high in saturated and trans fats and expect a miracle. You must replace the unhealthy fats with olive oil in combination with a Mediterranean-style diet.

2. Olive Oil Can Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

Several studies for different age groups, and with a large number of participants, have found the consumption of olive oil is associated with a decrease in blood pressure.

The SUN study with over 6,000 participants found olive oil intake reduced the incidence of hypertension in men, while another Spanish study published in the American Journal of Hypertension found a diet containing polyphenol rich olive oil reduced blood pressure in young women with mild hypertension.

Results from the Greek component of the EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) which included over 28,500 volunteers concluded olive oil intake is inversely associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. While it appears the polyphenols in the olive oil may be responsible for this action, researchers have demonstrated that oleic acid; a fatty acid in olive oil may also induce this lowering effect.

3. Eating Olive Oil Can Help Prevent Cancer

Olive oil consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of cancer. A review conducted last year by Greek researchers from the University of Athens looked at 19 observational studies, with over 36,000 participants, and found higher rates of olive oil consumption were associated with lower odds of having any type of cancer. Another review of 25 epidemiological studies concluded that “preferring olive oil to other added lipids, particularly those rich in saturated fats, can decrease the risk of upper digestive and respiratory tract neoplasms, breast and, possibly, colorectal and other cancer sites.”

4. It Protects from Oxidative Damage

Oxidative damage occurs when your body doesn’t have enough antioxidants to protect against the damaging free radicals. Apart from the beneficial monounsaturated fats in olive oil and specifically oleic acid, olive oil also contains polyphenols. Polyphenols are phytochemicals, components that have antioxidant activity. The specific type of polyphenols found in olive oil appear to protect the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the body.

Researchers for the Eurolive Study Group found that consumption of olive oil at real-life doses of about 2 tablespoons per day improved the fatty acid profile in LDL, associated with a reduction of the oxidative damage to lipids. It appears that oxidized LDL is a major contributor to atherogenesis; the process of plaque buildup in the arteries that eventually can lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

This is an approved claim for olive oil in the European Union: “Olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress.”

It is important to note that only polyphenol rich extra virgin olive oils may have this effect, not refined olive oil, which does not contain these substances.

5. Olive Oil Can Help Cognitive Function

Although olive oil is better known for its protection against heart disease and cancer, there is an emerging amount of research regarding the effect of olive oil on cognitive function and, specifically, on cognitive decline associated with aging.

Generally, the type of fat consumed can affect cognitive function. A study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, analyzed data from 6,000 women over the age of 65, a subset of the Women’s Health Study. They found women who consumed the highest amount of monounsaturated fats, which can be found in olive oil, had better patterns of cognitive scores over time.

But it appears olive oil specifically has a protective effect. Results from the Three City Study, an ongoing multicenter study of vascular risk factors for dementia using information from almost 7,000 participants, showed individuals who had moderate to intensive use of olive oil had lower odds of cognitive deficit for verbal fluency and visual memory compared to individuals who had never used olive oil.

How much of a good thing?

When looking at the different studies in regards to the protective effect of olive oil for various conditions the amount generally ranges between 25 and 40 grams per day, or about 2-3 tablespoons.

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

References:

1. High-monounsaturated fatty acid diets lower both plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/6/1009.full

2. Effects of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/334071

3. The effect of olive oil polyphenols on antibodies against oxidized LDL. A randomized clinical trial. http://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(11)00029-X/fulltext

4. Elevated Circulating LDL Phenol Levels in Men Who Consumed Virgin rather Than Refined Olive Oil are Associated with Les Oxidation of Plasma LDL. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/140/3/501.long

5. Low Fat and High Monounsaturated Fat Diets Decrease Human Low Density Lipoprotein Oxidative Susceptibility In Vitro. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/131/6/1758.full

6. Olive oil consumption and reduced incidence of hypertension: The SUN study. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11745-004-1352-x?LI=true

7. Olive oil, the Mediterranean diet, and arterial blood pressure: the Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/4/1012.abstract

8. Olive oil consumption and reduced incidence of hypertension: The SUN (Seguimiento University of Navarra) study. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11745-004-1352-x?LI=true

9. Oleic acid content is responsible for the reduction in blood pressure induced by olive oil. http://www.pnas.org/content/105/37/13811.abstract

10. Virgin olive oil reduces blood pressure in hypertensive elderly subjects http://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/PIIS026156140400024X/fulltext  

11. Olive oil intake is inversely related to cancer prevalence: a systematic review and a meta-analysis of 13,800 patients and 23,340 controls in 19 observational studies. http://www.lipidworld.com/content/10/1/127

12. Olive oil and Cancer Risk: an Update of Epidemiological Findings through 2010 http://www.benthamscience.com/cpd/contabs/contents.php?JCode=CPD&Vol=00000017&Iss=00000008#3167024

13. Olive Oil and Cognition: Results from the Three-City Study http://www.hal.inserm.fr/docs/00/41/39/95/PDF/inserm-00413995_edited.pdf

14. Dietary fat types and 4-year cognitive change in community-dwelling older women. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.23593/abstract

Article courtesy of Olive Oil Times.