Today we’re going to digest (pun intended) a couple of reports that trumpet the benefits of Fats and Oils. Yes, bad Fats are bad for you. Too much good Fat is bad for you. But the right amount of the Right Fats can be helpful in a whole catalogue of ways – starting with supporting weight loss…
Nuts can help you lose weight, be healthier…
Massive study reveals Nuts aid weight loss…
A huge study of more than 370,000 European subjects aged 25 to 70 has yielded a flurry of findings by an army of researchers. One of the most interesti9n g is that eating Nuts regularly can aid weight loss.
Conventional wisdom says that Nuts are an energy-dense, high-fat food which should make you fat. But the new study says the opposite is true.Senior investigator Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Nutrition, Lifestyle and Disease Prevention at the Loma Linda University (CA) Adventist Health Sciences Center found that participants gained a mean average of 2.1 kilograms during the five-year study. However, participants who ate the most nuts not only had less weight gain than their nut-abstaining peers, but also enjoyed a 5 percent lower risk of becoming overweight or obese.
The study looked at consumption of specific types of nuts: Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pistachios and Walnuts, which are classified as tree nuts. Peanuts, which are ground nuts, were not included.
Oil helps unlock the nutrition in Veggies
Maybe this is why the Chinese have thrived for millennia on Stir-fried foods and why Mediterranean Diets are so good for you… A recent Iowa State University study shows that shows that eating salad with added fat in the form of soybean oil promotes the absorption of eight different micronutrients that promote human health. Conversely, eating the same salad without the added oil lessens the likelihood that the body will absorb the nutrients.
Food Science and Human Nutrition Professor Wendy White says better absorption of the nutrients promotes a range of health benefits, including cancer prevention and eyesight preservation. The study also found that the amount of oil added to the vegetables had a proportional relationship with the amount of nutrient absorption. That is, more oil means more absorption.
“The best way to explain it would be to say that adding twice the amount of salad dressing leads to twice the nutrient absorption,” White told reporters.
But that doesn’t mean drenching your Salad in dressing is the right way to go either. White says the optimum amount of Oil per Salad is 32 grams / 2 tbsp. Dressing lovers rejoice!
And there you have it…
The latest news on Oils and Fats. No need to guilt yourself over the coming holidays over eating nuts and no need to guilt yourself over an extra splash of Salad Dressing!
~ Maggie J.