If you want to prevent heart disease, a healthy cholesterol number is key for success. What you eat greatly impacts your cholesterol. Many of the recipes and dishes that you love include some type of oil to add moisture and flavor. With so many oils to choose from, which oils will help keep your numbers under control? Let’s find out which oils you should keep on your pantry shelf!
Olive Oil
How It’s Made
There’s no surprise that olive oil comes from olives that grow on the olive tree. Olive oil is extracted from pressed olives. There are three main types of olive oil: Extra virgin, virgin, and refined. Extra virgin olive oil is considered to be the top choice. If you compare it to the other olive oils, it is darker in color, has more flavor and aroma, and has more nutrients and antioxidants.
Extra virgin oil is made from pure cold-pressed olives. Virgin olive oil is made from a blend of cold-pressed and refined oil while refined oil is completely processed.
Impact on Cholesterol
Olive oil is made primarily of a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. Studies show that eating foods and oils that are rich in monosaturated fat can help to improve your cholesterol and lower your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Some studies have shown that olive oil improves the function of blood vessels, decreases inflammation, and decreases the breakdown of LDLs (bad cholesterol). This is the reason extra virgin olive oil is a big component of the Mediterranean diet.
Coconut Oil
How It’s Made
Coconut oil is made by pressing fresh coconut meat or dried coconut meat. Virgin coconut oil only uses fresh coconut meat while refined oil uses dried coconut meat. However, you won’t see the description “virgin” or extra virgin” on coconut oil labels. What you may see are the descriptions “expeller pressed” or “cold-pressed”.
Expeller pressing uses steam or heat to press the oil from the coconut and cold pressing removes the oil without using heat. Cold-pressed coconut oil is thought to retain more nutrients.
Impact on Cholesterol
Coconut oil is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, but is it good for your cholesterol? Unlike olive oil, coconut oil is a saturated fat. This means that it is a solid at room temperature.