The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans explains that you can reduce your risk of heart disease more through focusing on the type of fat you consume than the amount of total fat you consume, although it is also important to keep your total fat consumption in moderation. One type of unsaturated fat is polyunsaturated fat, which can reduce your risk of heart disease, unlike saturated fat, which can increase it. The key is to use polyunsaturated fat in place of saturated fat, instead of adding it to your saturated fat intake.
Step 1
Discern which oils fall under the polyunsaturated and saturated fat categories. Butter, palm oil and coconut oils are saturated fats that you should limit in your cooking. Polyunsaturated fats are broken up into two categories: omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Some research shows that an excess of omega-6 oils can increase your risk of heart disease, although the American Heart Association notes that research does not confirm this conclusion. These oils reduce triglycerides and blood pressure and regulate the heartbeat. Omega-3 is found in canola, soybean, walnut and flaxseed oils, and omega-6 is present in corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower oils.
Step 2
Use polyunsaturated oils in cooking instead of butter and other saturated fats; use it in the pan to cook meat, vegetables, eggs, stir-fries and other pan-cooked dishes. Use it in sauces instead of butter as well, to coat pasta, vegetables or other dishes. Create a dipping sauce with oil, garlic, onion and spices as a dipping sauce for bread or to coat corn-on-the-cob.
Step 3
Use polyunsaturated fat to replace the butter in baking. Use three parts of oil for every four parts of a solid fat that is called for in a recipe. For a finished product that is closer to the consistency of the original recipe, add some sugar and eggs. This will result in a less healthy recipe, although without it, the recipe will turn out more dense and greasy than the original recipe.
Tips and Warnings
- Monounsaturated fat provides the same benefits as polyunsaturated fat, so it is another viable choice to replace saturated fat. This group includes olive, avocado, canola and nut oils, with the exception of walnut oil.
- Keep in mind that cooking oils have different smoke points, which is the temperature past which an oil becomes unhealthy. For this reason, it is important to use an oil for the types of cooking that meet its temperature threshold. For example, sunflower oil has a high smoke point, so you can use it for deep-frying, searing and other high-heat cooking. Flaxseed oil, however, is a no-heat oil, so you should only use it in foods such as marinades and salad dressing, where cooking is not necessary.
