Polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats are good for you. Polyunsaturated fat are found in olive oil, soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, fatty fish and some nuts and seeds like walnuts and sunflower seeds.



Olive oil has a high content of, monounsaturated fats, like oleic acid, and polyphenol. Olive oil is a main element of the Mediterranean Diet. As a fat for cooking it's one of the best. Olives are a fruit; olive oil is a fruit juice. Apple juice will go bad fast if you leave it sitting out on the counter, same thing with olive oil. Olive oil should be stored in a cool place in a dark airtight container. Refrigeration will extend the life of your olive oil, it may turn cloudy, just warm it up, and it will be good.

Always buy a good olive oil, if it does not taste good to you or of it leaves an aftertaste find a better brand. Extra-virgin olive oil is the highest quality oil, least processed, comprising the oil from the first pressing of the olives.

Saturated Fats and Trans Fats

Saturated fats are found mostly in animal products like butter, cheese and fatty meats. Saturated fats have many important roles in the body. Some vegetable oils, like coconut and palm also contain saturated fat.

Trans fats are made in a lab by lab techs so the fat will hold up to the modern food production process and have a longer shelf life. Trans-fatty acids are much worse for you than saturated fats. Trans fats are not an improvement on nature, made to do better in your body. Trans fatty acids are in many packaged foods, fried foods, fast foods, microwave popcorn, and vegetable shortening. Stop eating processed, packaged foods, which are high in trans fats. Always read labels to look for trans-fat free alternatives. For some people, even a little dietary cholesterol can cause blood cholesterol levels to climb. Butter contains cholesterol.

Margarine is made from vegetable oils, it has no cholesterol. When margarine was first introduced, it was loaded with trans fats. The trans fats were created through the process used to solidify the liquid vegetable oil into a spread. Just like saturated fats, trans fats increase bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol.

Now there is margarine that contains no trans fat. Margarine manufacturers add palm and palm kernel oil to enhance the spread ability of the margarine. Palm oil and coconut oil are one of the few vegetable oils relatively high in saturated fats making them semi-solid at room temperature.

I cook with ghee and olive oil. Ghee is a clarified butter with no solid milk particles. Ghee adds fragrance, flavor and taste to cooked food. Ghee is good for people who are on low fat diets; a small amount of ghee adds a lot of flavor.

To make ghee melt 5 lbs. of butter in a thick bottom pot and boil on a medium flame. Melt the butter gradually to let the impurities separate. Cook 30-40 minutes. Don't stir or you will burn the butter; just boil. When bubbles appear on surface and the butter has turned amber color, it is done. Immediately, after it separates, strain through cheese cloth. This should give you over 1/2 gallon of ghee.