Why Vegetable Oils and Margarines are Not the Best Fats

Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats (as they are called sometimes), are oils extracted from seeds or other parts of fruits. Margarine being a component of vegetable oil is a spread that is used on cakes, pastries, and doughnuts. It is also extracted and processed from those seeds and are considered as edibles which is our focus.

These edibles are used when cooking and baking, and are found in foods like salad dressings, margarine, mayonnaise, and cookies. The most recognized vegetable oils are sunflower oil, olive oil, soybean oil, and coconut oil. So in plain terms, vegetable oils may be considered as those vegetable fats that are liquid at room temperature.

There have been an increase in the consumption of vegetable oils lately (margarine inclusive). Although they are considered as a not as healthy alternative to other oils, there may be posing health problems with consistent consumption.The effects of consuming vegetable oils vary on the fatty acids, the plants they are made from, and the entire production process.

One very important reason why you should avoid vegetable oil is because the unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils tend to react when heated thereby triggering inflammation that could leave someone at risk for a heart attack especially those vegetable oils that contain lots of omega-6 fats. These oils are soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and rice bran oil.

Research has shown that too much omega-6 can likely contribute to chronic inflammation (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis). Another reason why you should avoid vegetable oil is the trans-fat label because large intake and consumption of trans fats in your food is mostly associated with all sorts of chronic and cardiovascular diseases like the ones we mentioned above.

By taking in trans fats regularly or through the vegetable oil, you could get an increased level of Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) - bad cholesterol and lowered levels of High-density lipoprotein (HDL) - the good cholesterol. So the next time you purchase a vegetable oil, the ingredients could very well include hydrogenated oil. It is very possible for it to contain trans fats.

Hydrogenated oils are oils that include hydrogen as they are used to preserve shelf life of products. It is best to avoid products with those ingredients. As we have pointed out hydrogenated vegetable oils are high in trans fat, and trans fats are likely to be associated with various health problems especially those associated with heart conditions.

In order to maintain a healthy heart and the desire to avoid other chronic diseases, it is best to have moderate intake - you could use margarine like once or twice a month, or better still consume only olive oils as they are considered as the healthier oils in the vegetable fats family.