Seven Tips how to choose healthy fats

Fats - one of the key components of a healthy diet. Many people still mistakenly believe that fat - its evil, because it is the most high-calorie, and cut it in their diets. However, fats are different: harmful or helpful. And some of them are vital to us. For example, without the fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, our existence is impossible, and fat-soluble vitamins do not assimilate, if you do not eat fatty foods. To make the right choice, remember the seven simple rules.

Choose fatty acid omega-3. The essential fatty acids omega-3 are struggling with inflammation. The body can’t produce them on their own, so you must get them from the diet. Good sources - wild salmon, walnuts, chia seeds. It is important to keep the sources of omega-3, so they are not oxidized and does not lose its beneficial properties. Read more about it here.

Avoid refined oils. Refining process or processing oil such as, for example, extracting the oil with solvents, bleaching, deodorization (when the oil is deprived odor distilling it with steam at a temperature above 230 degrees), hydrogenation (in which the obtained saturated with hydrogen trans fats widely used in cooking) oil do not only useless for health, but also often dangerous.

Look for the rich taste of any. "Currently, the oil must have a taste, a pronounced color and smell," - says Lisa Howard, author of "The Big Book of healthy oils” (The Big Book of Healthy Cooking Oils). Highly processed and "cleaned" the oil is taste, almost no smell and has a transparent color.

Pay attention to the quality of animal fat. The oil from cows milk-fed natural feed. Clarified butter, which is removed from the solid particles with lactose milk and casein. All this - good sources of animal fat.

Look for variety. Olive oil, for example, will provide a healthy dose - antioxidant with proven anti-inflammatory properties. But there are other options for vegetable oils that can be used instead of olive: sunflower, sesame, flax ... Adding sliced avocado in a salad, you will help the body to better absorb carotenoids from other products in this salad and to provide an extra dose of fiber and protein. Cook with coconut oil.

Keep an eye on the quality of the fat source. If the oil is properly stored, then it emit chemicals that cause oxidative stress in human cells and can provoke degenerative diseases. Furthermore, it is important to choose clean fats: toxins are often concentrated in fats and oils.

Avoid excessive heat during cooking. If the oil is heated to a temperature at which it begins to smoke, it produces free radicals and other toxic compounds.