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This week’s Super Foods are grouped together because they all are high in monounsaturated fat.
- Olive Oil (Super Food)
- Avocado (Honorable Mention)
- Peanut Butter (Honorable Mention)
sourceHealth Benefits of Monounsaturated Fat
Each food has its vitamin shining moments, but the monounsaturated fat is great for many reasons:
- Lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol and has potential to raise HDL (good) cholesterol
- Reduces breast cancer risk
- Better blood sugar control
- Helps prevent belly fat and improves insulin sensitivity
- Anti-inflammatory benefits (less severe pain and stiffness for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis)
- Lower risk for heart disease and stroke.
- Supports gastrointestinal health
- Helps weight loss
Read more at World’s Healthiest foods and Body Ecology.
Before we get too excited about healthy fats, there’s one thing you need to understand: all foods containing fat are a combination of the big 3: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. I can’t say that an avocado IS a monounsaturated fat any more than I can claim that my body IS water – there’s just a lot of water in there. Foods generally get points for the fat that they contain the majority of. Olive oil is over 75% oleic acid, a monounsat fat. Avocados and peanuts have more mono- fat than the other kinds of fat, but they still contain all three.
What is Monounsaturated Fat?
The Weston A. Price website explains: “Monounsaturated fatty acids have one double bond in the form of two carbon atoms double-bonded to each other and, therefore, lack two hydrogen atoms. Your body makes monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids and uses them in a number of ways. Monounsaturated fats have a kink or bend at the position of the double bond so that they do not pack together as easily as saturated fats and, therefore, tend to be liquid at room temperature. Like saturated fats, they are relatively stable. They do not go rancid easily and hence can be used in cooking. The monounsaturated fatty acid most commonly found in our food is oleic acid, the main component of olive oil as well as the oils from almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts and avocados.
sourceSuper Food Star Nutrients
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) – Vitamin E, antioxidants
- EVOO isn’t a super food for nothing – look for more details in a special olive oil primer later this week!
- Avocado – B Vitamins, Vitamin A & E
- “Avocado has the highest fat content and the highest fiber content — soluble as well as insoluble — of any fruit.” source
- See our family’s favorite way to use an avocado here.
- Peanut Butter – protein, fiber, niacin, zinc, vitamin E
- Important note: peanut butter is a huge trans fat monster! If you don’t have a “natural” style of PB, I can almost guarantee the trans fat in the ingredients (see this post for how to read the labels beyond the numbers). There are so many yummy, frugal natural brands on the market now, many of which don’t require refrigeration or constant stirring. (The one above is Skippy.) Try some. You really have no excuse. It doesn’t really count as a Super Food if you eat peanut butter that has bad fat in it too!
Here’s some food for thought: LARD is also mostly monounsaturated. Who would have thought it would belong in the same group as avocados and olive oil? More on that mind-boggler later when we tackle fats in depth…
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Other Super Food Health Benefits:
- Chicken Stock/Broth
- Beans/Legumes
- Yogurt
- Eggs
- Tomatoes
- Cruciferous Vegetables
- Garlic and Onions
- Peppers
- Super Fruits
Hungry for more? Related posts:
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I need to find some “natural” peanut butter!
JanMary, N Ireland’s last blog post..Lessons Learned – results, chefs, parties and talent!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
Brands I’ve tried: Krema, which is really runny (pourable!) but tasty and ingredients = peanuts only. Gotta love that. Smart Balance brand is ok, but my husband really dislikes it. Skippy is tasty! Almost like “regular” pb, but with added sugar. Friends have had great luck with store brands, actually, when the ingredients are only peanuts. I just realized this probably won’t help you in Ireland – but maybe for others who stop by! Good luck!
[Reply to this comment]
Level Headed Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:58 am
We’re really blessed to have a large local grocery store that actually has a PB-making machine right in the store. You put in your peanuts and away it goes, fresh PB squeezed into a container. The cost is something like $2.50/lb, and I like it better than the Kraft all-natural PB because the oil separation issued doesn’t exist so it doesn’t have to be mixed later (messy!).
[Reply to this comment]
We use EVOO to cook just about everything and LOVE it!!!! I feel like it’s one of the easiest healthy things to do!
Melanie’s last blog post..What I Learned This Week, Vol. 3
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:43 am
Definitely come back later this week for more info on EVOO and some precautions when using it for cooking – you may even want to consider regular virgin olive oil, which can handle a bit higher temps than EVOO (why doesn’t Rachel Ray talk about this issue?). Thanks for visiting!
[Reply to this comment]
I really enjoyed your recent posting about EVOO and the health benefits of using it. Do check out our new consumer or chef blog and post a question to one of our chefs about cooking temperature. We hope to create a conversation online about these very issues.
You can find out more by visiting http://chefs.californiaoliveranch.com
Love to hear back from you!
Kirsten Wanket
editor of “In Season” enewsletter
California Olive Ranch
[Reply to this comment]
I’m so happy you mentioned lard. So many people don’t address lard’s fatty acid profile. It’s a pretty darn good fat.
Jenny @ Nourished Kitchen’s last blog post..Cinnamon Honey Ice Cream
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Tee hee…glad to make you happy! I’ll get more to that later, for Baby Step reasons…
[Reply to this comment]
This post makes me sooooo happy! I could seriously eat a bowl of guacamole with a spoon – no chip required!
Same thing for peanut butter, for that matter. I guess I need to be on the lookout for a brand my hubby will actually eat
Anyways, my question is have you ever frozen avacados? There are avacados on sale EVERYWHERE here right now and I’d really like to stock up this weekend, but I’m not sure how they would do.
Kelli M´s last blog ..No Diet Dr. Pepper update
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Kelli,
I wish they would freeze better!
I froze some when my son was a baby, but they brown terribly and don’t come out so well! Maybe maybe if you used enough lime or lemon juice….but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I just saw a recipe for brownies w/avocados in them – bet those would freeze alright!
http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/1772595-healthy-brownies
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Alton Brown did a show on avocadoes–made mayonnaise and even ice cream! Said they have nearly an identical make-up to eggs.
Is there anything that could be added to natural peanut butter to make it less stick-to-the-mouthiness?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Kim,
Katie
I would experiment with different brands. Some of them are more like regular trans-fat-laden PB than others. My mom simply found she used less of it when she switched to natural stuff.
[Reply to this comment]
Is Grapeseed oil better than EVOO?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 1:08 am
Amanda,
Katie
I haven’t done a lot of independent research on grapeseed oil, but from what I read at other blogs, it’s very high in omega 6s, so it doesn’t really fill the purpose of increasing our health. I would say hands down that EVOO is better than grapeseed oil, but I’m unsure whether grapeseed oil is something you should use sparingly or avoid like the plague. Good question!
[Reply to this comment]
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