Sunflower oil is ‘BETTER’ for your heart than olive oil – and it’s much cheaper
FOR years, we've been told that olive oil is the healthiest oil to cook with and dress our food in.
But a new study suggests that seed oils might be better for reducing cholesterol than the more expensive Mediterranean variety.
The Mediterranean diet has long been hailed as one of the healthiest diets in the world, thanks to its heavy use of olive oil, fresh veg, fish and grains.
It's the reliance on healthy fats that makes it so heart-friendly.
Research has shown it may help to reduce our risk of developing conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and raise cholesterol - with scientists saying that those who stick to a Med diet religiously being more likely to live longer.
But according to scientists from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, cheaper seed oils might be even better when it comes to cholesterol.
Both olive and sunflower oil, for example, are rich in unsaturated fat (the healthy kind).
Led by Dr Lukas Schwinshackl, scientists looked at a series of previous research to find out which type of oil is best of specific outcomes.
Going all the way back to 1980, they found 55 studies that matched their criteria for inclusion in the paper, which had looked at the impact on the blood levels of various lipids after consuming the same amount of calories from more than two fats or oils over more than three weeks.
In the end, they compared the effect of 13 oils and fats: safflower oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, hempseed oil, corn oil, coconut oil, palm oil, soybean oil, butter, beef fat, and lard.
The "best performers", according to the study, were sunflower, safflower, rapeseed and flaxseed oil.
And unsurprisingly, butter and lard were found to be the worst for bad cholesterol levels.
High levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol is important because it's a major cardiovascular risk factor that people can actually have some control over.
Coronary heart disease is still the number one killer in the UK, killing 73,000 people every year.
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The study's authors say that replacing saturated fatty acids with either mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids reduces LDL cholesterol - which is a "strong risk factor" for cardiovascular disease.
Although more research is needed to see what effect these oils have on our good cholesterol levels, it still offers a good insight into how certain dietary fats work within the body.
But Dr Schwingshackl predicts that those living in the med might not be too happy by his findings.
"Some people from Mediterranean countries probably are not so happy with this result, because they would prefer to see olive oil at the top. But this is not the case."
The good news for us is that these seed oils tend to be quite a bit cheaper than olive oil.
At Tesco, a 250ml bottle of olive oil is £1.30 - 20p more expensive than an entire litre of pure sunflower oil. And that's also way cheaper than butter, which foes for £1.50 per 250g block.
So if you want to protect your heart and your wallet, it might be time to put your faith in flower power.
MORE ON DIET
Interestingly enough, back in August, scientists found that eating animal fats and red meat could cut people's risk of early death by 25 per cent because people tend to binge on refined carbs and sugar when they stop having meat and dairy.
Nutritional advice can be dead confusing but these two findings should work in tandem.
Seed and olive oils are healthier for your heart than things like butter and lard - but only as long as you don't go dipping entire loaves of white bread in them.
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