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Fatty acids are important to the human body. How to eat oil healthily?
"Eating this oil helps prevent disease", "This oil is closely related to the risk of disease"... We often hear discussions about the relationship between the fat in cooking oil and health. Of course, the relationship between cooking oil and health mainly depends on the fatty acids in the cooking oil. So, what kinds of fatty acids are there, and what are the different functions of different fatty acids?
Don't refuse fat! It's important for maintaining health.
Oil and fat are both major energy sources, often giving people the impression that eating too much will easily lead to weight gain, and most women often avoid oil because of this. But fat is not only an energy source, but also an important component of cell membranes, and is a component of physiologically active substances that inhibit inflammatory responses, with a variety of important physiological functions, and moderate intake is very necessary. Generally, for adults, the energy supply from fat should account for 25%-30% of the total energy intake per day.
The functions of oil and fat vary depending on the fatty acid composition. Fatty acids are divided into saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids according to their chemical structure, and unsaturated fatty acids are further divided into monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The human body cannot synthesize monounsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids in the body. Animal fatty acids contained in meat and dairy products are mostly used as energy sources. In addition, the fatty acids contained in olive oil and coconut oil are also mostly these fatty acids.
In addition, omega-6 fatty acids (n-6) and omega-3 fatty acids (n-3) among polyunsaturated fatty acids cannot be synthesized in the body, and need to be ingested from food to maintain health, and are called essential fatty acids.
Omega-6 fatty acids are represented by arachidonic acid, which is often found in cooking oils. Lack of this fatty acid can easily lead to symptoms such as dry skin and difficulty in sperm formation; omega-3 fatty acids are represented by EPA and DHA, which are often found in fish oil. It is considered to be closely related to brain and eye health, and helps prevent depression.
Professor Tetsuyuki Kobayashi of Ochanomizu University in Japan explained: "Essential fatty acids play an irreplaceable important role as important physiologically active substances." Omega-6 fatty acids can cause inflammatory responses to resist the invasion of pathogens; however, omega-3 fatty acids can inhibit the worsening of this inflammation, because without inflammatory responses, the human body cannot resist pathogens, but if inflammation continues to develop, it may induce cancer or allergies.
According to the 2015 edition of the Dietary Intake Standards by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the combined intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids helps reduce the risk of myocardial infarction. If only omega-6 fatty acids are ingested, the risk may increase. In other words, the balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in the diet is important, and a ratio of 4:1 is more appropriate.
Saturated fatty acids, which are generally considered to be unhealthy, may increase the risk of myocardial infarction when ingested in large quantities, but they also reduce the risk of cerebral hemorrhage. In other words, insufficient intake of saturated fatty acids can also harm health. Professor Osamu Ezaki of Showa Women's University in Japan pointed out: "If you reduce or even stop eating dairy products in order to reduce saturated fatty acids, it may lead to a decrease in protein intake, and protein plays an important role in preventing cerebral hemorrhage."
You can't just eat one kind of oil, the balance of fatty acids is important.
Not only fat, from a scientific point of view, it is not easy to study the impact of nutrients in any food on health. Foods contain many components, and it is difficult to simply understand the impact of a specific nutrient on the human body. Generally, scientific experiments can only find that foods containing a certain component have a certain tendency to affect the human body, but it cannot be said that a certain nutrient will definitely bring a certain effect.
Recently, arachidonic acid, which was once widely touted as beneficial to health, has also been dethroned. The dietary intake standard report points out: "Excessive intake of arachidonic acid may lead to an increased risk of breast cancer and myocardial infarction, which may be related to the easily oxidizable nature of arachidonic acid and its role in causing inflammation." In addition, although EPA and DHA in omega-3 are considered to have a preventive effect on coronary artery disease and stroke, recent scientific research has found that the effect has a weakening tendency in a statistical sense.
Many netizens will only eat one kind of oil because of the online rumors that "a certain oil is beneficial to health", but this biased intake of fatty acids will only harm health. The nutrients needed by the human body should be comprehensively considered, oils should be eaten in rotation, and other nutrients should be added to ensure a balanced diet, which can truly protect health.
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