Oil in the family - Cover Story

Nutrition Action Healthletter, July-August, 2002

All fats are a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (though we usually call them by the name of the fatty acid they have the most of). Look for the least saturated (red), and a good mixture of everything else. Polys (yellow and green) lower cholesterol, while monos (blue) only lower cholesterol if you eat them in place of saturated fats.

Alpha-linolenic acid (green) is an omega-3 polyunsaturated fat that may protect the heart. Canola, soy, and flaxseed oil are good sources. Many researchers recommend a mix of alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid (yellow). (Linoleic is a polyunsaturated omega-6 fat.) If you don't want the details, just stick with canola for cooking. It's among the lowest in saturated fat and it has a good mix of alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids.

                                   Fat (grams)

Type of fat (1 Tbs.)     Saturated       Monounsaturated

Safflower oil *             0.8                10.2
Canola oil                  1.0                 8.2
Flaxseed oil                1.3                 2.5
Sunflower oil *             1.4                 2.7
Corn oil                    1.7                 3.3
Olive oil                   1.8                10.0
Sesame oil                  1.9                 5.4
Soybean oil                 2.0                 3.2
Peanut oil                  2.3                 6.2
Cottonseed oil              3.5                 2.4
Chicken fat                 3.8                 5.7
Lard (pork fat)             5.0                 5.8
Beef tallow                 6.4                 5.4
Palm oil                    6.7                 5.0
Butter                      7.2                 3.3
Cocoa butter                8.1                 4.5
Palm kernel oil            11.1                 1.6
Coconut oil                11.8                 0.8

                                        Fat (grams)

                                 Polyunsaturated

Type of fat (1 Tbs.)   Linoleic Acid   Alpha-Linolenic Acid   Other

Safflower oil *             2.0                                0.6
Canola oil                  2.8                 1.3            0.7
Flaxseed oil                2.2                 8.0
Sunflower oil *             8.9                                0.6
Corn oil                    7.9                 0.1            0.6
Olive oil                   1.1                 0.1            0.5
Sesame oil                  5.6                                0.7
Soybean oil                 6.9                 0.9            0.6
Peanut oil                  4.3                                0.7
Cottonseed oil              7.0                                0.7
Chicken fat                 2.5                 0.1            0.7
Lard (pork fat)             1.3                 0.1            0.6
Beef tallow                 0.4                 0.1            0.5
Palm oil                    1.2                                0.7
Butter                      0.3                 0.2            0.5
Cocoa butter                0.4                                0.6
Palm kernel oil             0.2                                0.7
Coconut oil                 0.2                                0.8

* Safflower and sunflower oil can be high in polys or
monos. Most safflower oil sold in bottles is the high-oleic
(high-mono) variety shown here, but some brands that
are sold in health food stores are the high-linoleic (high-poly)
variety. The sunflower oil sold in bottles is usually
high in polys (as shown here), but most chips and other
packaged foods that are made with sunflower oil use the
high-mono variety.

Source: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
(Release 14), the National Sunflower Association, and the Flax
Council of Canada.