By: Nikki Nies
I’ve talked a lot about fats due to their ubiquitous nature, our need for healthy fats and due to the controversies related to which fats are better than others. While polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats are lauded as the healthy fats, there’s another type of fat that deserves equal healthy attention. That is oleic acid!
While polyunsaturated fats have multiple double bonds, oleic acid(omega-9) has one double one, which makes it still a “healthy fat.” Oleic acid is an unsaturated fatty acid, compromising of 55-85% of olive oil. In its natural form, oleic acid is odorless, colorless and great in all methods of cooking.
Oleic acid is an omega- 9 fatty acid and is naturally found in animal and plant oils. In its natural form, Oleic acid is odorless and colorless. Although oleic acid is best known to derive from olives, it can also be found in avocados, canola oil, grape seed oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sesame seed oil, pecans, almonds and other types nuts. Naturally in the body, it’s found in adipose tissue.
Benefits of oleic acid:
- Used as an emulsifier in aerosol
- Less susceptible to spoilage, which makes it ideal for food preservation
- Lowers blood cholesterol and blood pressure
- Reduces occurence of blood clots
- Ability to remove plaque and debris in blood vessels
- Antioxidant rich to help remove harmful toxins and free radicals
- Prevents premature aging in cells
- Increases immune system functioning
- May help boost memory and increase speed neurological transmission
- May help relieve asthma symptoms
- May increase respiratory functioning
- Seen as a treatment for joint pain, swelling and redness related to arthritis
With all these listed benefits of oleic acid, how can you resist the variety of oleic acid rich nuts and oils?
Photo Credit: Pioneer and Olive Oil Excellance
Sources: http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=445639
http://www.livestrong.com/article/438717-what-is-oleic-acid/d=445639
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