cooking oils: canola oil and olive oil

Most cooking oils are made up primarily of unsaturated fats. When it comes to choosing cooking oils, each type of cooking oil varies in its ratio of monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fats. Two oils stand out for their high levels of monounsaturated fats: canola oil and olive oil. Other than nonstick cooking spray, these two oils should be in your pantry.

At the end of the day, a good fat is still a fat in terms of calories. Any labels on cooking oil that describe the oil as "light," are referring to the taste or color, not the fat or calorie content. All oils are 100 percent fat and are worth around 120 calories per tablespoon.

Monounsaturated fats help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol while also boosting HDL (good) cholesterol.

Polyunsaturated fats are also thought to help lower total and bad cholesterol. But let's not ignore polyunsaturated fats. These are often a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, found mostly in cold-water fish, nuts, oils and seeds, and also in dark leafy greens, flaxseed oils and some vegetable oils. One kind of omega-3 fatty acid is an "essential fatty acid," which cannot be manufactured by our bodies, so eating these foods is the only way to get them. Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to lower blood pressure, combat LDL (bad) cholesterol, fight inflammation and protect the brain and nervous system.

Can I Eat Cheese

Cheese is a wonderful source of protein, calcium and phosphorus, but it's also a major source of saturated fat.

Regular cheddar cheese has about 9 grams of fat per ounce, 6 grams of which are saturated.

Many cheeses are naturally lower in fat than others. These include part-skim mozzarella, string cheeses, farmers cheese, and Neufchâtel. Goat cheese is lower in fat and has fewer calories than cow's milk cheese.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats found naturally in oily fish, nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables. Omega-3 fatty acids are often classed as "essential fatty acids," meaning that they are necessary for our health and that our bodies are unable to produce them.

In fact, the body is unable to manufacture one kind of omega-3 fatty acid known as alpha linolenic acid (LNA or ALA), but it can make the other types, eicosapentaeonic acid (EPA) and docoshexaeonic acid (DHA), by converting LNA, though only a small percentage of LNA is able to be converted. That’s why it’s important for us to include foods containing omega-3 fatty acids in our diet, even if we’re trying to eat low fat.

Unsaturated fats

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are two types of unsaturated fatty acids. They are derived from vegetables and plants.

Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature but begin to solidify at cold temperatures. This type of fat is preferable to other types of fat and can be found in olives, olive oil, nuts, peanut oil, canola oil and avocados. Some studies have shown that these kinds of fats can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol.

Polyunsaturated fats are also liquid at room temperature. These are found in safflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed and soybean oils. This type of fat has also been shown to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, but too much can also lower your HDL cholesterol.

Eating low fat food doesn’t mean we should give up fat entirely.  Fat provides linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid for growth, healthy skin and metabolism. It also helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E and K).

Saturated fats, Trans Fats, Hydrogenated Fats

Saturated fats are derived from animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs. But they are also found in some plant-based sources such as coconut, palm and palm kernel oils. These fats are solid at room temperature. Saturated fats directly raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Many products on the shelf have saturated fats: READ THE LABELS!, and consider!

Trans fats are actually unsaturated fats, but they can raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while also lowering HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Trans fats are used to extend the shelf life of processed foods, typically cookies, cakes, fries and donuts.

Any item that contains “hydrogenated oil” or “partially hydrogenated oil” likely contains trans fats.

Hydrogenation is the chemical process that changes liquid oils into solid fats.

The heart is, after all, a muscle

Exercise is one the most important things you can do to strengthen the heart after a heart attack. The heart is, after all, a muscle, and cardiovascular exercise such as cycling, jogging, tennis or even walking briskly will help your heart regain strength.Read more: How to Strengthen the Heart After a Heart Attack | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2048171_strengthen-heart-after-heart-attack.html#ixzz1XpEY7dSg

Cholesterol what's it good for

Do you know that your body manufactures cholesterol whether you have it in your diet or not?

This is done in your liver.

If you are told to go on a low-fat diet (which means a low cholesterol diet) for a condition of obesity or heart disease or other associated disease states, you should know that as fast as you eliminate animal fats from your diet you ought to add vegetable fats (that is vegetable oils), or you will be storing up more trouble than you had in the first place.

Cholesterol performs several important functions in the body. Perhaps the most important of these is its role in forming and maintaining cell walls and structures. Cells also need cholesterol to help them adjust to changes in temperature, and it's used by nerve cells for insulation.

Additionally, cholesterol is essential for synthesizing a number of critical hormones, including the sex hormones testosterone, progesterone and estrogen.

Bile, a fluid produced by the liver, plays a vital role in the processing and digestion of fats. To make bile, the liver uses cholesterol. Your body also needs cholesterol to make vitamin D; in the presence of sunlight, cholesterol is converted into vitamin D.

More specifically, cholesterol that's packaged by the liver into lipoproteins are dense with proteins and have less fat. These high-density lipoproteins, or HDL, are the "good" cholesterol. What's good about HDL is the way it seems to remove plaques of LDL inside arteries, "cleaning" the arteries as it moves through the bloodstream.