Everything You Need to Know About the Benefits of Safflower Oil for Heart Health
During an engaging discussion on the benefits of polyunsaturated fats in my ‘Nutrition through Human Life cycle class’, my professor, came across a rather interesting yet disappointing fact. With a dismal look, she lamented her student’s inability to remember the difference between HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the last midterm exams. She knew it was time to change the strategy.
She proceeded to tell an easy trick to remember HDL and LDL, proudly exclaiming “H in HDL is for healthy fat”, repeating it to make sure that her students remember this tiny trick.
This trick helped me remember the confusing HDL and LDL in my exam. It also gave me a life lesson on the nitty-gritty of healthy fats and bad fats.
Let’s break it down for you.
Cholesterol often gets a bad rap, being labelled as the notorious culprit behind cardiovascular diseases. This waxy, sticky substance circulates through our blood and is linked to heart health. However, it’s far from useless. Cholesterol is crucial for forming cell membranes, producing hormones, and synthesizing vitamin D.
What many people don’t realize is that cholesterol is not only derived from our diet but is also produced by our liver. Surprisingly, almost 80% of cholesterol is produced in liver. It travels through the bloodstream in tiny, spherical structures known as lipoproteins. There are two primary types of these lipoproteins:
• Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL): Often termed as “bad” cholesterol, LDL is infamous for its role in plaque build-up within the arteries. This can lead to blockages and heart disease. In our health story, LDL is like the villain, potentially causing chaos in the body.
• High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL): On the other hand, HDL is known as “good” cholesterol. It removes excess cholesterol from the bloodstream and transports it back to the liver for processing. HDL is our empathetic hero, keeping our arteries clear and supporting heart health.
Safflower oil for heart health
Safflower oil, extracted from the seeds of safflower, is a rich source of omega-6 fatty acids. Omega fatty acids are well-regarded for heart health. All the fame that omega fatty acids get nowadays as a cardio-protective can attributed to the discovery made by two Danish investigators, Jorn Dyerberg and Hans Bang, who researched the Greenland Eskimos. They were curious that this little community had low rates of heart disease. They soon found out it was because of their diet, which was comprised of seafood, a rich source of omega fatty acids.
A research shows that consuming 5-10% of energy from omega 6 reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and safflower oil is one oil rich in omega 6 fatty acids.
While one way to incorporate safflower oil in your diet is to start cooking your meals in this oil there are chances that heat during cooking might make it more harmful than beneficial. To abstain from this hassle, Nutrifactor came up with “TRIOMEGA 3-6-9” which not only has omega 6 from safflower oil but also fish oil that is rich in omega 3 fatty acids and olive oil which is rich in omega 9 fatty acids. With Nutrifactor’s TRIOMEGA 3-6-9, keep blocked arteries and cardiovascular disorders at bay.
References:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/understanding-cholesterol-hdl-vs-ldl-2018041213608
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0952327818302151
https://journals.lww.com/clinnutrinsight/citation/2009/09000/dietary_omega_6_polyunsaturated_fatty.1.aspx