Give Up Vegetable Oils for Healthier Alternatives

You head to the kitchen to make dinner and sauté some vegetables in a pan drizzled with safflower oil. It's your turn to bring some cookies or muffins to a get-together, so you bake a batch using canola oil. You run through the list of ingredients you need for a recipe, dig through the pantry and find some safflower oil that will work.

Sounds like you're trying to eat healthy, right?

Vegetable oils like these have long been recognized as healthier alternatives to cooking with butter, lard, and coconut oil. But new research at Tufts University suggests that these oils still increase the risk for inflammation, heart disease, and other chronic health problems.

Why? Even though these oils are all made from plant sources, they're still refined. And that means they're high in omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids are closely related to omega-3 fatty acids, but they don't have the same protective properties. In fact, research shows that high levels of omega-6 fatty acids can lead to inflammation, tissue damage, chronic disease, and brain-related problems.

And that's clearly not what you want when you're trying to manage diabetes and avoid developing other health problems. When it comes to healthy fats and oils, what you really need to be eating is more foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating omega-3 rich foods can counteract the problems omega-6 foods cause.

Like what? Some of the best food sources for omega-3 fatty acids include fish, extra-virgin olive oil, grass-fed lean meats, nuts and seeds, and avocados.

Need a little meal-planning help for dishes that contain omega-3 fatty acids? Our Diabetic-Friendly menu includes seafood dishes like Cod with Miso Ginger, Black Beans & Rice with Peas & Carrots, Tilapia with Mushroom and Artichoke and Salmon Caponata with Orzo & Spinach. Pick your favorite and leave the prep work to us. All you'll have to do is heat up the meal made from fresh ingredients, and it will only take a few minutes. Yum!