Healthy Fats: Macadamia Nut Oil

Macadamia nut oil will provide all the benefits of a heart healthy fat, known as monounsaturated fats. Macadamia nut oils is an alternative to other oils such as extra olive oil, avocado oils and hazelnut oil.

 

If you are concerned about living a healthy lifestyle, incorporating healthy oil, like macadamia nut oils into your diet can help you achieve your goals. Why use macadamia nut oil versus any of the usual suspects? Before we go into that, let’s discuss the types of fats available for us to eat.

 

There are 3 Types of Fats:

Saturated (no bond) – The kind of fat to avoid at all costs
Polyunsaturated (less than 1 bond) – Essential fats for a proper diet
Monounsaturated fats (1 bond) – Which are the heart healthy fats

 

A healthy diet should include a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and yes, fats, but the right kinds of fat and not the “bad” saturated fats usually found in meat products. Understand that fat burns fat…they add a flame to the fire just like lighter fluid would to a furnace fire. Monounsaturated fats like that from Macadamia Nut Oil would do the same thing effectively, helping improve your metabolism to burn more fat. People are incorrectly trained by the media to fear fats and this is one of the reasons, why consumers are buying “Fat-free” products, which ironically, in turn contributes to more people getting fat!

 

What are the benefits of Monounsaturated fats?

- Been shown to lower LDL cholesterol
- Improve heart health
- Lower blood pressure
- Help burn body fat

 

Olive oil, a mainstay in the Mediterranean diet is usually the oil of choice when talking about including monounsaturated fats into your diet. Avocado oil is another type but not as common and from our opinion as well as what we’ve heard, not that tasty. Macadamia oil, although the new kid on the block with the monounsaturated fat category, mainly because it is a little more scarce.

 

Macadamia Nut Oils vs Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Macadamia Nut Oil has more monounsaturated fats per gram. More than twice the amount compare to most of the other heart healthy fats. Macadamia nut oils have all fat sources…well, all oils do contain a mixture of all types fats including Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats, which are polyunsaturated fats, but the most unique thing about Macadamia nut oil is it contains a mixture of these fats in a 1 to 1 (1:1) ratio not found in any other oil sources!

 

Extra virgin olive oil will get rancid over time and if exposed to light, will go bad as well, plus burns at a much lower temperature than Macadamia nuts oils would, losing all of it’s benefits while cooking. Oxidation is another problem with other oils, but Macadamia nut oils do not have this concern at all.
 

Macadamia nut oil is light resistant, has a high cooking/smoke point allowing one to use it to cook, while taking advantage of all the benefits of using a monounsaturated fat to improve your health.

Last but probably the most important thing to consider, is the taste of Macadamia nut oil. Who doesn’t want to have a buttery taste added to their meal? Macadamia nut oils will do just that while providing all the health benefits of a heart healthy fat. Come back to this website often to see our growing heart healthy macadamia nut oil recipes.
 

As you can see from what we discussed above about macadamia nut oil nutrition facts as well as the macadamia nut oil benefits for using it, combined with it’s amazing taste, you’ve got to try some today!

 

Superfood Series

Spirulina: Protein Powerhouse

 

Spirulina is the dried form of the blue green algae arthrospira platensis. The use of spirulina as a food source dates all the way back to 9^th century Chad and it is believed spirulina was used by the Aztecs in 16^th century Mexico. Historical records report the harvesting and selling of cakes made from spirulina harvested from Lake Texcoco. It was rediscovered in the 1950’s in the same place where it has said to have its origins by a European scientific mission. The spirulina was being harvested and sold in dried flat cakes called "dihé" at the local markets, where natives would use it as a staple for many of their meals.
Spirulina is nearly 70 percent protein. It contains all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein source. In addition, spirulina is one of the few plant sources of vitamin B12, usually found only in animal tissues. A teaspoon of spirulina supplies 2 1/2 times the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin B12 and contains over twice the amount of this vitamin found in an equivalent serving of liver. Spirulina also provides high concentrations of many other nutrients - amino acids, chelated minerals, pigmentations, rhamnose sugars (complex natural plant sugars), trace elements, enzymes - that are in an easily assailable form. Spirulina's lipid content is about 7% by weight, including the essential fatty acids gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Spirulina health benefit potential is mostly related to its basic nutrient and protein content. These claims do have some evidence to support them, but need further research to completely substantiate. Potential benefits may include immune boosting effects, support of healthy intestinal flora, candida suppression, allergy symptom reduction, detoxification, blood pressure reduction, and cholesterol reduction. Chlorella has similar benefits to spirulina but has a greater ability to detoxify the body due to its cell wall structure.
Blue and green algae do potentially absorb toxins from their surrounding environment, therefore only buy from companies that can verify purity. Also, spirulina does contain a significant amount of vitamin K and can interfere with therapy for patients taking warfarin.