Confused about fats and oils? Here’s a handy guide.
All fats are a mix of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (though people usually categorize each by the fatty acid that predominates). Odds are, you get mostly soybean oil in prepared foods (like salad dressings, mayonnaise, and margarine) and restaurant foods. So you’ll probably end up with a good mix of unsaturated fats if you use canola oil and olive oil (when you want its flavor) for cooking.
The fatty acids in oils and solid fats
*Sunflower seeds are higher in polyunsaturated fat and lower in monounsaturated fat than most sunflower oils. Some health food stores sell high-poly sunflower or safflower oils. Note: The fatty acids in meats, nuts, chocolate, and other foods are similar to their respective oils, butters, etc., shown in the graph.
CSPI.