A recent study funded by the butter industry gave further confirmation that butter increases both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), especially when compared with olive oil as an alternative. You can also use olive oil in place of most cooking or vegetable oils in equal amounts.
Olive oil is generally considered a healthier option than butter, as it contains beneficial fats that can improve heart health, while butter contains saturated fats that can be harmful in excess. However, moderation is key when it comes to using any type of oil or fat in cooking.
Olive oil is packed full of beneficial antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol while leaving your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
A recent US study indicated that a healthy practice to follow for good heart health is replacing butter with olive oil. Replacing margarine, butter, shortening, mayonnaise, and dairy fat with olive oil was found to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
These potent molecules mean that even a little bit of the right olive oil consumed daily can protect from cardiovascular disease and reduce existing damage to the heart and arteries. This is why cardiologists recommend switching to high-phenolic olive oil.
Now we know that while butter is rich in saturated fat, olive oil is packed with monounsaturated fatty acids, which our body finds easier to ingest. In addition, extra-virgin olive oil also contains polyphenols, along with other virtues such as boosting circulation and helping the intestines.
In summary, olive oil can raise your levels of healthy cholesterol while reducing the LDL cholesterol which is harmful to the body. That's why we always recommend consuming at least two tablespoons of Carapelli EVOO per day, ensuring excellent cardiovascular health to add to the ultimate delight of consuming this oil.
Limit foods high in saturated fat.
Saturated fats come from animal products (such as cheese, fatty meats, and dairy desserts) and tropical oils (such as palm oil). Foods that are higher in saturated fat may be high in cholesterol.
Avocados. Avocados are a potent source of nutrients as well as monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). Research suggests that adding an avocado a day to a heart-healthy diet can help improve LDL cholesterol levels in people who are overweight or obese.
As a general rule of thumb, between one and two tablespoons a day is a good amount of olive oil to consume. This goes for both olive oil that you drink for health benefits and also olive oil that you consume with food as part of your regular cooking process.
Daily use of at least 1.5 tablespoons (20 grams) of EVOO for a minimum of six weeks could decrease LDL 10 percent or greater from baseline.
The best thing about frying eggs in butter is the taste. Because butter is higher in fat than oil, your eggs will naturally take on that rich butter flavor as they crisp in the pan. It's similar to the way some chefs add a pad of butter to their scrambled eggs as they cook.
"Butter also makes everything better!" Butter certainly works for fried eggs, but oil is the fat of choice for cooks who want a runny yolk with a satisfying crispy white. Extra-virgin olive oil is most popular, and yields a satisfyingly crunchy bottom that will soak up luscious flavor.
Like any other oil, olive oil is a processed, concentrated fat extract and thus has lost most of the nutritional value of its original form (the olive itself). If you want some nutritional value, you will find it by eating the whole olive—not by consuming it in its almost unrecognizable extracted oil form.
While coffee does not contain cholesterol, it can affect cholesterol levels. The diterpenes in coffee suppress the body's production of substances involved in cholesterol breakdown, causing cholesterol to increase. Specifically, coffee diterpenes may cause an increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels.
Heart Health
Greek yogurt has been connected to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which can reduce your risk of heart disease. Cholesterol and triglycerides can harden or block your arteries over time, leading to heart disease or atherosclerosis.
You don't have to cut cheese out of your diet, but if you have high cholesterol or blood pressure, use high-fat cheeses sparingly. A 30g portion of cheese provides seven per cent of your daily calories and there can be more salt in a portion of cheddar than in a packet of crisps.
Chicken eggs are an affordable source of protein and other nutrients. They're also naturally high in cholesterol. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn't seem to raise cholesterol levels the way some other foods, such as those high in trans fats and saturated fats, do.
As a general rule of thumb, substitute three-quarters of the butter in a recipe with olive oil. In other words: If a baking recipe calls for a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), for example, use 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
Putting Butter in Perspective
Doctors frequently advise their heart patients to steer clear of butter. Why? More than half the fat in butter is saturated fat, which is a kind of fat that can increase total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Just a tablespoon of butter packs 7 grams of saturated fat.