Substitutes for Butter

Instead of Butter: Use top quality, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil, from the first pressing, or flaxseed oil. The taste of virgin olive oil is appealing to millions of people around the world, so why not adopt it to your taste?

Flaxseed oil is prized for health reasons and not for its taste. You can always compensate for that by adding spices to the appropriate dish. Let's say you want to add a little flaxseed oil to mashed potatoes, instead of butter. You could add basil, oregano, rosemary, curry, garlic, or any other spice that agrees with your palate.

You can use a little virgin olive oil on mashed potatoes with basil and roasted garlic, but it's up to the individual's own taste. At home, we use a little olive oil on toast, instead of butter. Again, you could spice it, but try to avoid salting.

Depending on whose study you read, flaxseed oil contains Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9 Oils.

Olive oil has some Omega-6 value, but it tastes great.

If you want to learn a lot more about beneficial oils, visit:

http://www.math.ucsd.edu/~ebender/Health%20&%20Nutrition/Nutrition/oil_good.html

To name a few of the many conditions improved by Omega-3 Oils: High Cholesterol Levels, Prevention of Strokes and Heart Attacks, Cancer Prevention and Treatment, Multiple Sclerosis, Allergies, Angina, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, and Asthma.

To read a little more about the link between cancer prevention and Omega-3 fatty acids, please visit:

http://www.seapet.com/EFA_cancer.htm#AICR

It goes without saying any further, that omega-3 fatty acids should be boosted in most of our diets.

You will notice, I did not mention, margarine as a dietary recommendation. Trans-fats are formed as a result of chemical hydrogenation. Depending upon the brand you buy, margarine may contain up to 45 percent trans-fats.

"The problem with trans fatty acids is that your body doesn't know what to do with them," said Brian Olshansky, M.D., University of Iowa Health Care professor of internal medicine.

Trans fatty acids (trans-fats) are linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, sudden cardiac death, obesity, and heart disease.

Expect to see a warning on the labels of food containing trans-fats in the near future. New labeling for foods is expected soon, and total trans-fats contained within a product serving, will be listed. Believe it or not, at least one trans-fat, CLA (conjugated linolenic acid), is considered beneficial, but that is another story.

Suffice to say, it would be wise to avoid margarine until all the research is in. At that point, the composition of margarine will probably change for the better.

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org

In The News:

A dog’s life expectancy and risk of developing serious illnesses have been linked to the color of their coats.

Maybe it is hip to be square.

Alien life might be purple.

Researchers say active fault lines on Mount Hood could potentially trigger a 7.2 magnitude quake that could reach Portland.

The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. has confirmed that five of its 16 Dead Sea Scroll fragments are fakes.

50 years ago today NASA’s historic Apollo 7 mission splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after spending almost 11 days in space.

A newly described fossil of an extinct mammal relative and her 38 babies is among the best evidence that a major development of the evolution of mammals was trading increased reproductive ability for bigger brains.

Days after legendary physicist Stephen Hawking's final paper was published, a great number of his prized possessions will go up for auction, including some of his most important papers, including his doctoral thesis, a copy of "A Brief History of Time" and the script for one of his appearances on "The Simpsons."

It was said to be a "near-suicide mission," and a previous attempt saw dozens of men killed and captured by the Nazis.

Scientists may have made a major leap forward on the path to growing a fully-formed human brain in the lab. According to a new report published in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, researchers at Tufts University have now grown a 3D tissue model of the brain using human neurons, providing them with a better opportunity to study abnormal brain cells.

Substitutes for Butter

Nutrition Nutrition