With an unbalanced diet being a prime cause of cardiovascular diseases, dietary fats—particularly oils—are often unfairly blamed. Several diet plans even suggest complete elimination of oils to ensure optimal heart health. However, this concept overlooks the essential role that oils and fats play in the human body’s structure and adequate function.
Why Fats Matter
Fats, one of the three macronutrients essential to human health alongside carbohydrates and proteins, serve many critical functions. They:
- Build cell membranes and support hormone production.
- Provide energy and aid absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).
- Maintain brain function and body structure.
- Promote satiety, slowing digestion and helping with healthy weight management.
At the same time, excess intake of any nutrient—whether sugars, proteins, vitamins, or fats—can be harmful.
Sorting the Good Fats from the Harmful
Dietary fats are broadly classified as saturated or unsaturated.
- Saturated fats (no double bonds, solid at room temperature) often increase Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL), known as “bad cholesterol.”
- Unsaturated fats (with one or more double bonds, usually liquid) help form High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL), which carry fats back to the liver.
It’s worth noting that LDL itself is not harmful—its role is to transport fat from the liver to tissues. Problems arise when lipid metabolism is disturbed. Excess fats get trapped by immune cells (macrophages), forming foam cells that trigger inflammation and plaque build-up in arteries. Over time, this plaque, along with deposits of platelets, fibrin, and calcium, narrows arteries and raises the risk of heart disease.
However, heart disease is not caused by diet alone. Genetics, inflammation, blood vessel health, and the body’s ability to use cholesterol all play major roles. Ironically, despite the reduced use of saturated fats and the increased use of unsaturated fats, heart disease continues to rise worldwide.
The Real Danger: Trans Fats
When discussing fats, the most harmful type is trans fats—unsaturated fatty acids oxidized by repeated heating and air exposure at high temperatures. Commonly found in fried foods, baked goods, and processed meats, trans fats are strongly linked to atherosclerosis and higher heart disease risk.
Choosing Oils for Better Heart Health
Rather than avoiding fats altogether, the smarter approach is to identify and consume oils that provide balanced nutrition in terms of energy, fatty acids, and essential vitamins.
- Traditional fats like desi ghee and coconut oil have been part of our diets for centuries, with Ayurvedic texts praising their nutritional and medicinal value.
- Palm oil provides a balanced mix of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, and precursors of vitamin A.
- Olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, and canola oil are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and have demonstrated heart health benefits.
Know the Causes of CVD
Chronic inflammation is another driver of heart disease. Smoking, hypertension, and diabetes can cause low-grade inflammation in blood vessels. Oils rich in omega-3 fatty acids (like flaxseed and walnut oil) and components of palm oil (tocopherols, tocotrienols, and carotenoids) have shown anti-inflammatory effects, helping reduce markers of inflammation and lowering cardiovascular risk.
Regular exercise, maintaining healthy blood pressure, and preventing metabolic syndrome are equally crucial. Studies show that even modest improvements in these areas can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease.
The Role of Micronutrients
Fats are essential for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K—each linked to cardiovascular health. For example, vitamin D deficiency increases heart disease risk. Similarly, vitamin B12 deficiency impairs the breakdown of homocysteine, an amino acid that contributes to high blood pressure and cardiovascular complications.
Without adequate fats, the body struggles to absorb these vitamins efficiently, raising long-term risks.
The Bottom Line
Eliminating oils from our diet may sound like a shortcut to heart health, but it can actually lead to nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalance, cognitive decline, and disruptions in food sustainability. Evidence increasingly shows that quality matters more than quantity when it comes to fats.
The key is balance—not elimination. Choosing the right oils, avoiding trans fats, staying active, and monitoring health markers together form the best defense against cardiovascular disease.