Istara, while I don’t think there’s any remaining doubt as to the health benefits of olive oil or oily fish, the OP wants to lose weight. All oils (except artificially-modified ones that slide right on out, unchanged (eww!)) have 9 kcal/gram. If you have a tablespoon of fat on your muffin in the morning, it could be butter, margarine, olive oil, fish oil capsules, or lard and it’s still gonna put the same amount of jiggle on your ass. I think you’re conflating some ideas here - these oils do appear to be strongly heart-protective. I myself eat both olive oil and fatty fish because of that. (I lie. I eat 'em because they taste good.) And losing weight is also beneficial for your cardiovascular health. But fat is fat, and olive oil will not make you lose weight faster just because it happens to be a healthy food. If he switches all the fats in his diet to healthy ones, and eats the same way, he’s gonna be just as fat afterwards. And if he is significantly overweight, then the supplest arteries in the world won’t make up for the extra strain he’s putting on his heart.
Low fat isn’t the only way to lose weight, but it’s certainly the most proven method. Fats are the most calorie-dense foods there are. You cut them out of the diet? A lot of calories go with 'em. The medically established diets that help your body in the long term are low-fat. Not fat-free; I don’t think the Dean Ornish diet is practical for most people, whether or not it’s healthy. And some fat is needed for your body to work right. But not as much as Americans, at least, take in.
Exercise is a great idea, and people who lose weight and keep it off long-term almost universally get moderate to strenuous exercise. But it’s not even remotely enough on its own. You jog hardcore for an hour a day? You’ll lose a pound and change every week. But few people can keep jogging for that length of time, and consider a more realistic exercise plan. Your half hour at the gym, five times a week, is equivalent to drinking one less coke five times a week. Exercise alone, unless it’s incredibly strenuous (and most people don’t stick to those plans, no matter how good their intentions) is not the key to losing weight.
But back to his main point about frying foods, you can’t fry in olive oil or fish oil anyway. (Yeah, you can do stir-fries and similar things with olive oil. Or fried eggs. But you can’t make fried chicken with it, which means you’re out of luck when you want a plate of General Tso’s.) Best to limit those fried indulgences to occasionally, and don’t eat so much of 'em when you do.
I don’t think that it’s available to consumers. Googling Olestra or Olean turns up plenty of links, but no ads offering the stuff for sale. It may be too tricky for home use. You wouldn’t want it in your kitchen if it was an explosion hazard, goes rancid too fast, or gives off clouds of chlorine when overheated.
Some things you can make pretty satifactorily with low-fat substitutions. Fries, for instance. Steak fries in the oven are wonderful. Cut up your potatoes, mix a spoonful of olive oil with the seasonings of choice (I like garlic salt), and toss the taters with the oil, then lay 'em on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for twenty minutes, turn, and bake another 15. Very similar taste and mouthfeel to fried steakfries, MUCH lower fat content. And they tend to get browner and crisper than the fried ones. Mmmmmm.
As for your chicken, I’d say your best bet is to pour a small amount of oil, maybe an eighth to a quarter inch in the pan, heat it to high heat, and toss your chicken in for a few minutes. Or to sautee it with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
I already take fish oil (omega 3s), 5g a day. I am thinking of taking flax oil instead. Its my understanding olive oil is mainly omega 6s & 9s and that the 9s aren’t that good. Flax oil is mostly 3s, 6s &
I choose low fat because its lower calorie. I make pasta roni all the time and i use 2 tbps of low fat margarine (50 calories per serving as opposed to 110) to make it. Also i’ve read a few studies (in books at least) that say when you offer people all the low fat food they want they eat less to become satiated on less calories.
Sheesh, people. You need to understand definitions and terminology before potshotting each other.
Yes, you can brown something in olive oil, although it’s called a saute. This means you cook at a lower temperature.
If by “browning” you mean frying something such as chicken, you will need a vegetable oil such as peanut or safflower.
Olive oils and the like have a smoke point of about 375F and are not suitable for frying.
Vegetable oils generally have a smoke point of 425-450F and are suitable for frying foods with a minimum of fat penetration. Frying should be done at about 350-375F.
Olive oil imparts its own flavor to foods, so unless you want that taste, it’s not recommended. It’s terrific on salads, however, or to toss pasta in.
