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Study participants replaced one-quarter of their dietary fats with canola oil. During the six-week study period, canola oil doubled the intake of alpha-linoleic acids, while fibrinogen levels were reduced by 30 percent.

Olive Oil and its phenolic compounds, oleuropein and cafeic acid, exert beneficial effects on fat oxidation and cardiac energy metabolism. In that previous studies suggest  anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-inflammatory effects, Geovana Ebaid, from Sao Paulo State University (Brazil), and colleagues investigated the effects of olive oil and its compounds on calorimetric parameters, myocardial oxidative stress and energy metabolism in heart tissue.

Obese rats supplemented with olive oil, oleuropein, and cafeic acid had higher oxygen consumption, increased fat oxidation, and lower carbon dioxide production than non-supplemented obese rats. As well, antioxidant enzymes were unaffected by olive oil and its compounds in the obese rats, but increased in non-obese rats supplemented with olive oil and oleuropein. After 42 days, researchers found that energy expenditure, oxygen consumption, and fat oxidation were lower in obese rats compared to the non-obese rat control group.

Walnuts / Walnut Oil: Rich in polyunsaturated fats, walnuts and walnut oil may help the body to better respond during times of stress. Sheila G. West, from Penn State University, and colleagues studied 22 healthy adults with elevated LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, supplying each subject with meal and snack foods during three diet periods of six weeks each in duration. The first diet period consisted of an "average" American diet: a diet without nuts that reflects what the typical person in the U.S. consumes each day; the second diet included 1.3 ounces of walnuts and a tablespoon of walnut oil substituted for some of the fat and protein in the average American diet; and the third diet was comprised of walnuts, walnut oil and 1.5 tablespoons of flaxseed oil.

The researchers discovered that including walnuts and walnut oil in the diet lowered both resting blood pressure and blood pressure responses to stress in the laboratory. Results also showed that average diastolic blood pressure was significantly reduced during the diets containing walnuts and walnut oil. The researchers concluded: "This is the first study to show that walnuts and walnut oil reduce blood pressure during stress. This is important because we can't avoid all of the stressors in our daily lives. This study shows that a dietary change could help our bodies better respond to stress."

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

With our society's current emphasis on low-fat foods, it's important to remember that the body needs a certain amount of some kinds of fat. Natural fats provide a concentrated form of energy and create the environment in which fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and E, can be digested. They also provide the essential fatty acids (EFAs) the body uses to maintain its cellular structure. A primary type of EFAs are omega-3 fatty acids. Regarded as essential to normal growth and health since the 1930s, awareness of the health benefits of EFAs has dramatically increased in the past few years.