Know Your Ingredients: Dende Oil


Updated 03/28/11 11:17 AM · Posted by · 6 comments

Cooking With Dende Oil

In an age when grocery shelves are stocked with everything from toasted sesame oil to coconut oil, here's a relative unknown that you may have never heard of: dendê oil. This oil, which has a distinctive orangey-red color and a thick, somewhat opaque consistency, is a recurring ingredient in the cuisines of Southeast Asia, West Africa, and Bahia, a northeastern region in Brazil. There, the very Read more

Label Able: Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil


Updated 08/29/11 4:28 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 11 comments

Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil Explained

Recently, while reading the ingredients of an energy bar, I came across the term "fractionated" and it was modifying an oil – palm kernel oil to be exact. Well, I know that palm kernel is 86 percent saturated fat, that is the bad kind of fat, and I wondered if this "fractionating" process was akin to hydrogenating. Since deciphering a nutrition label can be so tricky these days, I wanted to Read more

Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil


Updated 01/11/08 12:57 PM · Posted by FitSugar · 11 comments

Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil

I was food shopping the other day, reading labels as usual, and I came upon the ingredient palm fruit oil. I kind of assumed that it was the same as palm kernel oil, but I was wrong. Palm fruit oil (also called palm oil) is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree while palm kernel oil comes from the palm seed found inside the fruit. Eighty-six percent of the fat in palm kernel oil is Read more

A Reader Recipe: Southwestern Quinoa Salad With Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette


Updated 04/16/12 6:32 AM · Posted by · 2 comments

Southwestern Quinoa Salad Recipe

Get your daily fiber fix with this Southwestern quinoa salad recipe from FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber. She shared it with us in our Healthy Recipe Group in the Fit Community. This salad takes quinoa to the next level, and has been known to turn quinoa haters into ambassadors. Learn how to make this recipe after the break! Read more

A Reader Recipe: Pulled Turkey Chipotle Chili


Updated 01/06/12 1:50 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Pulled Turkey Chipotle Chili Recipe

FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber shared this turkey chili recipe in our Healthy Recipe group. After Thanksgiving, my good friend, a girl who literally didn't know how to boil water, sent me this recipe, using her turkey leftovers. I loved the idea of pulled turkey and her fiberlicious add-ins, so had to feature it. See the recipe after the break! Read more

Fat Talk: Saturated Fats


Updated 10/14/11 11:50 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 25 comments

Saturated Fat Amounts in Food

My hubby is having an affair, with bacon. He's in love with those crispy, salty strips, so much that he probably eats it every day; with his eggs, on his sandwich, on his dinner salad, heck, he even likes it for dessert. The love affair doesn't end there. He's also having serious relationships with beef, mayo, cheese, and ice cream. Being the health nut and caring wife I am, it's a constant Read more

Is Palm Oil the New Trans Fat?


Updated 10/14/11 11:49 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 8 comments

Is Palm Oil the New Trans Fat?

Partially hydrogenated oil is a type of trans fat that has gotten a lot of flak, and rightfully so. This chemically altered fat is known to raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and increase your chance of developing coronary heart disease. Many companies are replacing hydrogenated oil with palm oil, saying that's it's a healthier option. On nutritional labels Read more

Let's Get the FATS Straight


Updated 02/21/12 6:41 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 14 comments

Let's Get the FATS Straight

We all know that trans fat and saturated fat are major things to avoid, but what's the difference between the two? And what about unsaturated fats, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Are they bad too? What foods contain them? Are you confused about all these fats too? Let's get these fats straight once and for all. Saturated fat: "The bad guys." These are often solid at room Read more