Most people don't know the health benefits of sunflower oil or they'd have it for use daily. These happy little flowers not only produce food for bees and birds, seeds for human consumption and beautiful windbreaks for the yard, they also provide oil that can make you healthier when you use it.

Sunflower oil has three versions. The first is the linoleic oil and is non-hydrogenated. The linoleic sunflower oil was the first and original oil and only recently lost it's place as the most popular choice. It's high in both vitamin E and linoleic acids, an omega 6 acid and monounsaturated. Oils high in linoleic acid actually lower the bad cholesterol, the LDL and decrease your risk of a heart attack. However, if used for frying, it tended to be unstable and prone to oxidation. It goes through a hydrogenation process in order to give it more stability when used commercially for frying.

The second type of sunflower oil on the market is high in oleic acid, which is monounsaturated. In order to receive the title high oleic sunflower oil, it must contain at least 80 percent oleic acid. When you substitute this type of oil for oil rich in saturated fats, you can alter you blood lipid profile. People who have a diet that contains high oleic acid sunflower oil can alter their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the factor VII coagulant activity and triglycerides. Adding this oil to your diet reduces the risk of heart attacks according to a study by Margaret A Allman-Farinelli, PhD, Kerry Gomes, MBBS, Emmanuel J Favaloro, PhD and Peter Petocz, PhD on the website of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

There's a new sheriff in town when it comes to sunflower seed oil. The new product, NuSun, doesn't require hydrogenation to make it stable so it stays trans fat free but still offers up the great taste, health benefits and performance of the other two oils while lending itself easily to commercial uses. It's a mid-oleic sunflower oil from plants specially bred for stability of oil with no hydrogenation.

Sunflower oil, whether it's high oleic acid, linoleic acid or NuSun, all contain high amounts of vitamin E, more in fact than any other vegetable oil. While it's just as healthy as olive oil, you can use the NuSun sunflower seed oil for cooking without causing it to smoke and spoil the flavor of the food.

A controlled clinical study shows that the NuSun sunflower seed oil can significantly lower your cholesterol and has the same affect as olive oil when substituted in the diet. Simply using two tablespoons of NuSun sunflower oil instead of saturated fat significantly increased the health of patients according to a study at Penn State.

The American Heart Association suggests you limit your intake of saturated fats and instead use fat from sources such as seeds, nuts and fish. Sunflower oil also has phytonutrients such as lignin, pheolic acid, betaine, choline and arginine from that may be helpful in protecting the body form disease like prostate, breast and colon cancer. The health benefits of sunflower oil make it a valuable addition as a substitute for other fats in your diet.