Are you confused with different articles and online and not sure what kind of oil to cook with or have with your salads? Is it canola? Coconut oil? Olive oil? Avocado oil or is it God forbid butter?
After doing a ton of research, I realized we can only trust the Lipid scientist on this matter. Lipid scientists' job is to study the role of fat plays in human bodies. In this article I will share a summary of everything I have learnt from these scientists with you. As a bonus, I will include a list of products that are quoted or made with dangerous types of oil to stay away from.
Don't Trust the Articles!
All the studies we see online can be THE truth and A lie simultaneously.
I recently posted asked a question on my Instagram and asked what is the main cause of heart disease? And 85% of people answered “animal fat”.
The answer to that depends on the individual person, the amount of food the consume, their genetics, health conditions, amount of vitamins they take and so on.
All of these studies you see today are done on people with different backgrounds. What they had done in the past or even sometimes what they do during the “studies” isn’t 100% monitored so the results of the studies are not like the Holly Book sent from God. However, there is one thing that we know for sure.
The less processed the products we use, the better and we should use that as a rule of thumb.
A Short History Lesson
This goes back to the 1800. Emperor Napoleon the 3rd offered a prize to anyone who could find a cheaper substitute for butter so he could feed his army and that’s when margarine was born. Engineers and scientists started working on transforming fatty acids in the oil using heat, pressure, hydrogen gas and a catalyst. The most important part is the catalyst, without it the fat molecule with solidify into a stiff compound and called it trans-fat. They started advertising margarines as a healthier and of course cheaper substitute for butter and so many other companies started followed the same path. Today, we know processed trans-fats are the number 1 reason of heart disease in modern countries.
Processed Trans-Fats
Here is a list of products that contains processed trans-fats. It would be great idea to try to limit consumption of these products.
Margarine
Unnatural peanut butter
Granola bars
Cookies
Crackers and snack mixes
Tortillas
Prepared cakes and pies — especially those with frosting
Cake and brownie mixes
Pancake and waffle mixes
Microwave popcorn
Candy with cream filling
Frozen dinners
Ice cream
Doughnuts and muffins
Fast food
French fries
Fried or battered food, including fish sticks and chicken nuggets
Frozen pizza
Biscuits, crusts, and anything with a flaky texture
Shortening
Non-dairy creamers
Breakfast sandwiches
List of DANGERIOUS Cooking Oils
Soy Bean oil
Corn Oil
Canola oil
Vegetable oils/Organic vegetable oils
Grapeseed oil
Cottonseed oil
Safflower oil
Healthiest Oils
These oils are great oils to consume on a daily basis. They are not highly processed and include the good ling kind of unsaturated fats that are healthy for you. They also have a low smoke point so it is advised to stay away from them for cooking at high temperature.
Olive Oil (Smoke Point 210C)
Extra virgin olive oil (smoke point it 207C) it should only be used for your Salads.
Coconut Oil (271C 90%+ saturated fat)
Avocado oil (270C monosaturated)
The oils maintain all the best nutrients when they are cold pressed and extra virgin.
Best Cooking Oil in THE WORLD
Butter(150C), Ghee butter (250C), Talo, lamb Greece & lard.
After doing all of this research I realized grass fed butter and animal fat is the best oil to cook with even for frying. It has a great ratio between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, it has a high smoke point and has a a healthy ratio between the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Grass-fed Butter is optimal for low temperature cooking such as making eggs and ghee butter is perfect for cooking at higher temperatures.
Vegetable Oils
In conclusion we should stay away from highly processed vegetable oils. Unfortunately a lot of product have vegetable oils in them. For examples, cereals use vegetable oil to get that flaky texture. Make sure you pay attention to product labels and ingredients. Here is a list of products I found that has vegetable oils such as canola and corn oil in them.
Some Dried nuts or fruits might containing vegetable oil to make them last longer.
Salad dressings (B ROLL of my salad dressing)
Rice milks
Soy milk soy cheese soy based meat
Breakfast cereal
French fries
Cracker and chips
Granola
Soft breads, buns and most store bought muffins
Margarines
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