Cooking with healthy oils and ditching those that aren’t

We consume oils all the time and yet we pay the very little attention to what oils we are eating, and how they may impact our long term health. Removing unhealthy, rancid and heavily processed oils is one of the most important healthy habits you can make in your diet to avoid diseases such as cancers, heart disease and intestinal disorders and to reduce fatigue, inflammation and free radicals! Understanding what oils are unhealthy and what oils are safe to eat will help to reduce those risks. Adjusting your habits at home, at the grocery store and when eating out will go a long way to making the change you may be longing for in your overall health!

Avoid eating rancid oils!

Unsaturated oils such as canola, olive, peanut, or vegetable oil don’t last on the shelf as long as you think since they are incredibly sensitive to heat, light and oxygen and actually go rancid in a very short time. You may not notice the off taste and it may not make you feel sick, however the increasing levels of free radicals can elevate the risk of developing diseases such as cancer and heart disease in the long term. Flavoured oils containing low-acid vegetables such as garlic or herbs and spices can cause botulism due to the rotting vegetables when they turn. Throw these old oils out!

The length of time an oil lasts depends whether it is unopened and sealed off from oxygen, how it is stored and what kind of oil it is. You can see this list for specific times www.eatbydate.com/other/condiments/how-long-does-oil-last. Most oils do not last longer than two years, even unopened. An open oil not kept in the fridge may only last 3 months. You can tell it has gone off since the oil may taste bitter, stale or “off” and there is often that noticeable rancid smell. Check the expiry dates, store oils properly either in the fridge or a cool pantry, and do the smell test. Good oils can be expensive so avoid buying large amounts if you know you won’t eat it before it expires. It will be too tempting to use it even if it is old and as I mentioned, bad oil can lead to health complications later on.

 

Unhealthy oils are a health risk, but marketers want you to think otherwise

1. The danger with soybean oil, grapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and the very ubiquitous “vegetable oil” is they are all mainly composed of polyunsaturated fats, and that means they are the most prone to oxidation and increased free radical when exposed to heat, light and oxygen. Often these oils are made from waste seeds and in the case of canola, from a non-edible rapeseed plant that was bred to contain less of its naturally forming erucic acid. The current amount is considered to pose no health risks, although studies have found that high erucic acid levels may cause heart damage. It is interesting to note that before processed oils such as Crisco and vegetable oil became more popular on the market in the 1920’s, heart attacks were very rare. Canola is my least favourite oil and I avoid it as much as possible.

2. Grapeseed oil is very popular due to its smoke point for high temperature cooking and purported health benefits. However, it is usually heavily processed and has a very high omega-6 content. An imbalance of low omega-3 and high omega-6 in the diet means an extremely unhealthy fatty acid ratio and this has a big impact on heart health. Why does this matter? One reason is that mega-6 oils have a pro-inflammatory impact on the body while Omega-3 oils are anti-inflammatory. When our intake of omega-6 and omega-3 is imbalanced, as it most definitely is in the modern, processed diet, the more we have to worry about long term chronic disease. Read up on your favourite oil and make a more informed decision when you purchase your next oil.

3. So what about the processing of cheap cooking oils like vegetable, canola and grapeseed? Most of the non-hydrogenated or expeller pressed vegetable oils are actually heavily refined and contain trans fats due to the extremely high heat, solvents, and pressure they are exposed to during the refining process. The high heat and high pressure processing along with the use of hexane solvents and bleaches to improve the colour can also mutate the oil and create what are known as MegaTrans fats. These particular fats can actually damage cell membranes and chromosomes, and create massive inflammation in the body. Nowadays, MegaTrans fats from vegetable oils are found in most of the processed packaged foods we buy as well as most restaurant fryers. No wonder fat has developed such a bad reputation.

Why do they market canola, grapeseed and vegetable oil as healthy? Look at the marketing genius behind margarine. Margarine became incredibly popular in the 1980’s due to aggressive marketing tactics and misinformation. We now know that margarine is not as healthy as its natural counterpart butter, and that ‘fat’ was never the bad guy that scientists and marketers tried to convince us it was. In fact healthy monounsaturated fatty acids in foods like butter and coconut oil are seen as necessary for proper blood cholesterol levels that actually decrease your risk of heart disease. They also benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, and provide energy for the brain and help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones.

If you are going to use oil, choose a healthy oil

Here’s the order of the type of fat from least stable to most stable under heat and light:

1. polyunsaturated
2. monounsaturated
3. saturated

Tropical oils such as coconut oil and animal fats such as lard and butter are best for cooking since they have very little polyunsaturates and contain mainly saturated fats which are the least reactive to heat and light and the least inflammatory. Olive oil, preferably extra virgin, is good for lower cooking temperatures as it’s mostly monounsaturated and so moderately stable. Avocado oil and macadamia nut oil are also mostly monounsaturated and relatively stable for cooking. A guide to use is:

• Virgin Coconut Oil for med-high temperatures
• Real Butter for low-mid temperatures
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil for low temperatures

Even though it costs more, choose your oils carefully. Always try to get the organic, cold pressed, solvent free brands. Stick to the organic, unsalted and yellow butters, North Americans add way too much salt to their butter. Grass fed butter that is fresh also has a high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids as an added bonus. This is what we used to eat before massive food manufacturing and processing, grass fed butters, lard and meats and much fresher foods and this is the reason our Omega-3 and 6 are so out of balance now. It is important to also stop buying foods from the grocery store that contain canola, vegetable and other unhealthy oils. Read the product labels and follow your instincts. You will quickly discover that most processed food is undermining your health due to the use of cheap oils. Thankfully, as more people demand better oils, there are more and more products that you can choose from. Understand that most restaurants are probably using unhealthy oils so ask the server questions, avoid the deep fried choices and skip the salad dressings. Start eating at restaurants that take healthy oils into consideration.

Why do we use bad oils when they are so bad for us?

If you have not already noticed, the oils I recommend to use are not cheap. Canola, vegetable oil and margarine though are very cheap. That is the reason they are in everything, food manufacturers love the low cost to purchase them. The food industry has been shifting slowly since the 1920’s to producing and manufacturing food that is cheap to produce and tasty for consumers. We all know the dangers of added sugars and salt, and we hear how unhealthy fats make food more palatable. Well oils are part of that paradigm.

It is up to us to change our habits to improve our health and longevity. Looking more closely at oil is one of the ways to do this. As I shifted my choices and purchases to exclude the oils I know are causing damage to my cells and creating inflammation I have noticed I feel better, I have more energy and am sure to reduce my risks of cancer, heart disease, inflammation and other chronic diseases. When I eat a ‘crappy’ fat now I feel it right away. It might take time, big changes in our lifestyle always do, but it will be worth the effort!