The Battle of the Fats and Oils

There is so much said about good fats and bad fats. They talk about saturated fat, unsaturated fat, monosaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and trans fat, and how all of these fats affect cholesterol levels in our body. Doesn’t it get overwhelming? Let me make it simple for you.

Any oil that is in a processed food is not going to be good for you. Oils in packaged foods products such as pastries, pies, cookies, donuts, cakes and frozen foods are the worse oils for your health. Refined cooking oils such as vegetable and corn are not healthy oils to begin with, and when they are cooked at a high heat they become toxic to the body. If you have high cholesterol and clogged arteries it would be a good idea to stop cooking with these types of oils.

Healthy Oils Are Raw Oils

Raw oil will say,” cold pressed” on the label. Cold pressing is how the factory extracts the olive oil from the olive seed. The first pressing is called extra virgin Olive oil. The second pressing is regular olive oil, which takes a bit more heat to extract. And finally the third pressing is actually a refined (cooked) olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil is raw oil, but regular olive oil is not raw. Look for “expeller pressed” or “cold pressed on the front label to ensure you are getting uncooked oil.
It is best not to cook with your raw oils because then the health aspect of it would be counter-productive.

For cooking purposes use expeller pressed safflower oil. For instance, if you’re going to bake cookies or make a stir-fry use expeller pressed safflower oil. If you’re going to make a big pot of minestrone soup add ¼ cup raw olive oil when the soup is done cooking, stir it in and eat. These are the only two oils you need. Contrary to popular belief, canola oil is not good for your health and unfortunately that is a whole other article.

Use raw olive oil for salad dressings, and sandwiches. Drizzle a fair amount of raw olive oil on steamed vegetable dishes and pasta salads. Believe it or not, cold pressed olive oil actually protects your veins and heart from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This is why the Mediterranean diet is such a good diet, because the Italians, French, and Greeks all swim in raw olive oil!

When Does Oil Become Bad For Your Health?

Most processed foods have hydrogenated oil in them, which causes weight gain, cellulite, IBS symptoms, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and finally disease. Refined oils such as vegetable and corn oil because it is cooked at such a high heat it makes it almost lethal to your heart and vein health. Crisco, lard, and margarine are also very bad for cooking with. Remember, expeller pressed safflower oil is best for cooking with.

Let me make an example. It would be better on your health to fry your potatoes in bacon grease or other animal fat than refined oil such as vegetable oil, Crisco, margarine or corn oil. It still is not a good idea to fry food in animal fat but if you had the choice, there it is. Leave the battle of the fats and oils in the past where it belongs. The two best oils and the only oils you will ever need are cold pressed olive oil and expeller pressed safflower oil.