If you learn anything at all from me please let it be the importance of eating real, whole, unprocessed foods. When you’re making decisions in the grocery store look at what is on the shelf before you put it in your cart. How did it look like when it grew on a farm? How many steps did it take to get to where it is now? Does it still look the same? How many other ingredients were added? The more steps a food must take to get from the farm to your table the less nourishing it will be for your body.
One of best things you can do to improve your health is changing the type of fat you are eating. Vegetable oils suck. This includes but is not limited to soybean, corn, cottonseed, canola, sunflower, rapeseed, sesame, safflower, grapeseed, and peanut oils. Take a look at this video to see how oils are extracted (start at 0:48). It is a gross process and any “food” that requires that many chemicals to be developed is not something we should put in our bodies. Other than gross, check out why vegetable oils are more dangerous than a college girl after two shots of tequila…
Hexane– Hexane is a chemical made from crude oil used to extract vegetable oils. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies hexane as an air pollutant [1]. Hexane is also a component of gasoline, cleaning agents, glue, shoe leather, and rubber cement. Exposure to high concentrations of hexane been found to be damaging to the nervous system and can cause progressive neuropathy starting with numbness in your hands and feet and continuing to weakness in your extremities and, if the exposure is continued, paralysis [2]. Now, although the Center for Disease Control claims the amount we may be exposed to when consuming vegetable oils is too low to have an effect on us (thanks, liver) vegetable oils are still damaging. Remember in every movie ever written where the main character is distracted by something silly while something huge goes on behind his/her back? Think of your liver as the main character. While it is busy dealing with silly old hexane all the other toxins we eat, breathe and naturally produce in our own bodies are busy causing damage. This seem like an over exaggeration but the more toxins that go into the body, and there are a LOT in the standard American diet, the harder it is for our body to neutralize and remove them before they cause damage.
Omega-6 Fatty Acids– I’m sure you have heard about how good the omega-3 fatty acids are but this is about his cousin, the omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are both polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), a type of fat that we must obtain from our diet because our bodies cannot make them. We need them both, but we need them in an appropriate balance. Diets high in omega-6 fatty acids have been shown to promote diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory autoimmune diseases [3]. Vegetable oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 fatty acids meaning eating them is like catching an express train to chronic diseaseville.
Rancidity- Yes, you read that correctly. Polyunsaturated fats react more readily with oxygen which causes them to become rancid. Processing these sensitive oils with harsh chemicals and high heat and pressure damages them. Then sitting on the supermarket shelf further damages them and finally sitting in your pantry for who knows how long makes them straight up gross. Consumption of these toxins accelerates atherosclerosis [4] and there is nothing sexy about a heart attack.
Shut up I get it, now what fat should I use?
Butter- Awww yeah butter is finally okay again! The process of making butter is stupid easy and doesn’t require chemicals. It is best to buy butter which was made from the milk of organic pasture raised animals as it contains more nutrients and has a better omega-6/omega-3 ratio [5, 6]. Plus, it’s delicious.
Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oils- Processing of olive oils is all about maintaining the flavor which means they are cold pressed and don’t use toxic chemicals. These oils are treated more delicately during processing and are stored in dark containers which prevent them from being damaged by light. Olive oils are mostly monounsaturated fats [7] which are less susceptible to oxidation than oils high in polyunsaturated fats.
Virgin Coconut Oil- Same deal as above. Processing which does not include solvents means a tastier product which is better for your health [8].
READ LABELS!! Make sure your food does not contain vegetable oils. Know where your food comes from. Eat local and organic as often as you can. Eat something that grew out of the ground, not something that was synthesized in a factory.
One of best things you can do to improve your health is changing the type of fat you are eating. Vegetable oils suck. This includes but is not limited to soybean, corn, cottonseed, canola, sunflower, rapeseed, sesame, safflower, grapeseed, and peanut oils. Take a look at this video to see how oils are extracted (start at 0:48). It is a gross process and any “food” that requires that many chemicals to be developed is not something we should put in our bodies. Other than gross, check out why vegetable oils are more dangerous than a college girl after two shots of tequila…
Hexane– Hexane is a chemical made from crude oil used to extract vegetable oils. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies hexane as an air pollutant [1]. Hexane is also a component of gasoline, cleaning agents, glue, shoe leather, and rubber cement. Exposure to high concentrations of hexane been found to be damaging to the nervous system and can cause progressive neuropathy starting with numbness in your hands and feet and continuing to weakness in your extremities and, if the exposure is continued, paralysis [2]. Now, although the Center for Disease Control claims the amount we may be exposed to when consuming vegetable oils is too low to have an effect on us (thanks, liver) vegetable oils are still damaging. Remember in every movie ever written where the main character is distracted by something silly while something huge goes on behind his/her back? Think of your liver as the main character. While it is busy dealing with silly old hexane all the other toxins we eat, breathe and naturally produce in our own bodies are busy causing damage. This seem like an over exaggeration but the more toxins that go into the body, and there are a LOT in the standard American diet, the harder it is for our body to neutralize and remove them before they cause damage.
Omega-6 Fatty Acids– I’m sure you have heard about how good the omega-3 fatty acids are but this is about his cousin, the omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are both polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), a type of fat that we must obtain from our diet because our bodies cannot make them. We need them both, but we need them in an appropriate balance. Diets high in omega-6 fatty acids have been shown to promote diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory autoimmune diseases [3]. Vegetable oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 fatty acids meaning eating them is like catching an express train to chronic diseaseville.
Rancidity- Yes, you read that correctly. Polyunsaturated fats react more readily with oxygen which causes them to become rancid. Processing these sensitive oils with harsh chemicals and high heat and pressure damages them. Then sitting on the supermarket shelf further damages them and finally sitting in your pantry for who knows how long makes them straight up gross. Consumption of these toxins accelerates atherosclerosis [4] and there is nothing sexy about a heart attack.
Shut up I get it, now what fat should I use?
Butter- Awww yeah butter is finally okay again! The process of making butter is stupid easy and doesn’t require chemicals. It is best to buy butter which was made from the milk of organic pasture raised animals as it contains more nutrients and has a better omega-6/omega-3 ratio [5, 6]. Plus, it’s delicious.
Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oils- Processing of olive oils is all about maintaining the flavor which means they are cold pressed and don’t use toxic chemicals. These oils are treated more delicately during processing and are stored in dark containers which prevent them from being damaged by light. Olive oils are mostly monounsaturated fats [7] which are less susceptible to oxidation than oils high in polyunsaturated fats.
Virgin Coconut Oil- Same deal as above. Processing which does not include solvents means a tastier product which is better for your health [8].
READ LABELS!! Make sure your food does not contain vegetable oils. Know where your food comes from. Eat local and organic as often as you can. Eat something that grew out of the ground, not something that was synthesized in a factory.