WHICH COOKING OIL IS “BEST?”
I am often asked this, so I found this awesome infographic from swansonvitamins.com: Easily compare cooking oils and learn important facts about each one, ensuring that you’ll be able to find the best cooking oil for each recipe you create, optimizing for both flavor and health. (below)
A quickie on fats:
You NEED fats! I am not encouraging a diet high in ANY fats, and we certainly need to be mindful of the amounts we eat, but we need fats In the right amounts and from the right sources. Fats help our bodies metabolize foods, absorb micronutrients, fight inflammation, and are essential for the health of our brains, skin, eyes, nails, hair etc., as well as hormone balance and production. If you read my post from a few months ago, when I competed in a fitness show, I had recently stopped taking birth control and dropped to around 10-11% bodyfat right after (avg healthy female is typically around 20-25%, athletic women around 13-18% approx), and I lost my period for 2.5 years. Blood work revealed my estrogen and progesterone levels were VERY low.
“Bad” fats
Saturated fats – Solid at room temperature. Cut back on saturated fats by reducing or avoiding dairy items (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc) that are labeled “whole” and “2 percent.” Limit (you don’t HAVE TO COMPLETELY ELIMINATE, but do listen to your body and note how you feel when you eat animal meats heavily and when you don’t, if any difference at all) the amounts of red meat and other animal proteins you eat.increase the amounts of greens in your diets and plant based proteins and calcium. Coconut oil does contain saturated fat but derived from a plant rather than animals.
Trans fats – Significantly reduce trans fats from your diet by staying away from foods that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. (Read the ingredient list!) Shortening and stick margarine contain trans fat.
“Good” fats
Monounsaturated fats – olives, avocados and nuts. Healthier cooking oils are also great sources which I have posted here
Polyunsaturated fats – You probably get enough omega-6 in your diet, so focus on having more foods packed with omega-3 (salmon, walnuts, chia, hemp, etc).
