What Oils & Fats Should You Cook With?
You might be surprised at what’s on and NOT on the list!
First, let’s cut to the chase with a list of supportive, heat-stable cooking fats, and a list of those it would be best NOT to use!
Best healthy cooking fats and oils
Butter or ghee
Coconut oil
Palm oil
Olive oil
Animal fats like lard, tallow, duck fat
Oils and fats you should NOT cook with (or eat, really ever!)
Canola oil
Vegetable oil
Safflower & Sunflower oil
Margarine and other fake butter alternatives
Soy oil
Corn oil
Grapeseed oil
If this feels like a complete 180 from what you’ve seen recommended in the past, hang with me! I’m hoping by the end you can see the why behind these suggestions, as well as the why behind the confusion in this conversation!
Different fat types and their reaction to heat & cooking
There are two major types of nourishing fats that are found in nature: saturated and unsaturated.
Saturated fat is the most stable when exposed to heat, light, and oxygen (ie, our bodies and normal environment) and are typically solid at room temperature. This includes things like butter and dairy products, most animal fats, coconut products, eggs, etc. We’ll talk more about this later!
Unsaturated fats can be quite nourishing in their raw, natural state but we have to be very careful about exposing them to high heat and oxygen (cooking, improper storing, etc).
Within the unsaturated category, we find monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and oxidize (a chemical reaction with oxygen) a bit more than saturated fats but not quite as much as polyunsaturated fats. This includes foods like olives, avocados, and some nuts and seeds. I often use these oils cold only, although I do believe cooking with olive oil can offer a more attainable option for those trying to avoid using polyunsaturated fats, so don’t stress too much if that’s your preferred choice!
Polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable under heat, light, and oxygen and virtually turn rancid through the process of oxidation, both in our cooking and inside our bodies. Um, yikes! This includes all the oils listed in the “no” list above! Real food, nourishing sources include fatty fish, walnuts, flax and chia. The problem is in the cooking oils! This also means that keeping your walnuts, flax, and chia seeds in an air tight container in the fridge and eating them raw, fresh, or freshly ground is the best way to preserve their nutrients!
The Lies We’ve Been Told About Vegetable Oil
I vividly remember intentionally choosing vegetable oil as my preferred cooking oil as a young adult because I believed it was the best choice (I mean it says vegetable for goodness’ sake!). Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what vegetable oil actually is?
Sad story, it’s not from vegetables.
Vegetable oil is a catch-all term for oils derived from grains, nuts, and seeds and includes that list above - canola, rapeseed, safflower, sunflower, etc.
Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, but let’s discuss what this oil does when heated.
“Lipid peroxides are formed by the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the presence of oxygen, a process that is greatly accelerated at high temperatures. Lipid peroxides appear to play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and other diseases in which increased oxidative stress is a factor. The formation of lipid peroxides at high temperatures is substantially less with saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids than with polyunsaturated fatty acids. For that reason, it would appear to be safer to cook with olive oil or peanut oil (which have a relatively high content of monounsaturated fatty acids) than with corn, soy-bean, sunflower, or safflower oils (which have a relatively high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids).”
-Gaby, Alan R. Nutritional Medicine. Fritz Perlberg Publishing, 2017.
In plain speak? Polyunsaturated fats in cooking are making us sick.
And unfortunately, the medical community, heart health association, and other “health” experts have cautioned against saturated fat consumption in favor of these disease-driving oils. It’s truly so sad! Now, why is that the case?
Enter…
The lies we’ve been told about SATURATED fat
Let me introduce you to Ancel Keys, the guy who cherry picked data to create the “lipid hypothesis” in the 1950's, which unfortunately, wrongly states that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat correlates with higher heart disease.
Even though several studies have shown his research to be flawed, a few money-making industries capitalized on this idea, and it spread like wildfire.
Here’s the biggest kicker, guys, the “saturated fat” Keys based his hypothesis around was…MARGARINE. Margarine!!
“In public, {Keys} fingered animal fat as the culprit behind the rising rates of heart attacks. But in his laboratory and human experiments, he didn't use animal fat. His subjects were fed margarine made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. And what was in the margarine? Trans fat—a full 48 percent! Trans fats are the infamous artery-hardening molecules that have been banned from restaurants in New York City and elsewhere due to their now well-known associations with heart disease. These fats do not exist in foods that nature makes.”
-Shanahan, Cate, M.D. Deep Nutrition. Flatiron Books, 2017.
Unfortunately, mainstream medical media has not budged on this pervasive lie, even though heart disease rates have skyrocketed since the implementation of recommending vegetable oil as “heart healthy”.
"Before 1920 coronary heart disease was rare in America...By the mid 1950s heart disease was the leading cause of death among Americans. Today heart disease causes at least 40% of all US deaths. If, as we have been told, heart disease is caused by consumption of saturated fats, one would expect to find a corresponding increase in animal fats in the American diet. Actually, the reverse is true."
-Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions. NewTrends Publishing, Inc., 1995.
Wait…the 1950’s??! As in, the same time Ancel Keys published his flawed hypothesis that changed the course of human health??!
It’s a sad reality, but I am so thankful people are waking up to the truth.
The truth is that humans have been eating saturated fat for thousands of years. Vegetable oil, however, is a modern invention that we do not find in nature.
What about cholesterol?
Yes yes, good question! First, let’s define what it actually is (it’s NOT bad at the core!).
Cholesterol is a type of fat (lipid) found in ALL of our cells. It helps to regulate our cell membranes, is a precursor for hormone production, is imperative for nervous system function, and can be anti-inflammatory. Lowering intake of cholesterol can also lower necessary supplies of fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A (retinol is the fat-soluble Vit. A that is found only in animal foods, as opposed to beta-carotene in plant foods, which has different functions in the body!). And we NEED retinol for quite a bit - healthy, nourished skin, eye health, immune function, reproductive health, etc.
Until fairly recently, cholesterol number recommendations for total cholesterol were higher than they are currently, since the shift of the “heart-healthy” narrative started demonizing cholesterol-containing foods (ie, saturated fat!). This won’t be a full deep dive into the topic of a cholesterol blood panel, but a couple of notes to highlight:
elevated cholesterol may be linked much more to low thyroid function and possible magnesium deficiency than to dietary influence
this doesn’t mean we let cholesterol run amok - Dr. Cate Shanahan uses a ratio of “LDL less than three times the HDL value…with triglycerides levels less than 150” as her ideal range and sees this happen quite often with patients on a pro-animal protien, pro-saturated fat diet (Shanahan, Cate, M.D. Deep Nutrition. Flatiron Books, 2017.)
vegetable oils that wreak havoc on blood sugar, our ability to fight off free radicals that cause cell damage, and our artery health may be much more to blame than dietary fats that have been consumed for thousands of years!
Why should I care about oxidation?
If this is a new science-y term, hang in there!
Foods that easily oxidize can contribute to what’s called oxidative stress inside of our body. That’s when we don’t have enough antioxidant support in our diet to fight the damage (caused by a number of factors) from free radicals inside our bodies. Why does this matter? It leads to cellular damage. Which can also lead to a cascade of events like chronic disease, inflammation, lowered energy production, musculoskeletal issues, neurological issues, metabolic dysfunction..sadly the list goes on.
That may feel a bit scary to read, but I see this information as quite empowering. When we KNOW the possible outcomes of consuming certain “foods” (I don’t consider these processed oils as real foods, personally!), it helps us do a cost-benefit analysis of consuming them regularly.
Because, yes - good cooking fats are more expensive. But at what cost are we saving money to buy oils that are quite literally damaging at a cellular level? We all have to sit with that question and do the best we can!
Watch out for packaged food!
Many of us are quite cooking-fat-savvy when it comes to our homemade meals, but a shocking number of packaged & processed “health” foods use sunflower or safflower oil. Even if a product only has a few ingredients, if one of them is vegetable/canola/or any of these other oils, I would caution against it (a one-off is certainly different than normal consumption of course!).
That’s why label reading is SO important (I have a free download for additives to avoid, here!) Many companies create “greenwashed” snack items that are actually loaded with damaging vegetable oils, so don’t blind grab - always flip that package over and read!
Another big takeaway: EAT YOUR ANTIOXIDANTS
I’ll save this deep dive for another post, but don’t forget to consume anti-oxidant rich food (get it, ANTI….OXIDANT…lightbulb, right?).
My favorites are things like:
- organic berries (blueberries - wild, especially - blackberries, strawberries, etc)
- Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables (like bell peppers, artichokes spinach, kiwi, pomegranate, etc)
- quality dark chocolate and cacao, well-sourced green tea
- Vitamin E rich foods like pecans & walnuts (raw, organic varieties are great!) & avocados
- beans (black, kidney, etc)
- and many herbs and spices (ginger, turmeric, garlic, parsley, etc!)
I hope this empowers you to make the best possible choice for yourself and your family!
Happy nourishing!
If you need easy & delicious recipe inspiration with ONLY nourishing cooking fats, head to my e-cookbooks here!
