“Olive oil for health!”
“Coconut oil is good for you!”
Are these statements true? Do these oils/fats actually distinguish themselves in your body differently than say canola oil? No, not really. The only distinguishing differences are as follows:
Coconut Oil – There are only trace amounts of nutrients along with some iron. Vitamin K and E can be found in such small amounts that if you blink, you’d miss them. The strongest thing going for coconut oil is that it’s high in lauric acid which acts like an antimicrobial and antiviral (nutrition data). But, here’s the thing: you can get the same thing from eating the coconut meat plus you’d get the benefits of fiber, potassium and folate (which you don’t get from consuming the oil) (nutrition data).
Olive Oil – Again, indiscriminate amounts of vitamins E and K, plus a couple of minerals that barely make an appearance (nutrition data). What’s wrong with actually eating the olives? Yes, they’ll be a bit higher in sodium because olives need to be brined but they still have the same fatty acids PLUS fiber and vitamin A (nutrition data)!
Canola Oil (aka rapeseed oil) – This has vitamins C and K plus the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids (as the others also do). As far as going around and eating rapeseed flowers, I guess you could but it’s not going to be something you find easily at your local grocer (nutrition data).
Oils are oils, are oils. Besides any leftover nutrients from the original plant that they were processed from, our bodies see oil as fat and an immediate source of fuel. But, if you’re not planning on going for a cross-country run as soon as you’re done eating that fried chicken, guess where that fuel goes? If you guessed that it gets stored, you’d be right. Think about this — you’re trying to eat healther, staying away from processed foods yet you’re still going to add oil to your food? Oils start out as plants but undergo so much processing to become the oil that you buy at your local grocery stores. The plants are ground up, then pressed with solvents. Then that first oil gets thrown into a centrifuge with an alkali then into another centrifuge with water, it gets washed and finally distilled into that bottle of oil you have sitting in your pantry (more oil making information here). I’m pretty sure it’s gone beyond healthy at this point.
The truth is our bodies do need a healthy amount of fat daily (our brains especially just thrive on it) but there are better ways to provide that besides using oil so liberally. Just using the above examples of olives or coconut meat is one way to add your healthy, daily amount of fat. A handful of raw nuts (walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, and peanuts for example) or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax, etc.), a couple of slices of avocado, salmon or tuna if you eat fish, and whole eggs if you eat those.
Love to fry stuff? Guess what? You can either make the same dishes in the oven or “water fry” them in a skillet! I “water saute” all the time. Plus, there are frying pans out there now that you don’t even need to add anything to fry stuff. Even an air fryer could be a good investment to cut down on oil usage though they still use oil. Got a recipe that asks for oil? Just don’t add it or find a better subsitute. Choose healthier options and stop making it so easy for your body to store some extra fat just because unreliable information is out there about these so-called healthy oils. Not all research is sound and some things are taken completely out of context. Many people just run with the parts that they want to hear to confirm that they can eat certain things and still be healthy. (Make sure to check out my After Thought note below for a special surprise!)
After Thought: I feel so strongly about removing as many oils as possible from your diet that I’m going to give you a recipe for chicken wings in the oven that use a minimal amount of oil but they’re just as crispy as if you’d fried them in a deep fryer of fat storage (aka oil). I make these for those people in my family who are still digging in their heels about being plant-based:
Crispy Oven Chicken Wings
Preheat your oven to 250F.
Place a rack on a cookie sheet and lightly spray with some olive oil.
In a sealable plastic gallon bag, add 1 part low-sodium baking powder, 1 part non-gmo cornstarch, and 1 part gluten-free all-purpose flour. Add your spices. I add a good amount of onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, and kelp flakes (as salt replacement). Now add your chicken wings and shake, shake, shake!
Place wings on the rack/cookie sheet then sashay it into the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
Turn up the heat to 450F and let them “fry” for about 50 minutes. Careful when opening the oven door as there might be a bit of smoke. They’re ready for whatever sauce you want to toss them in… or just eat them as is.
I’ve never tried this with potatoes/french fries but it could be good, too!
Hart Health 