Good Oils vs. Bad Oils
With the inclusion of healthy fats in the healthy world it is hard to know what is actually good for you and when to use it. It seems like there are so many options these days with oils and butters to cook with. Where do you start?
The bad oils:
Vegetable Oil: Also has to go through a deep extraction process because they cannot be simply pressed out of rapeseed, corn, sunflower and safflower. Like canola oil, vegetable oil has to be chemically altered in order to be made.
Canola Oil: comes from a cross breed of many plants like rapeseed that are commonly genetically modified. In order to get the oil, a chemical called hexane is used to extract the oil and then it is bleached to get the light color. This manufacturing process also causes it to be full of trans fats. Hexane has been linked to various health concerns and is a byproduct of gasoline refining. Why is that in our food?! No thanks. Pure rapeseed oil used to be commonly used but it was banned because it contains high volume of euric acid which is very toxic to the body; thus, canola oil is just a modified rapeseed oil.
The good oils:
Avocado Oil: Cold pressed and straight from the source, avocado oil also has a super high cooking point. This means that it does not change structure at high heat and still gives you all those good fats. This is ideal for sautéing, frying etc. Primal Kitchen has my absolute favorite Avocado Oil HERE.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The key here is to make sure you are purchasing from a brand you trust. There has been a lot of talk lately about a lot of claimed EVOO bottles have a lot of fillers and not much pure EVOO at all. Olive oil also has polyphenols which are amazing antioxidants. The key with EVOO is not to cook in too high heat with it. At a certain point the heat changes the molecular structure of the olive oil and it loses all of it’s health benefits. I use this mainly in salads and to top foods.
Ghee: My current kitchen obsession. Ghee is simply clarified butter. All that means is that it has been melted down to remove milk solids and impurities making it a close friend to someone that is lactose intolerant. Like avocado oil, ghee has a really high cooking point making it ideal at high heat. Since the milk protein casein and the sugar, lactose, are removed it is easy for the body to digest.
Coconut Oil: So many uses so I’m sure I am not covering anything new here. Coconut oil also has a super high cooking point making it ideal for in the pan dinners. Coconut oil has a unique mix of fats including medium chain triglycerides which are excellent for you!
I purchase all of these at Thrive Market.You can join HERE and get all the benefits of healthy foods at 25-50% off!
