January 12, 2014 For decades, we've been lead to believe that the use of vegetable oil in our cooking is much healthier for us than what my grandmother used to cook with. Which was lard. Recently I had an opportunity to take a closer look at how using vegetable oil works when we consume it and I gotta tell ya. It ain't good. Before I go into that I need to explain why so many people are currently sold on seed and nut oil (where we get it from). I can explain it in one word: cholesterol. Laboratory tests have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that the use of vegetable oil can reduce cholesterol. Cholesterol has been demonized for decades as a primary catalyst of heart disease. You go to a doctor's office and have blood drawn and, regardless of what panel you actually need, they'll run your cholesterol. They'll also tell you that you need to watch your cholesterol to make sure you don't have too much of the 'bad' kind floating around in your system. They don't really define what that bad kind is for you. Just to be cautious of it. Here's the rub: There isn't ONE cell in our entire body that isn't dependent upon cholesterol for something. Not one. Would you like to take a guess at which part of our body has the most cholesterol in it? Let me help... Our BRAIN! No wonder zombies want to eat it! So I have another question for you. If we're so dependent upon cholesterol then why are we trying to reduce it?
Let’s go back to ‘bad’ cholesterol for the answer to that one. First off, there are basically two types that a doctor tests you for when they draw your blood. HDL (the good kind) and LDL (the bad kind). So when a doctor tells you to watch your ‘bad’ cholesterol, they’re referring to LDL. But that’s not a good enough break down of it. There are two types of LDL cholesterol, type A (which the body NEEDS and isn’t harmful at all) and type B (which is harmful and actually causes chronic inflammation that could lead to heart disease). You’re about to find out how all this is relevant to cooking oil in just a second. Just know that the type B LDL is small particle cholesterol that is caused by oxidation of the good kind of LDL.
That’s the kind we want to stay away from. So how do we do that? Don’t put things in our body that will oxidize LDL.
How do we do that? Don’t use vegetable oil. Why? Because it has WAY TOO MUCH Omega-6 fatty acids.
Our bodies depend on a certain ratio of both Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. That ratio is about 1 to 1. Studies have shown that in the last 50 years, western diets have shifted that ratio to 16:1. SIXTEEN TO ONE, PEOPLE!
It’s also been found that an excess of Omega-6 fatty acids will build up in our cell membranes and cause chronic inflammation. That’s bad.
Where do we get most of our Omega-6 from? I’ll give you two guesses but I reckon you’ll only need one.
Over and above that, it also contributes to the oxidation of LDL cholesterol which is also bad.
As if that isn’t enough, check THIS out:
There’s this doctor named Stephen Sinatra. This guy used to be in bed with all the anti-cholesterol pharmaceutical companies and helped argue how cholesterol needs to be reduced. Until he found out that reducing cholesterol was causing all sorts of problems… Like death.
In his book, “The Great Cholesterol Myth”, he wrote a passage about vegetable oil that absolutely blew my mind. Before I read it I had no idea how vegetable oil was made. Here’s what he said:
“The success of canola oil [vegetable oil] and its reputation as the healthiest of oils is a triumph of marketing over science. It’s a terrible oil. It’s typically extracted and refined using very high heat and PETROLEUM solvents (such as hexane (which can kill you)). Then it undergoes a process of refining, degumming, bleaching, and-because it stinks-deodorization using even more chemicals.”
So now you know.
How it’s made is disgusting and what it does to us is worse.
What’s the alternative?
Glad you asked. Saturated fats are excellent to cook with. Coconut oil is awesome and it tastes great, too.
Or you can do what I do… Cook bacon, use the oil.
Because I will NEVER use vegetable oil again… Like ever.
Comments