Cooking Oil Choices:
High-heat Cooking: Any reference to oil for frying, roasting, searing, grilling, or stir frying calls for coconut oil, avocado oil or red palm oil. Clarified butter (ghee) is ok with extreme moderation, if not restricting dairy. These are oils with higher smoke point but also already mostly saturated and therefore not at risk of becoming oxidized with heat. You may occasionally use pure or light olive oil for this purpose but because it is mostly monounsaturated, I would not make a habit of it. Keep in mind that high-heat cooking produces advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which are known to increase inflammation, in turn responsible for cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and arthritis.
Low to Medium-heat Cooking: Any reference to sautéing, braising or baking, calls for above oils plus you may occasionally use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).
Off-heat Prepping: Any reference to salad dressing, drizzling over finished meals, or cold prepped spreads or dips, calls for EVOO, unrefined or toasted seed oils such as sesame seed oil.
When buying your oil look for organic, virgin or unrefined, cold-pressed or expeller-pressed varieties. Never buy more than a 3-month supply and always store your containers in a cold, dry and preferably dark place. Keep the top tightly closed to avoid air exposure, which causes oil to go rancid. Never reuse frying oil and stay away from places that do (that takes out all restaurants using deep fryers). Avoid the popular vegetable oils such as corn, soy and even canola for the following reasons:
1. These oils do contain trans fats or hydrogenated oils in spite of the deceiving labeling practices endorsed by the FDA. The FDA allows less than 0.5 grams per serving of trans fat to be labeled as zero. For these oils the serving size is just a tablespoon or about 14 grams. So do the math yourself, but trust me that you still get an unhealthy dose of trans fats from all that food containing theses oils such as nearly all baked goods, snacks, cookies, salad dressings, fried foods, creamers, margarine and refrigerator dough. These fats lead to heart disease and stroke.
2. They have unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids and cause increased inflammation and all that goes with it.
3. They are refined using industrial grade chemicals, bleached and deodorized for your enjoyment. This alone should be enough reason for us to avoid them.
Remember, even good oils have calories. Incorporate them as part of a balanced diet with healthy proteins, complex carbohydrates and preferably with low-temperature cooking or off-heat prepping.