Swap Out Your Canola Oil, Vegetable Oil, and Products Containing Them
Navigating this Blog Post:
Why I Started "Healthy Swaps" for 2022
I've always found when wanting to make a major health or lifestyle change, it's easier to take it in little steps than to try and make a massive change on the spot. Mastering little steps has always been more successful in making the change a lasting habit for me, as opposed to a temporary phase. I've had friends ask me about my diet & eating habits, and as soon as I tell them, they come back with different variations of "Oh that's too hard," "That's so much work," and "I could never do that!"
Believe me, when I started down this path to a healthier lifestyle, I felt the same way! When I have food or beauty/household products that I love, I never want to give them up. However, slowly but surely, I made little changes here & there and now, it's a lifestyle I'm happy to embrace. Sure, it's still hard some days to make the healthier choice, even with the research I'm learning on why [insert food/product] is bad for you, but it's definitely not as hard as it used to be.
So this year I decided to create the Healthy Swaps series! Every month, I will post a new blog post with a simple swap to make, and with these small changes made every month, we can be living a healthier lifestyle by the end of the year! So let's get started!
1. Swap Out Your Canola Oil, Vegetable Oil and Products Containing Them
Replace them with: Avocado Oil, Grass-fed Ghee or Butter, Coconut Oil, and Olive Oil
This is a big one for so many reasons, but once you learn why, you'll never want to use or consume these oils ever again! It's incredible how many "healthy" food and snack options contain these oils in their ingredients, and how many "healthy" food recipes will call for them as well.
Canola
Corn
Cottonseed
Soybean
Safflower
Rice Bran
*Sunflower
**Grape Seed.
*Some studies show that "high-oleic" sunflower oil may not be as harmful as regular sunflower oil. Click here and click here for a couple articles on this.
**Click here to read some interesting info on grape seed oil.
Why They're Bad For You
The Short Answer:
They're genetically modified, chemically extracted (which damages the oil), then bleached. This leads to higher oxidation (creating free radicals) and trans fats. When it's heated, more harmful chemical compounds are created as well (including formaldehyde!).
Health issues linked to regularly consuming canola oil & other vegetable oils: cellular damage (making your body age faster - yikes!), inflammation, chronic inflammation (leading to autoimmune diseases), cancer growth, hypertension & stroke, diabetes, liver & kidney function disruption, memory degradation (Alzheimer's, anyone?), brain fog, and disrupting normal growth in children, just to name a few. Starting to sound like those pharmaceutical commercials with the endless lists of side effects, doesn't it?
The Long Answer:
Every cell in your body has a membrane around it, and this membrane helps the cell to work properly by letting compounds in and out of it. What are these cell membranes mostly comprised of? The fats from your food. As Ben Greenfield says, "This means that the state your cells are in, how flexible the membranes are and how permeable they are to nutrients is dependent on the amount and, even more importantly, the quality of the fats you get from your diet."
So if you're constantly consuming damaged, chemically-processed GMO oils by either cooking with them at home, or consuming them in your snacks & desserts, or eating fried food at the majority of restaurants, then "those damaged fats are what get incorporated...into your precious cell membranes, and your brain and nervous system become comprised of the foods you eat and the foods [that your food] ate" (for example, the beef on your plate was from a cow raised on GMO grains and corn, which means you are now also consuming the GMO's from those grains and corn).
All oils have smoke points (the temperature at which an oil begins to smoke). Once they reach this smoke point, they oxidize (react with oxygen), releasing free radicals and producing harmful compounds.
Oils with polyunsaturated fats are considered unstable, because their fatty acids are not bound tightly together, which means when they're heated, they produce a higher amount of free radicals. Oils with polyunsaturated fats are (you guessed it) canola oil & most vegetable and seed oils. Oils with saturated fatty acids are considered stable, because their fatty acids are bound tightly together, making them better at withstanding high temperatures.
Free radicals wreak havoc on the body and when combined with the harmful compounds produced when canola oil is oxidized, create an "environment perfect for cancer growth." Free radicals attack cell membranes, which, among other things, causes you to age faster and can also damage the DNA in your cells' nuclei, which is when cancer begins to form.
Light also can speed up the oxidation of fat, which is why it's best to purchase oils in dark, air-tight, small batch bottles and to store them in a dark space at home. Oil that is constantly exposed to both light and oxygen will grow rancid and oxidize (which means more free radicals).
Another dangerous compound that's produced when canola oil is heated past its smoke point is HNE. HNE has been associated with the "the pathogenesis of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders." The unfortunate thing about this compound, is that it continues to accumulate the more that it is heated & re-used (i.e. restaurants re-using canola & vegetable oil in their fryers).
Why These Replacements Are Good For You
Oils with saturated fatty acids are considered stable, because their fatty acids are bound tightly together, which means they can withstand higher heat temperatures. If they're organic, grass-fed or non-GMO, they're already better for you than canola & vegetable oil. If they're cold-pressed or expeller-pressed, then they weren't extracted using chemicals, and if they're "unrefined" (as opposed to "refined"), they're less processed.
Avocado Oil: though it's not made up of saturated fatty acids, avocado oil is made up of monounsaturated fats, which are the "good" fats your body needs and has been proven to help lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. Not only does it have a high smoke point (470-500°F), it's also mild in flavor, so it's not noticeable or overpowering when used to cook food. This is great for high-heat cooking, and I also use this as a vegetable oil substitute when baking. **Do be aware that studies have come out showing that not all avocado oil labels are correct, and some claiming to be "pure avocado oil" are actually cut with soybean oil or other types of cheaper oil. I've linked the article for you here. My recommendation is to go with a trusted brand, like Primal Kitchen.
Grass-fed Ghee: with a smoke point of up to 485° F, grass-fed ghee is a perfect option for high-heat cooking with minimal oxidation if you want the delicious flavor of buttery goodness. Ghee is clarified butter, meaning most of the casein and lactose has been removed, so it's also great for those sensitive to dairy (and causes less inflammation than regular cow's milk butter).
Coconut Oil: I honestly can't say enough good things about the benefits of coconut oil. In this article by Stephen Cabral, you can read about how coconut oil helps heal your gut, your cell membranes, can stop (and in some cases, reverse) powerful degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and MS, and even helps lower cholesterol. Just be mindful that a lot of studies suggest you consume extra virgin, unrefined coconut oil for its nutritional benefits, which will have a low smoke point (350 °F), so it's better for low to medium heat cooking. Otherwise, a non-extra virgin coconut oil can withstand more heat for cooking.
Olive Oil: organic & cold-pressed olive oil is loaded with healthy nutrients and anti-inflammatory & powerful antioxidants. However, like coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil has a low smoke point and therefore shouldn't be used for high-heat cooking. Some studies recommend using non-virgin olive oil for low to medium heat cooking, and using extra-virgin olive oil for non-heat cooking (like salad dressing, or bread dip).
Articles for Further Research
If you're interested in these topics (or find some of my research questionable), here are the articles I used to write this blog.
Hope this was helpful, and good luck with January's healthy swap! See you next month!
***Full disclosure: this blog post contains affiliate links that may be commissionable.
I love this post! I try to only cook with Avocado and Coconut Oil and eat EVOO raw in my homemade salad dressings. Thanks for sharing!