Benefits of (good) fat:
- Weight loss
- Stable energy levels
- Increased satiety
- Healthy immune system
- Protection against disease
- Absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
- Strong bones
- Improved brain health
- Optimal hormone production
- Healthy skin
The good stuff:
| Monounsaturated Fats | Polyunsaturated Fats | Saturated Fat | Coconut Oil | Saturated Fat | Organic Butter or Ghee | |
| Healthy sources | Olive oil (cold pressed, extra virgin), avocado oil, camellia oil (tea seed oil) | Walnut oil, flaxseed oil, pumpkin seed oil, fish oil | Virgin or extra-virgin coconut oil | **Organic only! |
| How to use | • Olive oil | Cold or room temperature: use for salad dressings, sauces or dips. After cooking your meal, drizzle dish with olive oil for extra flavor and nutrients
• Avocado oil, camellia oil | Cold or room temperature: great for cooking (even at high temperatures), baking or for salad dressing, sauces and dips |
Cold or room temperature: use as a supplement or for salad dressings, sauces or dips | Room temperature: use for cooking or add to smoothies, sauces or dips | Cold or room temperature: great for cooking, baking and using as a spread |
| Need to know | *Olive oil is not ideal for cooking (for cooking use butter, ghee, avocado oil, camellia oil or coconut oil). Buy olive oil in a small, dark bottle that you will use quickly. Replace when oil pales in color. | Becomes rancid when exposed to heat, light, and oxygen. Choose expeller-pressed, unrefined oil in light-resistant containers. | Strengthens the immune system, supports the thyroid, and increases metabolism. It is rich in lauric acid, which is antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal. | Butter and ghee contain conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, body fat reducer, muscle builder, and immunity booster. |
* Olive oil is beneficial to our health by providing powerful anti-oxidants and nutrients. If heated at too high a temperature, however, the oil’s molecular structure begins to change and becomes carcinogenic. If you choose to cook with olive oil, keep the temperature below 250 degrees (medium heat).
**Toxins such as antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and pollutants are stored in fat. Using only organic animal-derived products helps ensure you will not be ingesting these harmful substances.
The bad stuff:
Trans fats are artificially hydrogenated oils used to extend the shelf life of foods. Research indicates that even relatively small amounts of trans fats have been associated with obesity, cancer, heart disease and infertility. These harmful fats can be found in packaged baked goods, breakfast cereals, snack foods, fast food, and margarine. Foods that contain trans fats have “partially hydrogenated oil” or “hydrogenated oil” listed in the ingredients.
“Vegetable oils” (canola oil, corn oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil) are rancid, unstable oils that should not be consumed at any temperature. Unlike coconut oil or olive oil that can be extracted by pressing, these vegetable oils have to be chemically extracted and processed in very unnatural, unhealthy ways.
Canola oil, for example, is processed at very high temperatures using hexane (a chemical solvent) and is then bleached, chemically deodorized and dyed yellow. Additionally, these vegetable oils are very unstable, becoming easily oxidized. Oxidized, rancid oils are recognized by the body as toxins and are therefore stored in the body’s fat cells versus being metabolized as food.
These oils have even been proven to adversely alter our DNA! Bottom line – do not consume these vegetable oils under any circumstances!