What Are Healthy Cooking Oils?
Healthy Cooking Oils
There is a lot of confusion about healthy cooking oils, so in an effort to clear up some of the confusion, I want to touch on the cooking fats that I consider to be good and those that I’d avoid.
Here are seven oils and my recommended uses for them, along with three that I don’t recommend and why.
The “Good Guys” (In no particular order)
1. Lard
Lard is pork fat, the highest grade being “leaf lard,” and is solid at room temperature, indicating a relatively high saturated fat content, though probably not as high as the anti-saturated fat crowd would have you believe. Lard checks in at about 41% saturated fatty acids (SFA), 47% monounsaturated (MUFA), and 11% polyunsaturated (PUFA).
2. Tallow
Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat. Like lard, tallow is solid at room temperature and is slightly more saturated, clocking in at 52% SFA, 44% MUFA, and 4% PUFA.
The saturation of tallow and lard makes them highly stable when heated, which makes lard my predominant cooking fat. I usually melt 1-2 tablespoons in the pan before the meat and vegetables go in. As far as I know, lard was the fat of choice for baking long ago (i.e., before Crisco convinced people to switch) and many bakers still swear by it.
Find yourself a local farmer and get some good pastured lard. I buy it in 4lb tubs from my local pork guy for $8-12.
3. Coconut Oil
Delicious coconut oil. My precious! I am a big fan of coconut, coconut oil, coconut cream, and anything else coconut that you can think of. But the topic for right now is coconut oil. This oil is highly saturated, on the order of 92% SFA (6% MUFA and 2% PUFA), consisting mainly of medium-chain fatty acids. Medium-chain fatty acids pass directly from the GI tract rather than being transported and processed in the lymphatic system. Coconut oil is shelf stable for several years.
Occasionally I use coconut oil for cooking in the same way that I use lard/tallow, but I typically put it on sweet potatoes or fruit. On a warm sweet potato, it melts nicely, while on cold fruit, it forms a delicious hard coconut shell wherever it lands. It can also be used in baking or taken straight from the spoon. Coconut oil has a great mild coconut flavor that mixes well with cinnamon, nutmeg, and other “sweet” spices.
4. Palm Oil
Aside from soybean oil, this is the most widely consumed oil in the world. If you don’t count the United States, it is the most widely consumed oil. It is also a saturated tropical oil, very high in vitamin E. It is also high in vitamin K and magnesium. Palm oil is easily recognizable by its bright red color and consists of about 50% SFA, 40% MUFA, and 10% PUFA.
Palm oil is great for frying and sauteing. As opposed to the oils most people are used to, the deodorized vegetable oils, palm oil has a distinct taste that goes very well with vegetables and meats (but not with eggs!). The high level of saturation makes it a good oil for applying heat to. If you are a baker, I imagine that you could substitute palm oil into your recipes as well.
There is evidence that palm fruit production is detrimental to the environment, with people clearing out rain forests to open up land for plantations. However, that appears to be in certain areas of Asia, whereas West African palm oil is sustainable.
5. Olive Oil
Since anything that isn’t a saturated fat is regarded as “healthy fat” in many misguided camps and since olive oil is highly unsaturated, it is touted as the best fat for your health. It’s held out as the reason that the Mediterranean Diet is so healthful. So what exactly is it about olive oil that’s so great? Well, it’s only 14% SFA, with 75% being MUFA and 11% PUFA. Aside from that, it’s quite flavorful, enhancing every dish that you add it to.
I don’t hold olive oil out to be the best food ever created as some people tend to do. It’s a good, healthful oil, but it’s not going to save you from Eternal Damnation. Because it is very unsaturated, and therefore less stable than a saturated fat, I rarely cook with it and when I do, it’s over low heat. I add lots of olive oil to my salads with a bit of balsamic vinegar and basil and add it to most everything that I cook to add some extra fat calories.
6. Butter
Butter, another great fat of animal origin that has been used for ages, but suddenly became unhealthful in the 20th century. Butter is 63% SFA, 26% MUFA, and 4% PUFA. Whatever you do, do not substitute margarine for butter to reduce your saturated fat intake. Butter is real food. Margarine is not.
Butter from grass-fed cows is amazing. It adds an excellent flavor to anything you add it to, from eggs to sweet potatoes, from spaghetti squash to broccoli. Butter from properly-raised cows isn’t going to kill you, contrary to what the media reports, and isn’t something to be avoided unless dairy isn’t on your list of foods. It’s great for baking, can be used for sauteing, and is a nice stable fat due to it’s low PUFA content.
7. Toasted Sesame Oil
Toasted sesame oil is a very flavorful oil that I use only on occasion. It’s low in saturated fat at 14%, and evenly split between MUFA and PUFA at 43% apiece. While it’s highly unsaturated, it’s also rather stable over heat. It has a high smoke point and a high antioxidant content which help to stave off rancidity and oxidation.
When I use toasted sesame oil, it’s usually in something with an Asian flair. South India, Korea, and China all use the flavor of toasted sesame seeds in their cooking. Because it’s high in PUFA, which I try to avoid for the most part, I might only pull the sesame oil once every few months. But it does combine well with coconut oil for both flavor and stability, each contributing vitamins and minerals.
The Bad Guys
8. Canola Oil
Canola oil is another darling of the media, low in those unhealthful saturated fats and high in the unsaturated fats. CANadian Oil, Low Acid is 6% SFA, 62% MUFA, and 32% PUFA. It also contains about 10% omega-3 fatty acids, in the form of Alpha-Linolenic Acid.
While some people use it in place of olive oil in salad dressings and cooking, I don’t use canola oil. Here are several reasons I don’t include it in my diet:
- Too much PUFA without contributing any sufficient amount of flavor or vitamins (which sesame oil does on both counts)
- The omega-3s are the ALA that the body inefficiently elongates into the much-needed EPA
- Most of the canola grown in Canada and the US (80%) is genetically modified, which I also avoid
And no, I don’t avoid canola because it’s from the rapeseed, nor do I believe most of the claims about canola oil being poisonous. I just don’t find that it adds any value to my diet.
9. Flaxseed Oil
I wrote once before about why I don’t include flaxseeds as part of my diet. While it’s high in omega-3s with a 4:1 omega-3:omega-6 ratio, as in canola oil, the omega-3s are of the short-chain plant variety known as ALA. In the flax post, I discussed the various elongation and desaturation processes that ALA must undergo to become EPA and DHA, the long-chain fatty acids that the body requires.
If you do use flaxseed oil, you absolutely cannot subject it to heat. It oxidizes very easily. Even storing it outside of the fridge is likely to result in an unpleasant taste. If you want to boost your omega-3 intake, stick to fish oil.
10. Peanut, Corn, and Other Vegetable Oils
These oils, the so-called “healthy polyunsaturated oils,” should not be used. They are wholly unnatural fats, sources of incredible loads of omega-6 fatty acids, which most people already take in too much of. As discussed in the guest post at MDA, these oils are highly prone to rancidity and oxidation. To make them shelf-stable, they are refined and deodorized, that way, even when they’re “off”, you won’t know it because there’s nothing in them to stink.
What did I miss? What other oils do you use and how do you use them? What other uses do you have for these oils?
About Scott
Scott Kustes loves to cook and loves to eat. He started Real Food University to help you get maximum enjoyment out of the meals that you eat. To find out more about how he has rebelled against the fast food culture and counting calories or carbs, join the Real Food Revolution.
73 Reader Comments
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Scott;
Well laid out, very clear.
Thanks.
Fat: my favorite food group!
Regarding coconut oil, I like to keep both virgin and expeller-pressed handy. The latter is less expensive and pleasantly devoid of coconut flavour. I save the virgin CO for curries, desserts, etc in which a coconut explosion is actually desirable.
“What other oils do you use and how do you use them?”
Chicken fat. I love to toss chicken leg quarters in the crock pot for broth and fat. The fat is easily “harvested” after the strained broth spends the night in the fridge.
Next on my to-try list are duck fat as above, and palm oil at your suggestion.
I enjoy your blog. Cheers!
Glad to finally see lard up there where it belongs. My ancestors were huge wild boar hunters and they used almost all of the animal. That’s probably why I love my pork, lard included. Beef smells, when cooking, making me sick and I can’t eat most beef products, but it’s probably because I can’t afford range fed beef. Thanks for the great article. As an FYI, that lard photo is part of my screen saver, lol. The people at work think it’s a joke but I have it up there because I believe its true.
Super post, Scott! I get asked about which fats and oils I use, too, and I often get looks like I have two heads after uttering only a few words. Of course, I *always* start with lard
. People have a hard time “digesting” anything contrary to the conventional wisdom.
Your list is nearly the same as mine, except I haven’t yet started using palm oil (due to lack of space in the “larder”!) and our family does use a lot of organic butter & heavy cream. I also haven’t sought out beef tallow, because I have more than enough lard for our needs (I freeze it in smaller containers), though I do seek out fattier cuts of grass-fed beef and rarely trim much fat off prior to cooking. I render leaf lard when pigs are processed at my local “hobby” farm (in a minute I’m going to put up a photo of the newest litter of cute piglets on my blog). No one else asks for the lard, so I have it all to myself and for cheap!
I do render a bit of chicken fat now and then, too, because it is nice for roasting root veggies. I hear poultry, duck, and goose fat (schmaltz) is the best for roasting potatoes (ask a European!), but I haven’t made roasted potatoes in I don’t know how long. Rendered chicken fat doesn’t seem to keep as long in the fridge as lard, so I toss it if it isn’t used it in 2-3 months, then make some more.
Great post! I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about tea seed oil lately, but most of the information out there is provided by people who want to sell it to me – have you checked it out at all?
Great post. My mom came up to visit last weekend and was shocked to see I had a large jar of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil in my cabinet next to Toasted Sesame Oil, Olive Oil and Walnut Oil (for salads mostly). “Coconut oil!!” she said, “But it’s so high in saturated fat. You know that’s not very good for you.”
I did my best throughout the week to explain what kinds of foods I was eating (paleo, high in protein and fats) and she, to my surprise, was pretty supportive. I don’t think she’ll be giving up her Canola oil anytime soon though!
Re: the flavor of coconut oil
I use mine with veggies and for scrambling eggs…and I never taste the coconut. I have however found that it depends on where I buy my coconut oil. Some brands DO have a strong flavor, luckily, the one I use doesn’t.
Oh, and I am curious…do you have any thoughts of grapeseed oil?
I have used it in baking before as I understand it can withstand heat and still be healthy, plus it doesn’t have a flavor.
What do you mean when you call peanut oil a “wholly unnatural fat”? My natural peanut butter (Ingredients: peanuts) has peanut oil that separates out if left sitting.
How is that any less natural than extracting oil out of palm or coconut?
Now I agree it’s probably less *healthy*, but less *natural*?!?
Nice post. That lard poster is hilarious!! I’m also getting interested in chicken fat, although I’ve yet to save up any to render.
Debs
Food Is Love
John H, perhaps I shouldn’t lump peanut oil in there with corn oil, sunflower oil, and all of the other vegetable oils. I don’t like it because it’s an omega-6 bomb, but it’s probably not all that difficult to extract the oil from a peanut. On the contrary, corn, etc have very little oil in them as their energy is stored in starch, not fat (as in a peanut, almond, coconut, or palm fruit). To get a bottle of corn oil takes a prodigious quantity of corn and is an amount that no one could ever naturally come across. Obviously from a Paleo perspective, any oil is unnatural, but a food that can be easily tapped for its oil, like an olive (squeeze one and you get oil), and that is known as a source of fat qualifies as a “natural” oil to me.
Thanks for calling me out on my mistake.
Cheers
Scott
[...] Oils unpacked. « It’s all interconnected [...]
Other nut oils?
My husband can’t stand the taste of the coconut oil. I have to lie sometimes to get him to eat it quietly.
Any resources for where to get some nice lard? I know he’ll looooove that (and so will I)!
You forgot about clarified butter A.K.A Ghee.
Lactose and casein free and high in butyric acid which is very good for your intestines.
Nice post.
Cocoa butter is also a great fat.
One of the most stable fats known and can be a good alternative to coconut and palm oil for cooking and for body lotion.
I’m sure it’s good to eat that much fat, but my face get pimply if i eat that much fat and i skip the grains. I’m not sure why is that.
David, wow, I had exactly the opposite reaction. I flared up with adult acne in my early 30s about the same time I adopted the “recommended” diet of more grains and less fats. When I adopted LC, dropped grains and reduced sugar to a bare minimum and increased fat, the acne slowed, then completely stopped. I used to joke about fighting pimples, dry skin, and wrinkles at the same time. Coconut fat in particular, seems to reduce skin dryness for me now that I am in the mid-40s.
Perhaps its a hormonal thing, and men & women react differently.
My problem is only with the animal fats. I’m new at this paleo diet, maybe my face gets better soon. I’m in the mid-20s, my acne lead to the healthier diet. Balanced diet with whole grains, chicken or turkey meat, lots of olive and coconut oil and of course vegetables and fruits helped me. But if i ate from the “prohibited” foods like red meat or other meat products my face get worse. I really want this paleo diet work, but i’m bit worried about this.
David,
Is the red meat from conventional sources? Feedlot cattle are fed lots of antibiotics and growth hormones in their rations. I wonder if the residues in the meat are part of the problem. Conventional poultry uses lots of antibiotics, but not hormones.
Marissa, re: grapeseed oil. I’ve never given it much thought. A quick search looks like it’s pretty high in antioxidants and has a high smoke point (420 degrees), but it’s very highly polyunsaturated, which tells me it probably shouldn’t be heated (though Spectrum, sellers of Grapeseed Oil claim it’s one of the few that can withstand heat). I find warnings to keep it refrigerated to stave off rancidity. You’ll also want to look for brands that are expeller extracted rather than hexane (chemically) extracted (Spectrum is expeller extracted). It also appears that grapeseed oil is refined, something that isn’t required of coconut and palm oils.
CalicoKitty, re: tea seed oil. Another one I’ve never looked at. Again, high smoke point (485 degrees) and apparently used a lot in some Chinese provinces. Looks like it’s mostly monounsaturated fat, but there’s not a good bit of info out there that I see. If you find something, post it here.
Anna, I used to get dry skin. After adding coconut oil to my diet, it went away. Funny, I also tan better when I eat coconut oil, palm oil, and lard/tallow. Makes sense I suppose when you consider that they are less prone to oxidation, including from the sun. Course, I’m still a partly red-headed Irish-German kid….I can now find a color somewhere between Casper and lobster though.
David, interesting…I’m not sure where else to go with that one except where Anna has already taken it. It could be a reaction not to the meat/fat, but to something in it. Interested to learn more.
Alex, check http://www.eatwild.com to find farmers in your area (assuming you’re in The States). Some of them probably raise pigs and can help you out with lard. I don’t have anything on any other nut oils…I’m reluctant to subject anything that’s not solid at room temperature (indicating a fairly high saturated fat content) to heat, but they can probably work for dressings and adding after the fact. If he hates coconut, palm oil and lard will work for your cooking oils.
Cheers
Scott
Scott,
I have same heritage as you and the same red-toned skin, so I’m noticing the same things about tanning, etc. I definitely damaged my skin quite a bit when I was younger, trying to tan like my Italian-American friends and I have the scars from a basal cell carcinoma removal to prove it. Unlike a lot of parents, my mom was actually quite proactive when I was younger, warning me about too much sun and encouraging sunscreen use).
I got those brown “liver” spots on the back of my hands in my late 20s, which coincidentally was when I was avoiding sat fats and using more PUFA oils. They are fading now and I’ve had no new spots since I dropped PUFA oils, despite getting more frequent, but brief, sun exposure now.
I carefully avoid burning now, but I am getting a *very light* tan on purpose with nearly daily exposure of 15 minutes or so. My nose, front of my neck, and upper chest just get red instead of tanning, even though they are not burnt at all (so I protect those areas from sun exposure with clothing, hats, etc). I suspect it is some capillary damage from long ago but only started showing up in my 40s. I’m trying to restrict sunscreen use to times (and spots like like my nose) when clothing and sun avoidance aren’t the best/easiest options, as I have some concerns about frequent application of sunscreens.
You also brought up expeller pressing of oils, which reminds me of some descriptions I have read about industrial oil pressing in a number of places (sorry can’t remember well enough to give you exact references, though one I recall was Udo’s book – I disagreed with a lot in the book, but I think his descriptions of industrial oil processing is probably accurate).
Oils are often labeled “expeller pressed”, “mechanically pressed”, and “cold pressed”. Not sure how much these terms are regulated, but once again, the buyer must beware of marketing claims. The way I understand it, is that “cold” means that no heat was *added* to the pressing process to facilitate oil extraction (heat is added in some oil processes because it extracts more oil). But that doesn’t mean that heat wasn’t *generated* during the pressing. Expeller pressing is like a big screw auger, and pressing in this way generates friction, therefore there is a degree of heat exposure to the oil. So while labeling may be technically correct that no heat is added, the oils could actually be subject to considerable heat amounts just from friction in the pressing process. Delicate oils go rancid quite quickly with exposure to heat and oxygen, so pressing in a controlled atmosphere (such as nitrogen) is also something to look for, too, with PUFA rich oils. Personally, I just avoid them, so it isn’t much of an issue.
Anna,
Yes, the red meat i eat are from conventional source, but the chickens I eat are also from there. You are right, maybe the beefs are more sensitive to the antibiotics and the other stuffs they get. I’m not sure they don’t get hormones, mostly in USA. I’m from europe. I read that there are a bit stricter rules about animal keeping in the EU. But it’s horrible here too.
There are awful circumstances in the poultrys too. I heard that turkeys breasts are so big, they can’t stand on their feets. I can’t afford organic meats until i graduate at university.
Scott,
This is a bit offtopic, but could you tell me how much meat do you eat per day? I thought I can eat half of the quantity of the meat i eat, but from organic source. Only problem that It would be small portion.
David,
Keep in mind when you consider “USDA-certified organic” that there are more similarities to conventional meat and poultry than you might think, especially if what you mean by organic is what I call “industrial organic” (the “organic” foods that show up at grocery stores – Whole Foods and the like included).
The feed is organic, but it still might be grain and organic “junk”. Living conditions aren’t necessarily better, either. The breeds might not be any different and will often still be breeds that maximize profits, i.e., poultry with breast meat so abundant that the animal can’t stand and holdup it’s own weight.
Processing conditions may not be any better than conventional, either. Industrial processing is fast, often mechanical and automated, hard on the workers with cuts, neurological disorders (do to inhaling airborne brain and spinal tissue fragments) and repetitive motion injuries as well as some exploitive employment conditions (workers are often non-English fluent immigrants).
If you check around you might find some small “hobby farms” in your area that can sell at reasonable prices (but don’t expect them to match supermarket specials, which are often “loss leaders” to get customers into the store). Contact the local 4-H organization or your local farm bureau. Check localharvest.org and get on their update list. Check eatwild.com. Put up a notice or inquire at the local feed store (check the phone book for feed stores). I learned about my “hobby farm” through word of mouth (talking about food during a massage) and I just bought a half bison from a Montana ranch I learned about in my CSA veg box newsletter. It’s quite different than buying retail in a multitude of ways that need adjusting to and sometimes requires a deposit up front or bulk purchase (requiring freezer space for you).
Also, stick to the cheaper cuts – tough cuts that cook up tender by braising for hours in a covered pot in the oven or slow cooker appliance. Buy whole chickens instead of boneless chicken breasts, etc. It’s healthier and cheaper. I no longer see bones and cartilage as waste, they are sources o good nutrients that dissolve in cooking and make rich broths. That sort of cooking, while taking a long time, is actually very easy in terms of hands on time and prep work. Crockpots can be a student’s best friend for an easy cheap dinner, if you just think of dinner the day before and get the pot going in the morning.
Anna,
Thank you very much for the infos and tips. Unfortunatelly I can’t use the sites you recommended me, because I am not from the USA. But I will seek for hobby farms in my country, it’s a good idea. Thanks again.
Thanks, I found your site thru Kelly the kitchen kop. Your post on 10 oils and how to use them was very informative. I learned more about the stability of saturated fat. Thanks for that. Growing up I had a mom who made the world’s best pie crust with lard and who always had a tub of cold bacon fat in the refrigerator, ready for frying meats in. (By the way, liver fried in bacon fat is a good way to be introduced to organ meats. It’s delicious. ) Next time I see my mom I will thank her for knowing the best way to cook afterall!
Julie,
It’s pretty interesting that our grandparents already knew how to eat properly until marketers changed what we “know”. Lard, eggs, bacon…all essentials of the old kitchen that are damned today.
Cheers
Scott
Avocado oil? I’ve never bought it but it seems like a good fit for lunch/salad meals..
[...] Forager dishes up ten common/uncommon cooking oils (and how to use [...]
Greg, here’s a response I left to the same question over at MDA:
“avocado oil looks like a decent oil for cooking in, mostly monounsaturated (~75%) with the rest about evenly poly- and saturated. Supposedly it has the highest smoke point of any plant oil, which is a good thing. However, I still advise cooking in healthful saturated fats…lard, tallow, coconut oil, or palm oil. Add your olive or avocado oil after the fact. ”
Cheers
Scott
Nice list: my thoughts
Oils to include: macadamia, coco butter, and ghee
Oils to moderate: lard and olive oil. You need to be careful because of their PUFA content.
Oils to toss: sesame – way too high of a PUFA level
PUFA’s should not exceed more than 4% of your diet, and even lower is usually better.
PUFA’s are toxic beyond that point, no matter whether they are refined or unrefined.
Some people have a problem with the unrefined versions of oil.
Michael,
Where is the info showing that above 4% PUFA becomes toxic? That seems to be an awfully strict set point, which typically don’t hold hard and fast with diverse groups. Short of cooking everything in coconut oil, how does one pull that off? Does that mean no omega-3 supplementation?
Cheers
Scott
Scott,
I was actually being generous. The Weston A Price Foundation (www.westonaprice.org) says that the groups Dr. Price studied had around 4% PUFA as a part of their diet. It should be noted however that Dr. Price himself never said such a thing and thus far the foundation has not given a source reference.
The studies however, going all the way back to Burr, give a different picture, and no, omega-3 supplementation is not normally necessary. There are only two fatty acids that are essential, AA (omega-6) and DHA (omega-3), and they are extremely difficult **not** to get. Also, most of the benefits ascribed to omega-3 come from its toxic effects, effects that however mitigate the toxic impacts of the overconsumption of omega-6, for example. Rather than go into a lot of detail, I have posted an abstract below of a recent report that looks very closely at all the evidence.
Going low PUFA doesn’t mean one has to restrict themselves to coconut oil. My favorite fat is macadamia oil and it is extremely low in PUFA and quite tasty when I don’t want the stronger taste of virgin coconut oil or even olive oil.
I regularly use macadamia oil, tallow, butter/ghee, palm/palm kernal, coconut, cocoa butter, and lard and olive oil while keeping my PUFA consumption very low.
Hope that helps,
take care,
Michael
___________
The PUFA Report Part 1: A Critical Review of the Requirement for Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids
By Chris Masterjohn. Cholesterol-And-Health.Com Special Reports Volume 1 Issue 2. 25 pages, 3 figures, 114 references. $15.00
Abstract
Current reviews and textbooks call the omega-6 linoleic acid and the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid “essential fatty acids†(EFA) and cite the EFA requirement as one to four percent of calories. Research suggests, however, that the omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) and the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are the only fatty acids that are truly essential. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) occurs in fish products but is probably not a normal constituent of the mammalian body and in excess it interferes with essential AA metabolism.
The EFA requirement cited in the scientific literature is inflated by several factors: the use of diets composed mostly of sucrose, glucose, or corn syrup; the use of diets deficient in vitamin B6; the use of purified fatty acids instead of whole foods; the use of questionable biochemical markers rather than verifiable symptoms as an index for EFA deficiency; and the generalization from studies using young, growing animals to adults.
The true requirement for EFA during growth and development is less than 0.5 percent of calories when supplied by most animal fats and less than 0.12 percent of calories when supplied by liver. On diets low in heated vegetable oils and sugar and rich in essential minerals, biotin, and vitamin B6, the requirement is likely to be much lower than this.
Adults recovering from injury, suffering from degenerative diseases involving oxidative stress, or seeking to build muscle mass mass may have a similar requirement. For women who are seeking to conceive, pregnant, or lactating, the EFA requirement may be as high as one percent of calories. In other healthy adults, however, the requirement is infinitesimal if it exists at all.
The best sources of EFAs are liver, butter, and egg yolks, especially from animals raised on pasture. During pregnancy, lactation, and childhood, small amounts of cod liver oil may be useful to provide extra DHA, but otherwise this supplement should be used only when needed to obtain fat-soluble vitamins. Vegetarians or others who eat a diet low in animal fat should consider symptoms such as scaly skin, hair loss or infertility to be signs of EFA deficiency and add B6 or animal fats to their diets.
An excess of linoleate from vegetable oil will interfere with the production of DHA while an excess of EPA from fish oil will interfere with the production and utilization of AA. EFA are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) that contribute to oxidative stress. Vitamin E and other antioxidant nutrients cannot fully protect against oxidative stress induced by dietary PUFA. Therefore, the consumption of EFA should be kept as close to the minimum requirement as is practical while still maintaining an appetizing and nutritious diet.
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/PUFA-Special-Report.html
I’ve been running across a lot of the same info about PUFAs as Michael describes, most notably on the Hyperlipid blog, but elsewhere, too. A Hyperlipid reader, Bruce K, comments a lot on keeping PUFAs as low as possible.
Very interesting stuff Michael. I’ve seen Chris Masterjohn discuss this on the Native Nutrition Yahoo! group. I definitely think there’s something to the notion that we don’t really need much n3 supplementation if we’re avoiding the major sources of n6, namely vegetable oils and grains. As usual, I’m interested in an experiment to work my PUFA intake way down now. I’m going to wait until after the track meet that I’ve been training for though, as I think it’s unwise to change something that’s working pretty dang well less than 4 weeks out from the event.
According to FitDay, my PUFA intake is about 10% on average. Cutting out some olive oil and nuts should help bring that down. Further, my fish oil intake will drop since I won’t be looking for the anti-inflammatory effects to counter my training schedule. Let’s see what happens! With cutting back on those and possibly adding some butter and/or ghee, my PUFA intake should drop. I have to wonder though, why is palm oil okay at 10% PUFA, but olive oil isn’t at 11% PUFA?
Thanks for the info
Scott
What about baby oil, made from real babies?
(j/k)
Several posters above mentioned Macadamia Nut oil and Ghee (Clarified butter). I’ve read good things about both of those.
While not ‘cooking’ oils, fish oil and krill oil make excellent supplements.
Soon (once I have a new job and can afford more grass-fed, sustainably farmed meats and things) I’m hoping to try cooking grass fed meats ‘larded’ with fat-back or strips of lard that are basically ‘sewn’ into the meat with a needle. It used to be fairly common with wild game animals, which tend to be very lean in the first place. I first encountered it in Jacques Pepin’s ‘Complete Techniques’ cookbook and it’s REALLY piqued my interest.
Another old technique is ‘barding’ which is tying leaves of lard around the outside of a roast (For example) while it cooks.
As far as the omega 6 vs omega 3 EFAs go, most of what I’ve read (from the Dr’s Eades, Jonny Bowen, Weston A. Price and others), it’s the RATIO of the two that’s more important than just ‘how much’ of each one you get. I’ve heard that ‘healthy’ ratios are along the lines of 2:1 (Omega 6 to Omega 3), but a typical American diet has a ratio of 20:1 or more! Any combination of getting less Omega 6 (From vegetable oils, corn fed meats, etc) and/or getting more Omega 3 (From grass fed meats, fish and fish oils, etc) that brings the balance closer to where it should be is supposed to be healthier.
Bob, the ratio is definitely the most important piece. I’m looking further into the advice to drop the overall PUFA intake though, as well as trying to drop it some on my own. I’m using more coconut oil and less of other oils, though there’s still some work to do to get to 4%.
Cheers
Scott
Scott, any advice for where to find palm oil? I’ve keeping my eye out for a while now and no luck..
Greg
[Scott] – Very interesting stuff Michael. I’ve seen Chris Masterjohn discuss this on the Native Nutrition Yahoo! group.
[Michael] – Hi Scott, sorry for the very late reply. Yes Chris is an excellent researcher. I’m on the Native Nutrition list as well.
[Scott] – I have to wonder though, why is palm oil okay at 10% PUFA, but olive oil isn’t at 11% PUFA?
[Michael] – Yeah Palm oil should be moderately used, taking into account its PUFA content.
take care,
Michael
Actually how much you get is more important than the ratio. The ratio is only significant if you are taking too much, in which case the toxicity of one plays off of (i.e. reduces) the toxicity of the other.
There might be something to the ratio at lower amounts, but at less than 4%, IMO it really isn’t all that significant.
By the way 4% is the max, unless you are pregnant or a growing child, you really do not need that much, although keeping it low can be tough.
And I would always get my efa’s from cod **liver** oil, never just plain fish oil.
As I noted earlier, Chris (http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/index.html) has done yeoman work on the topic, but Ray Peat (www.raypeat.org) sounded the warning before him
It’s so refreshing to find someone who knows what they are talking about in regards to nutrition. Excellent post. Keep up the good work!
I agree with your conclusions. Trouble with lard is that it’s very hard to find in Finland! I cooked with olive oil for a long time but have recently tried switching to more saturated fats, as they’re more heat-stable.
By the way, the best nut oil I’ve ever tasted is walnut oil (which I bought for practically nothing in Russia). Too bad it costs an arm and a leg around here. But it’s absolutely delicious.
Where can one buy beef tallow? I live in Toronto and have been trying to find it in conventional locations – large stores, butcher shops, but haven’t had any luck. Thanks.
Try local small producers, 4H kids (in the US there is also FFA – Future Farmers of America, might be similar in Canada), anyone who raises a few animals for personal consumption. http://www.localharvest.org or similar might have Canadian listings. You might be able to get the fat when the animal is processed and then render it yourself (very easy and much better anyway). Check with local small scale producers or meat processors (not necessarily the same as butchers, though a high quality specialty buthcer shop should be able to direct you to a local processor if there is one), usually licensed by a local authority because the meat is not for sale but for personal consumption.
There is a large ethnic population in Toronto. You might try the stores that cater to ethnic populations, as they often have to forge their own food pathways. For instance, the local Greek community buys a lot of lamb from a small rancher in my county, etc., because they want it prepared or butchered a particular way.
This is where people miss the boat on food choice. The focus on banning the “bad foods” instead of making sure there is access to real, wholesome foods. It seems we have gobs of choice when one looks superficially at a grocery store, but that is only true if one consumes industrial food. If one wants real food, especially from small scale and/or local producers, it is much harder to find sources outside the “system”. The “large scale” regulations make it even harder for the small scale producers to meet that demand, even though it *is* there.
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steveyyz: dig around where they offer grass-fed meat in toronto. i wouldnt recommend using lard from grain-fed beef…
for example, fieldsparrow farms at the sorauren farmers market could probably hook you up. drop me a line if you dont have any luck finding some.
(i live in toronto)
This is in response to Marissa’s question about grapeseed oil–Currently at Wikipedia: cooking oils ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_oil ) is a good breakdown on various oils. Note that you can’t trust the label for the useful temperature range of a cooking oil. The cooking temperature is defined by the temperature which the oil starts smoking–which depends a lot on the impurities in the oil (for instance, highly refined oil [i.e., hexane extracted] can be so refined that it has a high smoke point which doesn’t equate to low-temperature free radical & oxidation of the oil). For instance, look at the Wikipedia cooking oil chart and compare coconut oil and soybean oil–hello??? What is most important with regards to heating an oil is the degree of saturation: e.g., lard, tallow, & coconut are the most heat tollerant, while monounsaturated oils like olive and avocado are less tolerant of higher heat, next would be the polyunsaturates: safflower, sunflower [not the genetically modified hi-oleic sunflower], and GRAPESEED OIL–these are all are very unstable in the presence of heat & light, so regardless of what the sellers claim for a smoke point–avoid any heating with these oils. Even more reactive are the super-polyunsaturates: the omega 3′s found especially in fish and flax oils–these are so reactive that you should even store them in dark containers in the freezer [first choice], or the refrigerator, and never out on the counter top.
Here is some additional personal experience with oils and what may happen when consumed and they body incorporates them into ones fat (remember–all oils are percentages of saturated, mono, and polys, and so intake can change body levels. also the skin effectively absorbs oil through the skin). Anyway, a few years ago I bought into the idea that Omega 6′s were important for healthy skin (after reading some of Udo Urasmus’s writings) and started using organic grapeseed oil (very high in omega 6 polyunsaturates)–well, within a few months I started getting age spots [lipofusion] on the back of my hands. No other changes in diet or sunlight exposure, sleep, etc. The same thing happened about ten years previously when I started supplementing with omega 3 flax oil at that time. Personally, I’m convinced that omega 6′s and especially the omega 3′s are very prone to oxidation/free radical formation in the human body–especially when exposed to UVB/UVA radiation, as in the skin.
I remember reading back in the 90′s a dermatologist (I think in California) who observed the most wrinkles and age spots on his patients were on those that consumed the highest amounts of polyunsaturated oils; conversely, those patients with the least wrinkles and age spots had diets highest in butter and animal fats. To expand a little on this idea: I live in Alaska where we only have 3 months real sunshine a year. Something that I’ve noticed fairly consistently with people whose diet consists of a lot of salmon (especially dried salmon), is that they have very wrinkled skin, in addition to age spots. Could the tendency of omega 3′s so readily oxidizing have anything to do with that? Hardly a scientific study, but I’m convinced that there is a cause-and-effect relationship going on here. I can only wonder what would happen to people that consume lots of omega 6′s and omega 3′s (as in supplementation, skin lotions, or diet) while living in warm, sunny climates year round and spending lots of time in the sun–especially as they get along in years . . .
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I am looking for information on rendering wild alaskan salmon liver oil. We are a small commercial fishing boat which processes our catch aboard our boat. We gut and discaard the entrails but I have wondered if we should be saving and rendering the oil from the livers. If you know of an easy way to do this could you let me know or point me in the right direction. In the novel ‘Captains Corageous’ by Rudard Kipling there was a passage on the saving of the cod livers for rendering. I am looing for an easy method that we can do ourselves. We occasionally catch a rat fish from down deep while long lining. Almost the entire body cavity is filled with the gigantic liver. We set it in a container in a low oven and the oils separate out. We use this as a lubricating oil, nothing being better on the commercial market. I gathered the “Were Here” of Captains Courageous did not use heat. Any help from your experts would be appreciated. I would also like to know how to render the oil from the roe. I have heard the roe is 20 percent oil and comeing from wild Alaskan salmon is one of the most pure sources of fish oil.
Excellent!
Great work. You’ve got me interested in trying a few new fat sources for my own consumption. Getting a forward to all my “fat is” bad friends.
Thank you for putting this together!
Hi,
What would you recomment for deep frying? (I know, I know.; bad for you however once in a while I crave it and think that it should be fine?..). Thanks! Absolutely great information.
@ Asa
Beef tallow – tasty and healthy
I’ll second beef tallow! Mmmm!
@ Asa – Lard (animal) would be my vote
@asa
If you do lard, make sure its leaf lard
Thanks for the FB! I have another question that I’m wondering about…We know the French eat one of the fattiest diets yet have low rates of obesity and heart disease, diabetes–but, they also eat lots of white bread (baguette)…Can anyone explain this? (Since eating refined carbs are supposed to cause weight gain, diabetes etc..)…Perhaps it’s just b/c they eat real foods along with it (yum! cheese)…any thoughts? I’m all for low carb/natural animal fat diet however I don’t know if I can do cheese without bread….Thanks again : )
Asa, another vote for tallow or lard. Also, coconut oil would work as it’s highly saturated and stable.
As for the French, I’m betting part of it is the general lack of processed foods. I’m betting that someone eating very few processed foods, but including some bread will still do pretty well. Especially if that bread includes healthy fats from butter or cheese (not sure about raw vs. pasteurized cheese in France). Probably better off without the bread, but all in all, some fresh baked bread (not the store-bought stuff with 53 ingredients, but real fresh bread with like 4 ingredients) isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Cheers
Scott
I’ve been to France a few times. My husband (who grew up in England) has been many times, and my SIL lived in Paris for 14 years as a young woman and was often mistaken for being “native”. How the French do various things comes up often in discussion when we are all together, especially over a meal.
Have you ever seen how much butter the French put on a teeny, tiny fragment of bread compared to how thinly Americans spread the butter on a big slice of bread? In France, it seems the bread is just there to keep the fingers clean while the butter is consumed! French bread is very nice, yes, … as a vehicle for the truly wonderful butter, cheese, and liver paté, that is!
@ Anna– true, true–lots of butter, foie gras and cheese on small pieces of fresh “real” bread whereas North Americans tend to use processed sliced bread in copious amounts; with margarine or other junk. While I’m at it, I don’t use sugar in general –ONLY in my coffee– but what do you think is the best alternative? I’m currently using organic cane sugar. I was contemplating agave nectar however have read that it’s a highly processed sugar and not what it’s cracked up to be…Stevia? But isn’t that processed as well? Thanks
Ah, the sugar/sweetener issue. As someone with impaired glucose regulation (prediabetic), a tendency to gain weight, and not feel very well when I consume a lot of concentrated sugars, I’ve gone round and round on this issue the past dozen years, and probably will continue to revise my strategies as I learn and experiment more.
As for “processed”, it’s all relative. I think the word is used too often and liberally, like the word “natural”. For example, even a good, traditionally-made artisan cheese is processed, though obviously less processed than Velveeta “cheese” product (and there are many varieties of cheese within that continuum). So while I keep degree of processing in mind, it’s only part of what I consider. I wouldn’t cut out all refined cane sugar because it is refined only to overindulge in evaporated cane juice crystals, local natural unprocessed honey, or agave syrup, for example. That would be tossing the baby out with the bathwater, IMO. I consider the issue of processing, yes, but more importantly, I think, I keep my overall intake very low and infrequent – under what I surmise is a chronically damaging level to my metabolism (subject to change, of course).
If you ONLY use sugar in your coffee, assuming you aren’t using heaping tablespoons in many cups every, it probably is splitting hairs to worry too much about it, especially if you don’t eat a lot of high sugar fruit daily all year. But, for those who have a daily pattern of high sugar/sweetener consumption (from all sources), it makes sense to pay attention to the details. In other words, my view is the devil is in the dose (and the dose is the biggest issue for most people) more than the type.
I spend more thought and effort on keeping sugar content and overall sweetness level very low than I do on the sweetness source. Sure, organic, unrefined, and as natural as possible are better. But concentrated sugars are concentrated nonetheless, and they have a significant metabolic effect, even if all the vitamins and minerals are still there. No one should be looking for concentrated sugars to provide their vitamins and minerals, eh? Meat, fish, fowl, and eggs, etc., plus some non-starchy, not too high in fructose plant foods are better sources of vitamins and minerals. I’d add bugs and grubs if you like them/have access, but they aren’t typical fare for Westerners, so they aren’t part of my diet.
That said, for the times I do use a bit of sugar in my food preparation, I do have several varieties of sugar and sweeteners in my pantry (some are there as a result of experimentation, like the palm sugar, I probably won’t replace it when it’s gone). I routinely use less sugar/sweetener than recipes call for, and I seek out recipes that don’t use huge amounts anyway. It’s rare that I make any recipe that calls for more than a 1/2 cup of sugar for the whole batch (and I’d usually make it with a 1/4 or 1/3 cup) and I don’t make things even that that sweet very frequently. Per serving dose is usually not more than 5-15 grams (I don’t do a lot of counting CHO grams, but I do “eyeball” grams and remain mindful that the body tries hard to keep BG at about 4-5 grams all the time. No point in dumping 40 grams of sugar into the bloodstream if you have a broken first phase insulin response, no matter how “natural” or unrefined the sugar source.
What I have on hand currently might actually seem like a lot of sugar and sweeteners, but they last a lonnnnnng time in my house due to infrequent use. I have a jar of palm sugar paste in my fridge (lasts a very, very long time when you only use a teaspoon or two in a pot of Thai coconut soup or peanut sauce, for example). I buy a bottle of very dark and flavorful Grade B maple syrup about every other month (poured with a “bar” or oil-type pouring spout to allow drizzling). My son uses most of that in plain yogurt or on his oatmeal, but I sometimes use it in coconut flour muffins and baked custard. I store maple syrup and coconut sugar paste in the fridge because they can mold after unsealing if stored too long at room temperature. Once or twice a year I buy 8-16 oz of local raw orange blossom honey, though my son probably consumes most of that. I buy perhaps 2-3 bags (1# each) of evaporated cane sugar each year for gluten-free baking when entertaining or my son’s classroom (my preferred level of sweet is much too low for “high-sugar” people (I actually buy more sugar than that annually, but the hummingbirds consume far more than we do). I also usually keep a bottle of unsulphured blackstrap molasses on hand to use in small amounts for its intense flavor. I buy that less often than once per year.
I also have 2-3 containers of stevia products that I don’t seem to make a dent in (it works in some things, but not well at all in others), a container each of xylitol and erythritol that I’ve lost interest in, and some granular Splenda that has been hanging around awhile. I have a couple bottles of Splenda sweetened “coffee” syrups that have also been taking up space in the cupboard, mostly used by guests. I used to use Splenda more often, but I’ve drifted away from artificial sweeteners. I could probably get rid of them and not even notice. I tossed out the bottle of agave syrup when I realized it was extremely high in concentrated fructose compared to other sugar/sweetener options (much, much higher than HFCS or honey).
So I guess you could say I’ve drifted back to using real sugars more than sugar alternatives as I’ve reduced my “need for sweet”, and despite the number and amount of sweeteners in my pantry, none are used often or in such large quantity that they cause concern for me (my glucose meter keeps me honest with myself). I choose recipes that are naturally low in added sweeteners/sugar, and I often cut back on the amounts called for anyway and then watch my serving portion based on what my glucose meter tells me. And I’ve drifted away from thinking “low-glycemic” and artificial sweeteners are the answers, because of the potential that even if they don’t raise my blood sugar, I have concerns that the taste of sweet might fool the body into thinking it has ingested sugar, possibly still inducing insulin secretion or other unintended effects. And as I learn more about concentrated fructose in “low-glycemic” items, like the increasingly popular agave syrup, I view more than a minimal amount from low sugar seasonal fruit as a metabolic train wreck; it misleads people into thinking low-glycemic or lots of fruit eating equals “healthful”.
Is there any benefit, harm or need for taking flax seed oil as a supplement in a capsule form? Just curious. And thanks for the wonderful info.
Is there any benefit, harm or need for taking flax seed oil as a supplement in a capsule form? Just curious. And thanks for the wonderful info.
The short answer is there is no benefit and it can be harmful. I’m curious, what are you looking to accomplish by supplementing with flax oil?
Someone told me it would help with dry skin. Here is the Texas panhandle dry skin is a given. But I suppose I will just toss it when I get home…I don’t really like taking them anyway! Thanks!
[...] So today let’s focus on real food. You’re free to eat all of the fresh, clean, unprocessed foods that you want. That’s meat, eggs, poultry, seafood, vegetables, whole fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy cooking fats. [...]
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This is a great article. I have not started cooking my own foods yet. So, I am glad I found this article before I used any unhealthy oils. Thank you. By the way, what about avocado oil? I have heard it is relatively stable and has a high smoke point.
2 thumbs up to ghee!!!! I love it. More bang for the buck that grass feed butter IMO.
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