Cooking requires skill, expertise and practice. The longer you cook, the better you get. There are many factors that make a dish delicious, and the better you dial in your ability to navigate these elements the better your dishes will take.
The ultimate goal is to cook a dish that tastes delicious and is healthy and nutritious.
The quality of the ingredients, herbs and spices that you use matter. This determines not only how delicious the dish is, but how healthy it is.
Here’s the crazy part..
You can make a dish taste horrible that’s HEALTHY.
You can make a dish taste delicious AND Healthy.
It’s all in HOW you do it. One of those elements is the oil that you cook your food in. Many people don’t realize it but the process of pressing oils from a plant can range from low quality processes (which require high heat) to high quality processes such as cold-pressed. The difference in both nutritional quality and taste can be vast, and this is only ONE element of the oil.
With that being said, here are the healthiest oils to cook with from healthiest first to less healthy.
5 Healthiest Oils To Cook With:
- Olive Oil: Olive oil is quite possibly the healthiest oil on earth. The Mediterranean diet has been recognized for decades now for it’s extraordinary health benefits on the population of these cultures. Olive oil is one of the staple foods that is consumed in this diet. The benefits of Olive oil include Anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular supporting, brain supportive, as well as being rich in healthy fats and antioxidants. Olive oil may be one of the best ways to lubricate the body and joints from the inside out. As you age, make olive oil your friend. An unfortunate factor of Olive oil sold in the United States is that most of it is from California, and the state of California has more chemicals in the soil possibly than any other state simply because it’s such a massive agriculture state. Unfortunately, these chemicals get into the olives as well.
I get my olive oil from Paleovalley (click here to get 15% off) or Kasandrinos olive oil (click here to visit their site).
- Avocado Oil: Avocado Oil has similar benefits as Olive oil, but a higher smoke point which means that you can cook it at higher temperatures. It has a bunch of Vitamin E in it which supports skin health. It does have a lot of fat in it however, although it’s not the unhealthiest fat, it may not be the best oil if you’re looking to stay lean.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is cheap and works quite well as a cooking oil. You might be surprised to learn that coconut oil is actually pretty high in saturated fat however. Still, this super heat-resistant fat has great health benefits. It can help improve cholesterol, kill harmful bacteria as it has anti-bacterial properties, and boost metabolism also. To ease your mind a bit more, many recent studies have shown that not all saturated fats are bad for you.
- Grass-Fed Butter: Honestly, grass-fed butter should be higher on the list but unfortunately it’s become harder and harder to come across grass-fed butter. The largest producer of ‘grass fed butter’ Kerry Gold stated that they are now feeding their cows soy and corn also. Most likely GMO based. Unfortunately, unless you have a local Amish population most butter is not Grass Fed.
- Macadamia Nut Oil: Another fatty oil. You know what they say about Macadamia nuts? If you want to gain weight, eat them! They are one of the fattiest foods on the planet. The oil is no different. Incredibly fat rich. It specifically has high levels of monounsaturated fats which lower “bad cholesterol” which can actually reduce a persons risk of heart attack or stroke. Macadamia nut oil is also a great source of antioxidants.
- Beef Tallow: Beef Tallow is another exceptional cooking fat. Quite literally fat from cows it is very nutrient dense. Rich in vitamins and minerals and has a high smoke point. It doesn’t have much flavor which is both a downside and an upside. The downside is, I love the flavor of butter! The upside is that if you’re trying to cook something and really bring out it’s flavor with herbs or spices, this is the most neutral tasting cooking oil. I get my beef tallow from an amazing company called Paleovalley. Click here to visit Paleovalley.com and get 15% off anything on their website. They also have the most delicious superfood bars and jerky including beef, turkey and venison jerky.
Beyond these healthy oils to cook with, there is also a list of oils that you want to avoid completely and at all costs. These oils are oxidized (aged), rancid (unstable states of fat), as well as extracted from plants that have a high chemical content such as pesticides or other chemical agents such as weed killers.
Oils To Avoid Cooking With:
Vegetable Oil: Any vegetable oil is a bad option. Although it may sound healthy, vegetable oils are usually one, or a mix of corn, soy and canola. These foods are sprayed heavily with weed killers, pesticides, and other ‘cide’ chemicals. The word ‘cide’ means death, and these chemicals end up in the oils. Then, when you ingest them they go into your gut and cause a disruption in the balance of healthy bacteria there. They wreak havoc on the gut, and it would quite literally be better to cook with water than these oils.
Margarine & Vegetable Shortening: These contain trans fats which increase your risk for health issues related to cardiovascular events. Not worth the risk at all, especially when playing with your ticker. Margarine also happens to have chemicals in it that are also found in plastic, believe it or not. These petroleum byproduct chemicals are not meant to be consumed at all. Margarine containers made out of plastic contain BPA (otherwise known as bisphenol A) which is a chemical that confuses the body. It mimics the hormone estrogen, which causes a lot of issues with men and women alike.
And there you have it. The best and worst oils to cook with. Once again, Kasandrinos Olive oil has a special where they are giving away a free bottle of their olive oil to test out. All they ask is that you pay 8 bucks in shipping costs. You can click here to take advantage of this organic, extra virgin, cold-pressed Olive Oil imported by clicking here.
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