Wellness

By By Alyssa Swanson Hamilton and Cheri Swanson, Certified Nutrition Counselor

In the field of nutrition counseling, we get a lot of client questions about oils: which are healthy, which aren’t, and how do we know what to choose? Refined vegetable and seed oils — mainstays in the modern American diet — were not accessible to us until the 20th century, when the technology to extract them became available. The extraction process involves either a chemical solvent or an oil mill. The oils are then often purified, refined, and sometimes chemically altered.

These oils are used in cooking and baking, in restaurants, and are found in processed foods including salad dressings, margarine, mayonnaise, and cookies. The most common ones are canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran oil. The potential problem? They are high in omega-6 fatty acids and can oxidize and become rancid when exposed to high temperatures. Both omega-6 and omega-3 are essential fatty acids; your body cannot produce them and must obtain them from your diet. Throughout evolution, humans got omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in a certain ratio, estimated to have been about oneto-one. In the past 100 years, however, this ratio in our Western diet has been significantly altered and may be as high as twenty-to-one in favor of omega-6. Scientists have hypothesized that too much omega-6 (found in many vegetable and seed oils) relative to omega-3 may contribute to chronic inflammation and other health concerns.

The good news? There are many delicious alternatives available (Hint: Your grandparents and great grandparents used many of them!). Healthy replacements include options like ghee, grass-fed butter, avocado oil, and coconut oil.

All fats and oils are some combination of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. But the lower the percentage of saturated fat, the less ideal it is for cooking since unsaturated fats can oxidize and become rancid quickly when exposed to heat.

Saturated fats, found in high amounts in animal fats like ghee and tropical oils like coconut oil, are solid or semi-solid at room temperature. They are highly stable and safe for higher heat cooking. But for medium- to lower-heat cooking, monosaturated fats found in liquids like olive oil and avocado oil are the safer choice. Most fish oils, nut oils and seed oils, on the other hand, usually contain high amounts of polyunsaturated fats that should never be heated. When a fat is heated beyond its smoke point, the chemical composition of the fat changes, which produces toxic fumes, releases free radicals, and creates harmful carcinogens. Here’s a quick guide to the five fats and oils we use regularly in our kitchens and how to use them:

• For high heat cooking (frying, baking and broiling), naturally refined avocado oil can be heated up to 500 degrees and ghee is safe up to 450 degrees. • For medium heat cooking (quick stir-frying, light sautéing), butter, coconut oil, and olive oil are safe options and can be heated to 350 degrees. • For roasting, we use avocado oil or melted ghee. • For sautéing, we use olive oil, coconut oil, or butter.

Here are some of our favorite brands for both affordability and quality when cooking at home: • Avocado oil, naturally refined: Chosen Foods avocado oil is wonderful because it is naturally refined, making it ideal for higher heat cooking. • Ghee: You can make your own ghee from any grass-fed butter. A delicious store-bought option is 4th & Heart. • Coconut oil: We like Trader Joe’s organic virgin coconut oil, Nutiva virgin coconut oil, or Dr.

Bronner’s expeller-pressed coconut oil, which is great for a more flavorless option (virgin coconut oil tastes like coconut). • Butter: Our favorite grass-fed butters of all time are

Organic Valley cultured butter or Vital Farms. Be aware that many vegan butters do contain seed oils; be sure to check labels before using them and when in doubt, reach for the safer choice of coconut oil. • Extra virgin olive oil: We use Trader Joe’s organic olive oil or Tunisian Organic extra virgin unfiltered

Chetoui olive oil in the one-liter tin. Another great option is Bragg’s extra virgin olive oil. Buy olive oil in dark bottles and store it in the pantry to avoid oxidation from light. If you do eat in a restaurant, ask to be guided to the options where the food is cooked in olive oil, avocado oil, butter/ghee, or coconut oil. If these options are not available, poached items also are a good choice. Of course, as with anything in life, moderation is key: keeping your refined oil intake to a minimum is enough! 19