If you have been reading my column these past few months, you may have noticed that the recipes I share don’t use oil. This is for a good reason. For the vast majority of Americans, consuming oil actually increases their risk of developing chronic health problems.
Reading these words, you may be shocked, or disagree. We hear over and over about how much healthier the Mediterranean Diet is compared to the Standard American Diet, (SAD) and how olive oil is part of the Mediterranean dietary pattern. Maybe even, you have tried the Paleo Diet and experienced feeling better on it. Certainly, the Paleo Diet can be beneficial when compared to the SAD because it does eliminate dairy and gluten -- which many people feel lousy after consuming and it eliminates most processed foods. It may also get people to consume more greens and berries – which IS great. But it does allow, even encourages the consumption of “healthier” oils – like olive oil. So why do I believe we are better off not consuming oil – even a supposedly “healthy” one like extra-virgin olive oil or at least keeping it to under a teaspoon per day?
Imagine eating a pound of freshly boiled beet roots. They are rich in carbohydrates, but those carbs come packaged with fiber and thousands of different phytochemicals and antioxidants – all of which work synergistically to help our body use those carbs (and the 1000s of critical nutrients they come with) to our benefit while mitigating the harmful metabolic reactions and the cellular aging that result if we extract the pure carb calories to make sugar. Do you think that the metabolic impacts would be the same from eating the pound of beets vs the extracted sugar from those beets? Of course not. Oil is just as much a processed food as is sugar, and our paleolithic ancestors would have been just as unlikely to extract oil from olives, as they would have been to extract sugar from beets. So we can see the hypocrisy of the Paleo philosophy when it doesn’t apply the same logic to oil as it does to sugar.
Think of it this way. Oil is to healthy whole-food fats (avocado, raw nuts and seeds) what refined sugar is to healthy whole food carbs (fruits, vegetables, beans.)
That said, we DO need to consume some healthy whole-food fat from plants -- hemp, flax, chia, walnuts, almonds and avocado are a few of the optimal ones. And when we consume these as part of the same meal that includes a big serving of dark leafy greens, these healthy fats in addition to providing us with essential fatty acids necessary for health, also enable us to absorb more of the fat soluble nutrients in the greens such as beta carotene. But there are thousands of others too.
This 90 second video from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies compares 100 grams of olives to 100 grams of olive oil:
Reading these words, you may be shocked, or disagree. We hear over and over about how much healthier the Mediterranean Diet is compared to the Standard American Diet, (SAD) and how olive oil is part of the Mediterranean dietary pattern. Maybe even, you have tried the Paleo Diet and experienced feeling better on it. Certainly, the Paleo Diet can be beneficial when compared to the SAD because it does eliminate dairy and gluten -- which many people feel lousy after consuming and it eliminates most processed foods. It may also get people to consume more greens and berries – which IS great. But it does allow, even encourages the consumption of “healthier” oils – like olive oil. So why do I believe we are better off not consuming oil – even a supposedly “healthy” one like extra-virgin olive oil or at least keeping it to under a teaspoon per day?
Imagine eating a pound of freshly boiled beet roots. They are rich in carbohydrates, but those carbs come packaged with fiber and thousands of different phytochemicals and antioxidants – all of which work synergistically to help our body use those carbs (and the 1000s of critical nutrients they come with) to our benefit while mitigating the harmful metabolic reactions and the cellular aging that result if we extract the pure carb calories to make sugar. Do you think that the metabolic impacts would be the same from eating the pound of beets vs the extracted sugar from those beets? Of course not. Oil is just as much a processed food as is sugar, and our paleolithic ancestors would have been just as unlikely to extract oil from olives, as they would have been to extract sugar from beets. So we can see the hypocrisy of the Paleo philosophy when it doesn’t apply the same logic to oil as it does to sugar.
Think of it this way. Oil is to healthy whole-food fats (avocado, raw nuts and seeds) what refined sugar is to healthy whole food carbs (fruits, vegetables, beans.)
That said, we DO need to consume some healthy whole-food fat from plants -- hemp, flax, chia, walnuts, almonds and avocado are a few of the optimal ones. And when we consume these as part of the same meal that includes a big serving of dark leafy greens, these healthy fats in addition to providing us with essential fatty acids necessary for health, also enable us to absorb more of the fat soluble nutrients in the greens such as beta carotene. But there are thousands of others too.
This 90 second video from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies compares 100 grams of olives to 100 grams of olive oil:
It also points out that the answer to the question “are oils healthy?” needs more context. We will get a more meaningful answer by asking “Are oils (like olive oil) healthy compared to a piece of chicken?” (yes) or compared to a palm-ful of raw almonds? (no)
Since the major chronic conditions afflicting Americans (coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and breast, colon and prostrate cancer) can be caused or exacerbated by the over-consumption of calories, and there is no food that packs more calories per tablespoon, than oil, eliminating oil from the diet can be very helpful to reducing the risk of these diseases – especially for those who struggle with over-eating or portion control. That said, for people who are underweight or have difficulty eating enough calories, and don’t have cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or breast cancer, there might be more benefit than risk from consuming plant based oils – especially a high-quality olive or avocado oil. (But that is a very small sub-group of Americans!)
So if you are interested in reducing your use of oil and getting your needed fats from whole plant foods, here are two recipes you can try. Enjoy!
Since the major chronic conditions afflicting Americans (coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and breast, colon and prostrate cancer) can be caused or exacerbated by the over-consumption of calories, and there is no food that packs more calories per tablespoon, than oil, eliminating oil from the diet can be very helpful to reducing the risk of these diseases – especially for those who struggle with over-eating or portion control. That said, for people who are underweight or have difficulty eating enough calories, and don’t have cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or breast cancer, there might be more benefit than risk from consuming plant based oils – especially a high-quality olive or avocado oil. (But that is a very small sub-group of Americans!)
So if you are interested in reducing your use of oil and getting your needed fats from whole plant foods, here are two recipes you can try. Enjoy!
 | Chia Breakfast Pudding: Ingredients: 2 TBS chia seeds 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup of your favorite non-dairy plant milk 3 drops of stevia extract -optional for more sweetness (I like Wisdom brand) 1/8 tsp vanilla extract 1 TBS ground flax seed 1 TBS raw pumpkin seeds 1 TBS chopped walnuts 1/2 banana sliced ½ cup of your favorite fresh or frozen berries (with no added sugar) Directions:
|
Raw Kale Salad |  |
Directions:
- wash the kale and remove the stems (they are not be used in this recipe.) Then chop the Kale leaves very fine, place them into a large bowl and drizzle the lemon juice over them while massaging the kale with your fingers until it turns dark green and shrinks in volume.
- In a separate small bowl mash the avocado with tamari and almond butter until well blended.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the kale and mix well – then stir in the avocado mixture until it covers everything and serve immediately.
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