Take A Stand Against Processed Oils and Fats
Refined seed oils and vegetable oils such as canola oil are in everything. That’s a problem because they are extremely unhealthy.
We need to return to the animal fats and virgin oils our ancestors have cherished and enjoyed for thousands of years.
Almost every processed food product in the supermarket has one or more of the following oils listed in their ingredients: canola, soybean, vegetable, palm, sunflower and safflower oils coupled with margarine or vegetable shortening.
The toxic extraction and refining processes that these oils go through make them very unhealthy.
You may be surprised to learn that canola oil is actually made from crossbred and genetically modified rapeseeds. The name canola stands for “Canadian Oil, Low Acid” referring to its low-erucic acid.
Regular consumption of refined oils can lead to health problems such as cancer, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s, inflammation, atherosclerosis, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, reproductive issues and immune dysfunction.
This all started with Procter & Gamble in the early 1900s. Having tons of cottonseeds from cotton production, they discovered a way to industrially expel oil from the cottonseeds, refine it and then hydrogenize it by forcing hydrogen gas into the oil to thicken it to create a substance reminiscent of butter or lard.
They called their product Crisco.
Crisco launched a massive marketing campaign in the U.S. to get people to replace traditional fats with their products. Decades later, the rate of health problems increased since everyone was eating the hydrogenated industrial waste product.
Unfortunately, doctors and health agencies such as the FDA and the World Health Organization only recognized hydrogenated fats such as margarine and shortening as unhealthy but still insist that refined oils such as canola are healthy.
The fats that are optimal for human health are traditional animal fats such as butter (particularly raw butter), tallow and lard. Tallow and lard are rendered simply by simmering raw animal fat such as beef suet at low heat and then straining it.
When the process is complete, you have healthy, versatile and tasty fat.
Animal fats are a staple in almost every traditional cultural cuisine. The saturated fat and cholesterol contained in them are healthy and essential nutrients, contrary to the mainstream nutritional opinion and corporate-funded studies.
Extra virgin olive oil and virgin coconut oil are healthy natural oil options, although extra virgin olive oil isn’t good for high heat cooking. What’s important in any oil is that it’s oil, unrefined, preferably organic and cold-pressed, not expeller-pressed.
These recommendations are in accordance with the Weston A. Price Foundation. They are a non-profit organization that advocates for traditional foodways by promoting foods such as pasture-raised or hunted meat, raw dairy products, time-honored fats and sourdough bread.
Start embracing ancestral fats by choosing butter. And making sure that your food is not cooked in cheaply processed oils that are harmful to you.
