The information in this post is definitely controversial. It goes against the advice of your doctor, dietician and the Heart Foundation.  But, if you care about your health you will carry on reading anyway. For decades we have been told to avoid butter and opt for “heart healthy” margarines, which are lower in saturated fat. We have been brainwashed into believing that saturated fat is bad for us and that it will give us heart disease. We have been fed lies.

Natural vs. processed

If you think about it logically, humans have been eating butter for centuries. It is a completely natural product we could all make in our own kitchens. Margarine didn’t even exist until the early 1900’s because the technology hadn’t been developed yet. Have you ever read the ingredients list of a tub of margarine ?  Yuck!

Margarines are made from ‘vegetable’ oils such as canola, sunflower, corn, soybean or grapeseed oil . These seed oils have undergone a highly industrialised chemical, pressure and heat process to make it look and taste edible.  It is mind-boggling that margarines get promoted as healthy, even though they are one of the most chemically altered foods available.  Let’s also not forget that these crops get sprayed with pesticides and many are genetically modified.

We all know that trans fats are bad and should be avoided. Nowadays, many margarines market themselves as “Trans-fat free”. That’s great, but it is just not good enough.

Vegetable oils are toxic and can seriously damage your health

Vegetable oils are highly unstable and oxidize easily in the body. They basically go rancid inside of you.  This oxidation causes damage to cell membranes and body tissue and compromises immune function. Seed oils are also high in Omega-6 fatty acids. Eating an excess of Omega-6 can lead to increased inflammation in the body.  Inflammation contributes to diseases such as heart disease, cancers, metabolic syndrome and autoimmune disorders.

It is in everything

Let’s imagine for a moment that you agree that vegetable oils are bad for you. So you purge your cupboard of the bottle of sunflower oil that you use for cooking and you throw out the margarine tub. All good? Not quite yet!

Unfortunately, almost every processed food item on the shelf these days, contain vegetable oils.  If you don’t believe me then check it out for yourself.  Ice-cream, biscuits, crackers, mayonnaise, salad dressings, pies, chips, sauces and the list goes on and on.

Recommended action plan:

• Shop mainly in the fresh produce section.
• Avoid anything that is packaged, processed and too convenient.
• Read labels and know what you are putting into your mouth.
• Get back to basics and make things yourself  (your Granny will be proud)

Buying  ready-made crumbed chicken or fish is a quick and easy supper but there are healthier alternatives.  Pop fillets into an egg mixture and then dust with almond flour before frying or baking. Works like a charm.

Instead of store-bought ice-cream, blend frozen fruit and cream together until smooth and add a bit of xylitol for sweetness. This one is a big hit with my kids.

Which fats are healthy?

Natural fats such as:

• coconut oil (great for cooking at high temperatures),
• olive oil (don’t use for cooking as it is susceptible to oxidation)
• butter and ghee (clarified butter)
• duck fat, pork lard and beef tallow (preferably from pastured, grass-fed animals)
• cream,
• avocados and avocado oil and
• nuts.

These fats are beneficial for you and they taste delicious. If your kids aren’t crazy about veggies, plonk a generous knob of butter on top. Even brussel sprouts get eaten now in my family due to this trick.

Don’t waste the bottle of sunflower oil you already have open in the cupboard. Use it to grease some creaky doors or make a batch of play dough for the kids. Just don’t eat it. It really is not fit for human consumption.

Watch this interesting 5 minute video by David Gillespie who wrote the book, Toxic Oil.

References:

• Toxic Oil by David Gillespie
• Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas
• The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf
• The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson