Conscious Choice: Incredible Edible Oils

July 2000 | Health Conscious

Incredible Edible Oils

by Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN

As a nutritionist I believe there are two major rules of thumb regarding cooking oils/fats we use in the kitchen. First, we need sources of high-quality dietary fat. This is nonnegotiable. Second, we should strive to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils or, as they’re also called, trans-fatty acids from our diet. Yes, there are many other considerations but if you follow these two basic rules you will go a long way toward ensuring good health.

Begin by carefully selecting the cooking oils and fats (termed "edible oils") you use in preparing food. It’s fairly easy to avoid hydrogenated oils. By the way, the term you’ll most often see is partially hydrogenated because, in processing, the method of adding hydrogen molecules is usually stopped when the oil becomes semiliquid. If the process continued to full hydrogenation the substance would turn hard.

Partially hydrogenated oils are abundant in packaged refined foods of all types as well as margarine, shortening, spreads, and bottled salad oils and dressings. However, they must appear in the product’s ingredient list (unfortunately, it will probably be several years yet before food companies are required to include them on a food product’s nutrition facts label). But it’s easy to scan an ingredient list. I simply avoid those products that include any ingredients that contain the word hydrogenated. This is more difficult to do in a conventional grocery store simply because hydrogenated oils are so pervasive; but I find that this situation is slowly getting better. You also need to read labels in natural food stores as the odd product here and there will contain hydrogenated oils.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid products that contain hydrogenated oils. A vast body of research shows the numerous adverse effects of these products — from wreaking havoc on cholesterol levels to upsetting blood insulin (and thereby increasing the risk of diabetes) to interfering with our bodies’ use of essential fatty acids. Unfortunately, what I consider to be the other main issue about cooking oils is not so black and white: we need sources of high-quality fat in our diet. But what are they and where do we get them?

If you talk with an expert in the conventional edible-oils industry such as Gary List, who’s a fats and oils chemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), you’ll find that little distinction is drawn between those oils in the regular grocery store and those in a natural foods store. Although List admits that "health food" oils are less refined and have retained some of their "natural constituents," such as antioxidants, overall, he says "All the oils that reach the grocery shelves today are processed by the best technology available...the nutritive value of these products is excellent."

As you might well expect, oil experts in the natural foods industry are appalled by such thinking and say that List’s statements couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Robert Gaffney, president of Omega Nutrition, a company that specializes in unrefined edible oils sold in natural foods stores, also criticizes many of the larger edible-oil companies in the natural foods industry for selling inferior products. The "big boys," as he calls them, use expeller presses that expose oils to 300-degree temperatures. "The oil is so damaged it has to be bleached, deodorized, and refined." His point is that "Expeller Pressed" or "Pure Pressed" designations are misleading; they don’t impart healthful attributes.

Well-known expert and author in the field of lipid (fat) chemistry, Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., who also monitors current oil-processing practices, agrees with Gaffney in his characterization of cooking oils sold today. Solvent extraction and high-temperature processing of oils create dangerous free radicals and destroy protective antioxidants.

Enig says we’re safest with a variety of oils and fats that have been minimally processed and have a long history of supporting health. She likes saturated fats and contends that there is scant evidence that shows eliminating them actually reduces death from heart disease or in any way increases one’s life span. The vegetable oil and food-processing industries, the main beneficiaries of the saturated fat/heart disease connection, she says, have perpetuated the "bad fats" notion. She advocates the use of high-quality organic fats and oils produced by companies such as Arrowhead Mills, Jarrow Formulas, and Nature’s Life, as well as Omega Nutrition. There are also many fine small regional companies whose products are well worth checking out.

For baking: Enig favors organic butter and unrefined coconut oil (be very careful here, as much coconut oil on the market today is partially hydrogenated). According to Enig, these fats have antimicrobial, antitumor, and immune systemsupportive properties.

For sautéing: Organic butter, coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil are the best choices. She also recommends a combination of equal amounts of coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and sesame oil. This mixture is very stable and maintains the flavor of whatever you’re sautéing. (Always buy extra virgin or virgin olive oil. The other grades of olive oil are highly processed.)

For salads: Flax seed oil has huge amounts of the essential fatty acid omega-3. Many take flax seed oil as a nutritional supplement in pill form or by the teaspoon. But tasty dressings can be made with flax oil and drizzled over salads, vegetables, and baked potatoes. Keep it refrigerated, and never heat it or it will spoil otherwise. Extra virgin olive oil is always a good option for salad dressing.

For occasional use: Because most Americans already get as much as ten times the recommended amount of omega-6s in their diet, Enig recommends that omega-6 oils be used sparingly. Enig says that imbalance in the essential fatty acids — too much omega-6 and too little omega-3 — can result in serious problems such as inflammation, depressed immune system, cancer, and weight gain. So use the following oils only on occasion: peanut oil and sesame oil (for stir-frying), safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oil for uncooked dishes such as salads.

Enig is concerned that many people seem to use canola oil almost exclusively for their oil needs — from high-heat cooking to salad dressings. "Canola is a highly unsaturated oil and in order to be stabilized it has to be deodorized...and in doing so...it’s a source of trans-fatty acids." In an oil producer’s deodorization process, trans-fatty acids are created in canola oil without undergoing the hydrogenation process. Her advice is to buy high-quality canola oil from a reputable supplier who processes it without heat and to limit its use to salad dressings. Sulfur compounds are created in cooking and baking.

Fats and oils in their natural state are vital to good health. A moderate and varied intake of the fats and oils mentioned provides the essential fatty acids and other components necessary to construct dynamic cell membranes (which affect every cell in the body), hormones, and prostaglandins and to contribute to many other bodily processes.

Dr. Mary Enig’s book Know Your Fats is hot (or should I say cold?) off the presses and available at www.bethesdapress.com.

Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Ms. Ephraim.

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