Have you ever thought about focusing your entire diet around oils? Probably not, but here’s why it’s worth considering.

According Dr. Cate Shanahan, the author of Deep Nutrition, consumption of vegetable and canola oils is as bad or worse than smoking cigarettes. The following information is a summary from her book and website:

• Vegetable oils contain a high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

• PUFAs are unstable and break down rapidly when exposed to chemical stress, such as the refining process to make the oils.

• Antioxidants in whole foods protect us from PUFAs in such foods (and apparently a bit of PUFAs are not a problem). So sunflower, chia, and flax seeds are great in their whole forms.

• The refining process (heat, pressure, metals and bleaching agents) strips the antioxidants in whole foods.

• The refining process also transforms the molecules in the food into toxins, which promote free-radicals and inflammation that damage our mitochondria (cell powerhouses), enzymes, hormone receptors, and DNA.

• This can lead to everything from cancer to Alzheimer’s to cellulite.

Deep Nutrition is the most compelling book on nutrition that I’ve read. After reading it, I immediately starting clearing out our kitchen cabinets of offending food (and there was a lot of it). I highly encourage everyone to pick up a copy. In addition to providing exceptional detail on how “bad oils” affect your health, another section of the book is devoted to the affect of sugar on your health. Before reading this book, I was the person who used to sit down with 3 containers of ice cream and a spoon (my husband will attest to this). Giving up sugar was not an option. After reading the book, however, and incorporating the recommendations, I don’t crave daily sugar anymore. The good fats and oils, protein, whole fruit, fermented foods, and increase in fresh vegetables have replaced my sweet tooth. I don’t deprive myself - I still love dark chocolate - but it is not an essential everyday “food” source anymore.

GOOD OILS AND FATS

Good oils and fats to use for cooking include: “Almond oil, Avocado oil, Butter, Coconut, Duck Fat, Ghee, Lard, Macadamia nut oil,  Peanut oil, Tallow.” For Dr. Shanahan’s complete list of good and bad fats and oils, please visit here.

Some healthy oil combinations for cooking include:

• Adding a pat of butter to olive oil. According to Dr. Shanahan, the “saturated fat in the butter protects the olive oil and the antioxidants in the olive oil protect the protein in the butter that might otherwise burn.”

• Adding sesame to peanut oil for Asian dishes. “The ratio should be roughly 4-8:1 Peanut:Sesame. Sesame is high in PUFA, but it has powerful antioxidants that, when added to low PUFA peanut oil, protect all the PUFAs.”

DIET

When you cut out vegetable and canola oils, you cut out most conventional food in the grocery store (even Whole Foods!). If you read the ingredient lists, you’ll notice that nearly all pre-made food in grocery stores contain vegetable and canola oils, from crackers to peanut butter to hummus. This makes shopping more difficult at first, but eventually you’ll know where to shop and the results in how you feel are worth the added hassle. I now do the majority of shopping at a local Farmer’s Market, and supplement that with some select items from whole foods/organic stores, such as Whole Foods 365 and Rainbow Acres, Thrive Market, and Imperfect Produce. (Just because it’s in an “organic” store does not mean that it’s healthy. You still have to be diligent in reading labels.)

Great lists for a proposed “good oil” diet can be found at the back of Dr. Shanahan’s book. (I purchased the hard copy of the book after reading the Kindle version to have an easy reference manual).

Example Diet

An example “good oil” diet could include:

Breakfast

• 1-2 pasture raised eggs, plus spinach sauteed on low heat in olive oil with garlic and a slice of fermented sourdough bread; or quick cook steel cut outs (I like Red Mill’s) with pumpkin seeds and walnuts, berries (such as raspberry and blueberries) and a tsp of ghee butter.

• Bulletproof coffee (1tsp to 1 tbsp of ghee butter, High Octane or MCT oil, mixed with coffee or a coffee substitute). My husband and I swear by Bulletproof coffee. It’s counter-intuitive, but, in addition to added energy and elevated moods, we noticed a slimming down effect by adding butter and oil to our coffee. We’ve always used High Octane oil, but eventually we may try MCT oil which some people swear by. I started making mine with a coffee substitute (DandyBlend) or decaf coffee, with or without a splash of coffee, to decrease caffeine. My husband drinks it full force.

Lunch

• A big colorful salad, including things like colorful peppers, avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, fennel, carrots, nuts and seeds (such as walnuts, pumpkin, sunflower and hemp). I also like mine with a piece of fruit, such as an apple or peach.

• Dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little pepper.

• If you like, a slice of fermented sourdough with ghee butter.

Snacks

• Celery with almond butter.

• Mary’s Gone Crackers with a hummus with olive oil (not canola).

• A piece of fruit or berries.

• Almonds, walnuts, or other nuts or seeds. I choose almonds and walnuts due the protein and source of Omega 3s, but there are many others too (see, e.g., here). (Also, I love mixing chia, flax, and hemp seeds in smoothies (see here for smoothie recipe).

• Protein bar such as Garden of Life or RX (or make your own, see here).

Post-Workout Protein Shake

• See example shake here

Dinner

• Protein (such as fish, chicken, or beef)

• Vegetable side, such as asparagus or broccolini

• Maybe a starch if you like, such as rice or potatoes

• Protein-based pasta such as Banza chickpea pasta or Jovial’s Einkorn.

Fermented Foods and Probiotics (great for you!)

• Kimchee

• Coconut probiotic yogurt

• Oral probiotic

Desserts

• Greek yogurt, with honey, blueberries and/or raspberries, hemp seeds, and maybe some nuts or a “good oil” granola (such as Purely Elizabeth)

• A piece of preservative-free, fresh dark chocolate (such as ChocoVivo).

• 1/2 cup of real, full fat ice cream. (None of the fake stuff, but, as with anything, don’t overdo it. I used to have a mega sweet tooth, sitting down with 3 tubs of ice cream and a spoon. After following this diet, I rarely crave sweets and a little bit of one or more of the above 1-2 times a week is fine with me. I also lean toward whole fruits for sugar plus fiber during the day.)