Is Canola Oil and Other Vegetable Oil Bad for You?

I’m trying to get my Dad to limit cooking oils like canola oil.

He has known for at least a few years that Crisco and margarine are bad news.

I told him decades ago to limit this type of fat.

It took him a while to listen to me.

Unfortunately, He doesn’t believe anything until he hears it from Kelly Ripa on her morning show.

I have nothing against Kelly.

I’m just disappointed when I tell my Dad something… it doesn’t enter his reality until Kelly says the same thing.

5-10 years later!

So a few years ago he dropped Crisco and margarine (thanks Kelly).

Now I’m trying to get my dad to limit olive oil, canola oil, etc.

The paleo and primal movement pointed out the harms of too much omega 6 from vegetable oils in early-to-mid 2000s.

But now we have a clearer picture.

First let’s talk about what the media seems to be blaming our obesity epidemic on.

Carbs…

Here’s how carb intake is related to obesity.

We are eating fewer carbs since the late 90s, but obesity continues to rise.

What about sugar?

Sugar is now supposedly the cause of all bad things.

Yet…

Overall sugar intake and high fructose corn syrup have dropped, but obesity levels continue to rise.

The one thing that follows the obesity rise perfectly is oil.

Here’s a graph charting the different types of fat.

“Salad and Cooking Oils” follow the obesity line almost perfectly.

Habits are a tough thing to change.

But…

My Dad is slowly beginning to listen to me.

He is using creative methods to cook his meals now instead of overly relying on cooking oil.

Frying with a little bit of Chicken broth in a pan can take place of canola oil when cooking a lot of dishes.

A lot of our intake of these oils comes from processed food.

I run a Facebook group which covers a low fat approach to health and fat loss.

Membership to this group comes free to people who pick up my course, High Carb Fat Loss.

I know we have been told that sugar is to blame for obesity.

The data doesn’t match that claim.

It would be easy to believe that sugar is our top health problem, but this isn’t the case.

If you were to only read articles from health and fitness sites, without looking at the data…

You might be fooled.

Here’s that chart of sugar intake and obesity again.

It’s still best to limit sugar and eat whole foods when possible.

It’s just that sugar isn’t the evil ingredient people make it out to be.

Let’s contrast that with fat intake and obesity.

I’m NOT saying all fat is bad.

I just believe if we cut back on fats, it would go a long way in solving our obesity crisis.

I have a course on how to do that here:

High Carb Fat Loss

Note: The charts for this article are from optimisingnutrition.com.