All non-hydrogenated vegetable oils fall into the category of either polyunsaturated fat or monounsaturated fat.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Polyunsaturated fats are important because we need essential fatty acids that our body cannot produce on its own (Omega-3 and Omega-6). We find these in polyunsaturated fats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monounsaturated fats are beneficial to the body in moderation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since all non-hydrogenated oils are either a poly or a monounsaturated fat, it’s understandable why people think adding vegetable oil to their diet is a good idea, especially olive oil, given the popularity of the Mediterranean diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s take a closer look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people don\u2019t realize that even unsaturated oils contain a certain amount of saturated fat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olive oil is one of the highest with 14% saturated fat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, 2 tablespoons of olive oil has three times more saturated fat than a 4 oz. piece of white meat chicken.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All oil (even olive oil) is 100% fat and contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon.<\/p> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So all oil is high in calories, low in nutrients and has zero fiber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since there’s no fiber in oil, all the calories are absorbed quickly and stored away as body fat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When we eat\u00a0nuts and seeds to get healthy fat, our body has a different reaction. The fat in unrefined whole plant foods binds to plant fibers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The binding of these fats limit<\/em> absorption by the body and even attract other<\/em> fat that\u2019s just hanging out in the bloodstream. This chillin’ fat is then drawn into the digestive system where it goes on its merry way, making sure it NEVER even come close to your ass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why eating a small handful of nuts and seeds a day actually helps us lose weight, whereas eating oil makes us gain weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s another issue with oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People are getting way too many Omega-6 fats in their diet. This leads to a myriad of problems, including canceling out any benefits of Omega-3\u2019s. The most common vegetable oils are loaded with Omega-6 fats, and eliminating these oils is the fastest way to cut down the Omega-6 in our bod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the day, all vegetable oils are highly processed foods.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When you chemically extract oil from the whole food (be it olives, canola, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.), you leave behind most of the micronutrients and create a food that has a lot of empty calories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is true that olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat is better for you then saturated fat or trans fat, but just because something is better for you than something really unhealthy doesn\u2019t make it a healthy food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just like how the study that came out earlier this year about saturated fat gave people a free pass to eat as much meat as they want<\/a>, the Mediterranean diet has given people a free pass to eat as much olive oil as they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is, the Mediterranean diet is healthy because of the antioxidant rich and nutrient dense unrefined plant foods that make up most of the diet of that region, not because they pour olive oil on everything.<\/p> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It’s been established that our body absolutely, positively needs a certain amount fat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also know that saturated fat and oils are not the healthiest places to get them. With this information we are lead directly back to nature where we find avocados, nuts, and seeds waiting for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only do these foods give us the right kind<\/em> of fat that our bodies need, when we eat them in their whole form, they also give us fiber and other important nutrients and minerals that we can\u2019t get from oil (even oil made from these foods).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It all goes back to eating high nutrient dense foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High nutrient dense fats, high nutrient dense proteins and high nutrient dense carbohydrates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nutrient density is simply the amount of nutrients a food has per<\/em> calorie.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So the goal here is to get your fat from unprocessed plant foods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Put like that, it sounds pretty damn simple, am I right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If avoiding oil sounds like something you want to experiment with, a good first step might be to rid your pantry and fridge of all pre-packaged foods that contain oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019re off of those foods, maybe play around with some oil free recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you’re ready to really clean out, join Plant Fueled Life<\/a> and\u00a0get your mind BLOWN with how tasty oil -free food can be.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/files.cleanfooddirtygirl.com\/20210122145002\/plant-based-reuben-main-shot.jpg\")
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