Some oils are crazy processed, like canola oil, and some oils go through less of a beating, like olive oil and coconut oil.<\/p>\n
But even the most expensive, small batch, virgin olive oil that comes from the smallest village in Italy has zero fiber, 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Same goes for the most hand crafted, blessed by goddesses and approved by raw vegans everywhere coconut oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nAll oil has zero fiber, 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon, and the majority of the nutrients are stripped out during the process of extracting the oil from the plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
To give you a comparison, there are about 78 calories and 6 grams of fat in the same amount (1 tablespoon) of cashews. Plus, cashews have fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals, like vitamin K, B6, magnesium, zinc and iron.<\/p>\n
Oil is pretty straight forward, but what about nut and seed butters? If you’ve ever opened a jar of peanut butter or tahini and saw a thick layer of oil, you might wonder where this lives on the spectrum of oil-free eating.<\/p>\n
First of all, some brands add oil to their nut butters, this is especially common in peanut butter. This isn’t at all necessary – it’s done to cut costs because oil is cheaper than nuts. So the first thing is to make sure your nut butter doesn’t have any added oil.<\/p>\n
Apart from that, there will inevitably be some oil in nut and seed butter because nuts and seeds are high in fat and when they’re ground into paste, some oil will naturally rise to the top.<\/p>\n
If you want\u00a0to go truly oil free, you would have to avoid nut and seeds and nut and seed butters. For me, this falls under the category of making shit more complicated than it has to be and so this is where I draw the line. Mama earth gave us nuts and seeds, did she not?\u00a0I see nothing wrong with eating nuts and seeds or nut and seed butter. That said, if you\u00a0grind them yourself, they’ll be less oily. If you buy them packaged and there’s a layer of oil on top, you can always discard the oil\u00a0if you wish.<\/p>\n
So the healthiest place to get fat in your diet is from whole plant sources (nuts, seeds and avocados) rather than from extracted oil of foods (olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc…) because oils have no fiber, less nutrients and are more calorie dense than the whole foods in which they come from.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying that olive oil and coconut oil are evil and will induce a heart attack upon entry of the pie hole. In fact, some studies show that olive oil has health benefits,\u00a0however, this is\u00a0only when compared with butter.<\/p>\n
You can think about it like this.<\/p>\n
Eating butter is like having a one night stand with a random stranger in a bar.<\/strong>
It was exciting\u00a0at the time, but you wake up hungover, regretful and concerned that your vajayjay may or may not have an STD.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nEating olive oil or coconut oil is like having sex with your best friend.
<\/strong>It\u2019s better than a drunk one night stand, but it\u2019s still going to be awkward and\u00a0cause problems down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\nEating nuts, seeds and avocados is like making love to your soul mate while you’re both totally sober, with Maxwell playing in the background and candles lighting the room.<\/strong>
No regrets, no problems, just healthy, passionate lovemaking.\u00a0<\/p>\nSure, we all go through grungy, awkward sex periods, but ultimately, it\u2019s the soul mate Maxwell sex that feeds our soul and keeps us happy and healthy.<\/p>\n
Sex analogies aside, on top of not being super healthy or slimming, oil isn\u2019t necessary to cook delicious food. Most people do it because they always have and it\u2019s just what they do. I used to cook with olive oil like mad because I assumed using it was necessary to make yummy food.<\/p>\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n
When you go without oil for just a few weeks it becomes clear that it’s an unnecessary ingredient. Which is awesome because it saves money, plus doing the dishes is a lot easier when everything isn\u2019t coated in oil.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the deal. Eating 100% oil free 100% of the time isn\u2019t realistic. We all go out to eat, we all nibble at parties – \u00a0life happens. But if you take the oil out of your kitchen and start cooking without it, then the majority of your food will be oil free.<\/p>\n
Try it out for a few weeks and see what happens. You\u2019ll be surprised and pleased with the results and how quickly you adapt.<\/p>\n
All this said, remember that eating is an art, not a science. And more importantly, how you<\/em> eat is your<\/em> art. So play around, have fun, let it be fluid and find what works best for you.<\/p>\nOur whole food plant based meal plans<\/a> are always oil-free and delicious.<\/p>\nToday\u2019s plant based mashed potatoes proves that you don\u2019t need oil (or butter) to make bomb diggity food. Try this out and you’ll think about oil-free cooking in a whole new way.<\/p>\n
Let me know how it goes in the comments below.<\/p>\n
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