Here’s How to Determine the Healthiest Fats to Cook With

Hey everybody. Welcome to my weekly house call. Your chance to ask me your questions. And this week's question is. Dr. Hyman, I'm so confused about what fats to cook with. For so long I've been told to use vegetable oils because I heard they were the best to cook with. And now I hear that we can cook with grass fed butter or coconut oil. What's going on? What's the truth about this? Well, you know what? I feel your pain. I understand your confusion. The American Heart association recommends that adults get no more than 5% of their calories from saturated fat. And it urges people to use vegetable oils instead. In fact, the American Heart association advises people to eat at least 5 to 10% of their calories in the form of omega 6 Glygard polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs. The rationale for this is that unlike saturated fat, linoleic acid from PUFAs lowers LDL levels. Now, as a result, the average American's intake of linoleic acid, which is the omega 6 fatty acid, has risen sharply since the 1960s and even more dramatically since the early 1900s. In fact, since the early 1900s, our consumption of soybean oil has gone up a thousand fold. Americans consume at least twice as amount of linoleic acid today as they did in the 1960s. Well, this has been a huge problem because the increase in these highly inflammatory and unstable omega 6 fats in our diet has led to an increase in so many inflammatory diseases. You see the over consumption of omega 6 fats which we do need, and the under consumption of omega 3 fats. This imbalance has led to increases in heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, pre diabetes, irritable bowel, arthritis, asthma, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and lots more. Even things like depression and homicide and suicide. So while the advice to eat more polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fat may have started with good intentions, it's actually caused disastrous results. The oil industry has been so big in pushing fat. First trans fats, right? Hydrogenated things like margarine shortening, and then highly refined vegetable oil. Mostly the omega 6 polyunsaturated fats. The forms that they are consumed by most people, they are highly toxic. So what's the alternative? What should we be cooking with? What kind of fat is the best fat to cook with? Well, definitely not highly refined processed vegetable oil. In fact, I met with a guy who runs Jimmy John's and they switched from using vegetable oil in their fryers to to using beef tallow, which Actually was used a long time ago, but then they switched to these processed vegetable oils. So rather than using all these refined vegetable oils, I suggest you use more plant based and stable animal fats such as coconut oil and even lard or grass fed butter. This sounds like heresy. I know it sounds crazy, but after a deep reading on the literature on this topic from a really neutral perspective, I've completely changed my diet and those of my patients. Now I embrace coconut oil and ghee and even some grass fed butter as part of my diet. As long as you're not allergic to dairy. You see, studies show that saturated fat raises your ldl, your so called bad cholesterol, which is not really bad in all its forms, but it improves the quality of the LDL and it also increases its size of the ldl, making it less likely to promote heart disease. It also raises the hdl or good cholesterol. And ultimately the ratio of the total to the LDL cholesterol and the total LDL particle number and size are far bigger predictor of heart attacks than LDL itself. Interestingly, in countries with the highest intakes of coconut oil, they have the lowest rates of heart disease. Now, while research shows that coconut oil contains higher amounts of saturated fat and does increase total and LDL cholesterol, and it also raises the hdl, which is the good cholesterol, and it increases it the most. And it actually improves the ratio of your total to HDL cholesterol, which is a good thing. And it's far better predictor of heart attacks than ldl. In fact, LDL is not a great predictor of heart attacks. It's the ratio and the HDL and the triglyceride to HDL ratio, all kinds of other things in ldl. But we focus on LDL because there's a whole drug industry designed to lower ldl. So the bottom line is that I recommend cutting out all refined oils, except for extra virgin olive oil, which isn't even that refined. For cooking. You can use extra virgin coconut oil and avocado oil, which actually can be used at higher temperatures, and even ghee, which is clarified butter. You see, ghee has a higher smoking point, about 4 or 500 degrees, and it has all the same nutrients found in grass fed butter. It's also high in vitamin D and A and omega 3 fats, and CLA and butyric acid, all of which can help boost immunity and help inflammation. Coconut oil tolerates temperatures to about 350, so it's great for most baking and medium high heat, sauteing Extra virgin olive oil is best used for low heat cooking and used raw for dressings and salads and things like that. Avocado oil, macadamia oil, walnut oil. These are all great wonderful raw oils that you can use used in salad dressings and on your food. Now with all oils you always choose organic if you can, unrefined, cold pressed or expeller pressed. Be sure to do your research and don't be afraid to contact the company directly to ensure the product is truly cold pressed. Also, if you buy organic oils, you're going to limit the amount of GMOs because they can't use GMO oils and you'll also limit the use of hexanes which are used in extraction of oils. That's kind of a toxic chemical. Also, I want you to store your oils in dark and not clear bottles and I want you to keep them in a cool dark place away from light and heat because otherwise they oxidize and can turn rancid. Don't store your oils on the kitchen counter or next to the stove. Always choose lids that tightly close and immediately store the oil after using them because when you get too much oxygen they can go rancid. Oils go bad over a span of months depending on the type and that's why it's so important for only to purchase the amount you'll use within a two month period. Now I put over 175 recipes in my new book Eat Fat, Get Thin Cookbook and it features so many of these healthy mouth watering fats. If you're confused about what fats to use and how to use them, I highly recommend checking out my new cookbook. It's out on November 29th and now I want to hear from you. What oils do you love to cook with? Comment on my Facebook page and if you like this video I want you to share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to submit your questions to drhyman.com and maybe next week I'll make a house call to you.