3. Canola Oil and Other Processed Vegetable Oils
Although vegetable oils are often mentioned as healthier alternatives to things like dark meat, coconut oil, or saturated fats from dairy products, some evidence suggests this isn’t always the case. When vegetable oils, such as sunflower oil, canola oil, or safflower oil, replace all saturated fats in your diet, you may lose some benefits as a result.
Consuming the wrong types and amounts of fat may mess up your metabolism, interfering with appetite regulation, digestion, hormone production, and mood. All of these may keep you from seeing the result you are looking for or losing the “last 10 pounds”.
When used in processed foods, these vegetable oils may also become rancid (or oxidized), which can cause inflammation throughout the entire body, sabotaging your metabolism and disrupting your hormones.
Canola oil is known for being “heart healthy”. However, a significant percentage of all canola oil is genetically modified. This means the crops used to produce the oil have been hard-wired with pesticides. Several studies indicate that GMO foods may cause toxicity and cellular changes, which isn’t helpful at all for your metabolism or overall health!
What to do instead: The USDA recommends consuming up to 10% of calories from saturated fatty acids as well as incorporating polyunsaturated and unprocessed monounsaturated fatty acids. You should also consider replacing all processed vegetable oils with healthier options like organic and virgin oils (coconut oil, olive oil, etc).
