Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I am wondering about periodic usage of some vegetable oils. They are certainly not equally harmful (or not harmful at all), as we know from coconut/palm case.

Personally I use every day olive oil, hard pressed organic. I like the taste so much and salad without it is not salad for me. I can eat it with hard cheese alone. Its MUFA so its OK and its more or less the same as almond when oil part is in question. Health benefits of this oil are known for as along as there is civilization.

Sesame oil is great in cooking, taste is amazing and sesame paste (called taan also) is very rich in calcium, probably the best calcium form to supplement. It is also known to reduce tryglecerides.

I previously used grapeseed oil for cooking, removing sunflower which is typically used in Serbia. Its known for high smoking temperature. Also, being from grapes there must be some beneficial stuff in it, probably trace amounts of rasveratrol and friends.

I also used peanut oil, but rarely and mostly in chinese food where it gives amazing taste.

I used organic flax seed oil as ALA supplement. Now I don't use it any more but go with walnuts. However, it looks like flax is on the positive list on many places, especially in circles of cancer related diets.

Hemp oil is touted like great, and hemp seed is in 'super food lists'. It's very expensive however and can not be easily found so I didn't try it yet but i would if I had the acceptable source. Its the most expensive oil that i know, even more expensive then organic, cold pressed coconut oil.

So my every day vegetable oils today are palm [heated only] and olive [unheated mostly], and rarely sesame oil and coconut oil [just because its very expensive here, my daughter has priority on coconut oil over me, I use it now only as an aftershave].

edited Oct 29 2011 at 14:27

asked Oct 29 2011 at 13:10

majkinetor

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macadamia nut oil is both delicious and nutritious. Order it from amazon. NOW brand – ben61820 Oct 29 2011 at 13:37

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Other than liver (coconut oil) and eggs (butter), I rarely cook with oil. I will use olive oil occasionally unheated. I try to avoid omega-6s as much as possible because I eat Brazil nuts regularly (for selenium) and I eat at restaurants about once a week, so I probably already get a good dose of semi-rancid omega-6s. – Paleo2.0 Oct 29 2011 at 17:10

Firestorm · Answer 1 · 2011-10-29 13:37:38Z UTC

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I use coconut oil, some palm oil, macadamia oil, flax-seed oil, and occasionally hemp oil. (The last two I NEVER EVER heat, and the mac oil I only use for low-heat cooking). I only cook at higher heats in saturated oils (animal fat, coconut oil, palm oil).

answered Oct 29 2011 at 13:37

Firestorm
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Hmm, I use macadamia oil at high heats (400f) macadamia oil has a high smoke point (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point) making it ideal for higher heats. – Andy Oct 29 2011 at 14:53

Thats why I used grapeseed oil, it has very high smoke point. Furthermore it doesn't have taste. – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 18:39

Andy, smoke point is not the only important factor - balancedbites.com/2011/09/… – peter Oct 29 2011 at 22:20

I've noticed a significant flavor difference (unpleasant to my palate, at least) in macadamia when I heat it above 300 degrees F. To me, that indicates some kind of chemical change, and it isn't one that I find appetizing, so I determined that, at least for me, macadamia oil isn't good for high-heat cooking. For me, it's at least as much about how my body responds to things as it is about any technical capacity. – Firestorm Oct 31 2011 at 12:57

Jay · Answer 2 · 2011-10-29 13:43:22Z UTC

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I use coconut oil, tallow, or ghee for cooking. They are all fine since I never cook above 350 degrees anyway. Also, I add lots of spices when I cook which help preserve the oils at heat. If you cook at high temperatures, you could stick with ghee or refined coconut oil which are good until about 450.

Occasionally, I use olive oil too as a condiment. It has about 9% omega 6 and 3% omega 3 so in moderate amounts it is probably very good.

answered Oct 29 2011 at 13:43

Jay
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	Notice the vegetable in the title :) I have problem with ghee that it is treated with high temperatures. Its also extremely expensive here around 30E/kg while sunflower is 1E/kg. – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 14:25
	Fair enough. I am a little concerned about oxidized cholesterol in ghee and have posted about it here in the past. I only use it for cooking and not as a mainstay. If you're using sunflower oil, I would get the high oleic variety. – Jay Oct 29 2011 at 14:45
	I avoid sunflower oil 100%. Its because I have lunch on the job and they overuse it there... no matter how much I try in this country is impossible to not have substantial amount. – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 18:35

Rogue Nutritionist · Answer 3 · 2011-10-29 17:55:41Z UTC

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I own the book Know Your Fats by Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig, and I highly recommend it as a resource...it's basically an encyclopedia of fats! Here is an article by Sally Fallon Morell that gives a quick overview of some fats as an introduction, and it may help you figure out which fats to use and why to use them. http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/know-your-fats-introduction

answered Oct 29 2011 at 17:55

Rogue Nutritionist
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	I did read that. I don't remember she was concerned about PUFA at all, it was mostly defense on SFA. – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 18:37
	Book even starts with mayo as healthy food, and its almost always made with PUFA. – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 18:38
	Planning to read "How fat works" next, when I find time (Philip Wood) – majkinetor Oct 29 2011 at 18:43
	They are very into homemade mayo, and maybe you're thinking of a different book? This book starts off going over molecular structure of different fats. – Rogue Nutritionist Oct 29 2011 at 20:22
	Oh, and getting it off the shelf, I see that it's only written by Mary Enig. – Rogue Nutritionist Oct 29 2011 at 20:29

Which kinds of vegetable oil could be used

3 Answers