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Still Using Seed Oils in Cooking, Baking? STOP... For Your Health!

Are you still using industrial vegetable, canola, sunflower, and other seed oils in your baking and cooking? If so, please stop and switch to Olive, Coconut, Avocado oils.

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by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Eliminate These Bad Oils. Help Reduce Chronic Inflamation. Improve Your Health

I grew up with a mom who loved to bake and cook -- and we always had both a can of Crisco as well as a big bottle "vegetable" oil in the pantry, until she eventually switched to canola oil. As a young adult, I still used canola oil because I thought it was the safest and most useful oil for cooking and baking... Wrong!

Industrial, overly processed, seed oils are perhaps the most hidden health issue in the Western diet.

So-called seed oils -- oils that are derived from the seeds of plants, ones that the vast majority of us grew up with, are extremely unhealthy and inflammatory ... and perhaps one of the key factors why we Americans have so many health issues, including mood swings, anxiety, fatigue, weight gain, migraines, and more.

Other experts link the massive increase in the use of these vegetable seed oils to the rise in major health crises, including heart disease, cancer, obesity, dementia, leaky gut, diabetes, and autoimmune diease. Note, regardless of the marketing claims, these seed oils are NOT heart-healthy ... just the opposite -- and leading to chronic inflammation. (Read: What is Chronic Inflammation and Why Is it Bad?)

Don't think you consume many of these oils? Think again. They are not only the most commonly used oils in home cooking and baking, but can also be found in most packaged (and processed) foods as well as in the preparation of meals at the vast majority of restaurants, whether fast-food or sit-down. Like sugar, these harmful seed oils can be found in almost everything in the grocery store, from cookies to pasta to potato chips to cereals to salad dressings -- and more.

Time to check your pantry -- and your favorite restaurant. (By the way, if you are using margarine rather than butter from pastured, grassfed and finshed cows, you are still on the wrong side of health, as most margarines are made from vegetable oil.

If you are using/consuming any of these eight seed oils, eliminating them may be the best thing you can do for your health. The oily offenders? Canola (rapeseed), corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, safflower, sunflower, flaxseed, rice bran, and soybean.

For more than a decade, I have been on a healthy path, eliminating all processed sugars, corn syrups, white flour, white rice, and avoiding ALL processed foods in favor of homemade real foods made from organic, farm-fresh, and pastured meats. I thought I was doing well until only recently discovering from a Dave Asprey podcast about the evils of these seed oils. (Dave is the self-proclaimed father of biohacking for better health, and you can find his podcast, Bulletproof Radio, discussing the issue with Dr. Cate Shanahan here.)

Want more evidence and information on why these seed oils are so bad? Also check out:

By the way, do NOT think that by buying the organic versions of these oils you are okay ... yes, you are eliminating pesticides and GMOs, but you are still consuming the harmful oils themselves. What's the solution? Using real oils -- not ones derived from seeds. We use a combination of real (organic and pastured) butter, avocado oils (which has little taste and amazing heat properties), coconut oil, and olive oil.

Want some other healthy tips? Check out some of my other articles:

Final Thoughts on Unhealthy Seed Oils

If you want to be healthier, one of the simplest things you can do is eliminate seed oils from your diet. You may need to completely change your shopping habits and prepare more of your own foods -- but that's a much healthier approach.

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Avid wellness guru Dr. Randall S. Hansen Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., is an avid bicyclist, adventurist, environmentalist, and student of wellness and photography, with a mission of empowering others to lead great lives. He is Founder and CEO of EmpoweringSites.com, a network of empowering and transformative Websites. Dr. Hansen is also the founder and caretaker of this site, EmpoweringRetreat.com, as well as founder of EmpoweringAdvice.com, MyCollegeSuccessStory.com, and EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is a published author, with several books, chapters in books, and hundreds of articles. He's often quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the country. Dr. Hansen is also an educator, having taught at the college level for more than 15 years. Learn more by visiting his personal Website, RandallSHansen.com or reach him by email at CEO(at)empoweringsites.com. You can also check out Dr. Hansen on GooglePlus.


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