All posts filed under: Bad Better Best

The Skinny on Oils

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There is so much information on cooking oil out there, and so much confusion! On my coaching boards we discuss this a LOT, mostly because restaurants STILL think they are smart cooking with VEGETABLE oil. NO! Do NOT use canola, corn or soy! They are: not heart healthy they do NOT help your cholesterol they CAUSE inflammation they are NOT good for high heat cooking! So, with that in mind, what oils SHOULD you use? Here’s the lowdown, and it is pretty simple. The first question you should ask yourself is what are you using it for? If you are heating it to saute or roast, then only certain oils are safe. Many “good oils” degrade when heated, so you need to stay away from them. When I teach my “Food as First Medicine” class, I use this great graphic from The Academy of Culinary Nutrition: One caveat I would add: if you use butter or ghee, use only organic PASTURE RAISED butter or ghee. It is much healthier nutrition wise. For our family, we …

Bad-Better-Best: Coffee Creamer

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Here is something that confuses a lot of people.  What to put in coffee?  We were taught dairy was bad, and non-dairy creamer was glorified as “heart healthy”.  Guess what?  The last five – ten years of research has proven that the OPPOSITE is true.  Coffee-mate like beverages are the WORST thing you can put in coffee, and they contribute to obesity and heart disease, among other things.  They are full of partially hydrogenated oils/sugars/flavorings/stabilizers and chemicals.  THEY ARE POISON.   So, what’s better?  You’d be surprised. The best thing is black coffee, but if you’re like me, black coffee isn’t a taste that I love.  If you need a creamer, GRASS FED (aka “pasture raised”) organic heavy cream is best.  Why?  Well, first let’s undo the “saturated fat is bad” mindset we all got from years and years of hearing that it contributed to heart disease.  The enemy for heart disease, weight gain, metabolic syndrome and diabetes is CARB content, and guess what?  Heavy cream has ZERO carbs.  Next are flavored creamers that use dairy …

Bad-Better-Best: Is Butter Bad?

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I’m starting a series of quick posts that cover easy modifications you should consider when eating.  Today’s is one of the simplest.  Choose the right butter! Want more information on WHY you shouldn’t eat butter or margarine, only pasture butter or ghee?   Check out my update on fats:  It also explains that there are many other good fats to use for cooking and baking, see my posts about fats to see if your choices are among them. *Pasture butter is good for spreading, but ghee is clarified butter, so best for frying, sauteing and high heat applications. Next up:  coffee creamer, the good, bad and ugly