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After rejecting every cooking oil for fear of inflammation and toxins, I found the miracle fat that promises to lower my cholesterol and increase my serotonin.
I had just happily sat down with a bowl of popcorn I’d popped with a splash of canola oil, when I read that when canola oil is highly refined, it can contain altered fats and residues that can cause inflammation, and that — Oh no! — nearly all of it is GMO, which is beneficial in some ways, and then other ways … not so much (it’s all so confusing).
So being the healthy being I thought I was, I switched to peanut oil. And then I found out that peanut oil is 18% saturated fat, which we all know (well not all of us — like me, until just now, for instance) can raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. Pshaw, said I. Because I liked the taste. (And you can say Pshaw to potential dangers when you like something.) But then I read that peanut oil is also high in polyunsaturated fats, which, when exposed to high heat, can oxidize, which (in layman’s terms) can make the oil less nutritious and even rancid. So, yuk. Also, if that weren’t bad enough, it turns out that oxidized fats produce trans fats, which are bad for heart health, and free radicals, which — hello! — can cause inflammation. I’m inflamed enough, thank you, so bye-bye, peanut oil.
With my popcorn’s future in jeopardy, I consulted actual experts about what oils were safe for cooking, and three of them suggested grapeseed oil. So off to Stop & Shop I went. Then I Googled grapeseed oil (right, I should have Googled before I went) and learned that grapeseed oil has some problems that peanut oil has (oxidization, potential inflammatory consequences) and that its extraction process uses an oil-based solvent called hexane that can leave a residue, which (if you read between the lines and the actual lines themselves) you learn is a neurotoxin that can be carcinogenic. Oy. Absolutely no more grapeseed oil.
So what’s left? Never eating popcorn again? Is there any good oil for cooking? I asked three of my favorite chefs: Josh Aronie (yes, he’s my son, but he really is an amazing chef), cookbook author Catherine Walthers, and Jaime Hamlin, a star caterer who lives near me on Martha’s Vineyard.
Josh recommended avocado oil and olive oil, but he noted that there are a few problems with avocado oil. For one thing, he said, it doesn’t contain a significant amount of omega-3s. For another, it can go rancid. For yet another, many brands are mixtures of avocado oil and cheaper oils, and the sneaky labels don’t always tell you that. What’s more, most avocado oils contain trace amounts of something called ortho-phthalates, a class of hormone-disrupting chemicals. That one doesn’t bother me so much. My hormones were disrupted years ago.
But I’m crossing avocado oil off my list now, too.
Cathy said that without a doubt, olive oil was best (and Jaime and Josh agreed). She must have been waiting for my question with her fingers on the keyboard, because the words extra-virgin olive oil came onto my screen faster than you can say “arugula.” I also learned more than I ever imagined I’d want to learn about “smoke points.” You don’t want to use olive oil for very high-heat cooking, but it turns out to be perfect for popcorn!
When you ask the internet “What are the health benefits of olive oil?” you find that it’s like liquid gold:
- It may reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer.
- Its anti-inflammatory properties may help manage conditions like arthritis and asthma.
- It’s made primarily of monounsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to increase levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL) while lowering “bad” cholesterol (LDL).
- It may improve cognitive function and protect against neurodegenerative diseases.
- Some studies have shown that even the smell of olive oil increases serotonin (sometimes called “the happy chemical”), and it affects your appetite — you feel a bit more satisfied, so you eat less.
- It contains what they call a special fat-busting polyphenol called hydroxytyrosol.
So here’s my plan: Instead of using an antidepressant or Ozempic, or worrying that I’m losing my mind when I don’t remember your name, I’m going to exclusively use olive oil in everything and give it a few months.
If you don’t hear from me, don’t worry. I’ll be high on serotonin, and thin, and my bad cholesterol will be low, and my arthritis will be gone, so I just won’t have the time or the need for human relationships — unless, of course, we’re bonding over a shared bowl of popcorn.
