Are Modern Cooking and Baking Fats Really Healthy?

While it might come as a surprise to you cooking fats are quite an important topic to look at when discussing the current health status of the average American and what can be done to improve our health as a people group through action on the individual level.

In modern times the type of fats that have come into vogue for use in cooking and baking are quite different than the types of oils and fats that our ancestors were accustomed to eating. It is hard to argue that we have improved in this area given the rise of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases that were not seen in the past on the scale that they are today. While we seem to have advanced in the area of infectious disease prevention we have a whole new plague of infirmities sometimes referred to as "diseases of modern civilization".

There are many factors that go into the cause of these disease but one that seems to be important is the type of oils we use in cooking. Not only does this contribute a great deal to our health for better or worse but if you find that you have been using the wrong types of oils it is an easy thing to change for the better.

It has become common for many people to avoid animal fats in favor of the so-called vegetable oils. Oils such as corn, soybean and canola oil are common and are promoted in some circles as healthy oils. The trouble is that these are novel types of fats in the human diet and since their introduction overall health has not improved but instead headed downhill.

If we look at populations of people eating more natural and unrefined diets we will often see excellent examples of human health. Many of these people -particularly in the Pacific islands- consumed a lot of coconut products along with the oil found in coconuts.

As you may know coconut oil is mostly composed of saturated fat which -according to modern medicine- is supposed to be terrible for your health. How then could these people groups experience such vibrant health? As you dig deeper into the evidence from researchers such as Weston A. Price you will find that the causes of ill health and our modern diseases has everything to do with the processing and refinement of our food products in such a way that they are no longer useful in keeping our bodies healthy and are in fact detrimental.

For this reason probably the single biggest way you can improve your health through diet is to eliminate all types of processed and refined foods from your diet. This means you would choose lard as a substitute for shortening, coconut oil and butter instead of corn oil for frying and real fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned versions. By taking steps like these you will ensure that you get more nutrients in your food which is highly important since the lack of various vitamins and minerals in our food supply is a major contributor to the growth of various diseases.