How Often Should You Use Olive Oil? (Ideally Never)
Olive oil is an extremely popular cooking oil that has been touted for its health benefits and superior qualities compared to other cooking mediums. Its use for cooking and anointing holy objects and people dates back to the Old Testament. But is olive oil really as divine as mainstream medicine and the Bible suggest? Unfortunately, it is not, and can actually be harmful. However, it may be helpful to those who have low HDL cholesterol.
I suspect olive oil's rise to fame comes partly from the fact that animal-based cooking mediums such as butter have been demonized over the years for being too high in cholesterol. The false narrative that cholesterol is the boogeyman has likely been propagated by Big Pharma as they seek to sell as many of their highly lucrative cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins as possible. The reality is that butter is what you want to cook with, and olive oil can be nearly as pathogenic as seed oils such as the aptly named rapeseed oil (which is marketed as canola oil).
Animal-based cooking mediums like butter are primarily composed of saturated fat. Olive oil is primarily composed of monounsaturated fat. Seed oils are primarily composed of polyunsaturated fat. Both olive oil and seed oils are classified as unsaturated fats.
Your body's cells are encased in an envelope called a membrane, which is made primarily of fat. The fat you eat from your diet influences the composition of your cells' membranes. The more saturated fat you eat, the more saturated your cell membranes will be, and the more unsaturated fat you eat, the more unsaturated they will be.
Cell membranes that are unsaturated are more permeable1 and fragile2 than saturated cell membranes. By permeable, I mean substances on the outside of the cell can get through easily, which is not what you want. What comes in and out of cells is supposed to be a tightly regulated process. By fragile, I mean they are more prone to chemical damage called lipid peroxidation, a process which leads to cell death.
A more saturated body fat composition is associated with a faster metabolism while a more unsaturated one is associated with a slower metabolism.34 The human body has enzymes called desaturases that are capable of making unsaturated fat from saturated fat and also further desaturating fat that is already unsaturated. Higher levels of these enzymes, which lead to the production of more unsaturated fat in your body, are associated with high inflammation,5 obesity,6 heart disease,7 cancer,8 and numerous other life-threatening diseases.9
When you eat saturated fat, your body will desaturate some of it and turn it into monounsaturated fat. It is as if your body knows just how much of each it needs and will seek to maintain a proper balance. However, if you eat too much monounsaturated fat, you will likely throw this balance off because the body can only desaturate fat; it cannot saturate it. Your body could try to restore the balance by creating more saturated fat through a process called de novo lipogenesis, but this process is energy intensive so it makes more sense to eat properly instead.
Some unsaturated fats are good to consume in larger amounts. DHA and EPA, which you have likely heard are the reason you should eat fatty fish, are beneficial polyunsaturated fats. The real concern is monounsaturated fat and the polyunsaturated fat in seed oils, particularly linoleic acid. Even though linoleic acid is needed by the body, it only needs a small amount. Seed oils have been grossly over-incorporated into many Western food products, so when you eat these products or cook with seed oils you are giving your body much more than it needs. I would suggest trying to eliminate all seed oils from your diet, and if you do, you might end up consuming just the right amount.
While monounsaturated fats are generally disadvantageous to consume, they may be beneficial if you have low HDL cholesterol. Many drugs and lifestyle factors can lower HDL cholesterol levels.10 Low HDL cholesterol is considered a risk factor for heart disease. It is believed that the optimal HDL cholesterol level is achieved when your HDL cholesterol divided by your total cholesterol is about 24%. If you are significantly lower than 24%, you may want to consider incorporating more monounsaturated fat into your diet. Monounsaturated fat has been shown to increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing total cholesterol levels.11
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