Hey guys! I'm Abbey Sharpe, welcome to
Abbey's Kitchen! In today's video, I'm
gonna be taking on something that has
come up a lot in my recent What I Eat In A Day Reviews
and I want to address this in more
detail than I can really do in those
videos. So today we're gonna be chatting
about the vegan oil-free diet. Now, as
we've seen just on YouTube alone,
abstaining from added oils has become
common practice amongst a number of
vegan influencers and has even been
recommended by some plant-based doctors as a way to combat chronic disease.
Now before we get started, of course my quick disclaimer that this video is for
educational purposes only and you should
always speak to your doctor and
dietitian about your unique nutrition
and healthcare needs.
So let's kick things off by answering
"What is the oil-free diet?" Now as the
name implies, this diet is predominantly
plant-based and does not include any
added oils in any form. The so-called
benefits of completely eliminating oil
from the diet stem from claims that oil
has no nutritional value, is harmful to
one's health, and makes you gain weight.
Some supporters of this diet even go so
far as to say that avoiding oils may
actually reverse chronic disease. So what
we did is what we always do it at Abbey's
Kitchen, and we took a deep dive into the
research to answer the question - Is the
vegan oil-free diet beneficial for
health? Or just another form of extreme
restrictive eating? Now before you go and
discard your fancy schmancy cold-pressed
extra virgin olive oils, let's talk about
why dietary fat is important in the
first place.
Dietary fat is not only a major source
of energy for the body, but it's also
important for cell growth and the
absorption of fat soluble vitamins like
vitamin A, D, and K. Now, by now we know
that not all fats are created equal and
that we should be consuming mostly the
good sources of fat from monounsaturated
fats and polyunsaturated fats. If you
think back to your first health class
you maybe learned that consuming good
fats from sources like plant-based oils
is really important for a strong and
healthy heart and brain. Now with this in
consideration, I'm sure it must be a real
head-scratcher to have all of these
beliefs and knowledge flipped upside
down with all of the convincing claims
out there and hot bodies
promoting the oil-free diet. So let's
start by breaking down the what, and the
why of the vegan oil-free diet.
Starting with the risk of vegetable oils
and inflammation.
Now inflammation has been a hot topic in
the health and wellness world with
research suggesting that it may play a
role in the development of chronic
diseases like cancer, heart disease,
diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and
arthritis. Proponents of the oil-free
diet claim that oil causes inflammation
and should therefore be avoided. This is
where the conversation about oils,
specifically the omega-6 to omega-3
ratio, gets a little controversial.
If you've never really heard about the
omega-6 to 3 ratio, let me quickly break
it down for you. It has long been
hypothesized that omega-6 fatty acids
are inflammatory, where omega-3 fatty
acids are anti-inflammatory. As a result
of this, it's been speculated that a diet
that is high in omega 6s and low in
omega-3s may increase inflammation. Even though most oils contain some amount of
omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, the
relative ratios do differ. So for
instance, some oils like soybean, corn,
cotton seed, sunflower, peanut, sesame, and
rice bran, have higher amounts of omega 6s while other oils, like olive oil,
flaxseed, canola oil, have lower amounts
of omega-6.
Omega-6 fatty acids are generally more
abundant in the Western diet compared to
omega-3 fatty acids and, as a result, the
omega-6 to 3 ratio of the average
Western diet has increased to about 20
to 1. But the big question is...
is consuming too many omega-6 fats really a cause for concern? And should you
completely swear off oils because of
this? Well according to research the
answer is simply no. Although some
studies have pointed to the potential
inflammatory properties of too much
omega-6 in the diet, a systematic review
and meta-analysis found that increased
dietary intake of linoleic acid, which is
the most common omega-6 fatty acid, does not have a significant effect on blood
concentrations of inflammatory markers.
This includes inflammatory markers like
c-reactive protein, fibrinogen cytokines,
and tumor necrosis
factor. These large studies concluded
that we don't actually have strong
evidence to suggest that omega-6 fatty
acids in themselves increase
inflammation. Though more research is
definitely needed to confirm the
relationship between omega-6 and
inflammation, what we can say is that
omega 3 fatty acids absolutely do have
anti-inflammatory effects. Research has
shown that omega-3 fats may help lower
inflammation in healthy adults and in
people with metabolic syndrome, it can
alleviate joint pain, and improve
inflammatory damage in inflammatory
bowel disease. In addition, the benefits
of omega-3 fatty acids spread far beyond
inflammation and may even help fight
with depression and anxiety, improve eye
health, reduce symptoms of metabolic
syndrome, improve risk factors for heart
disease, and may even prevent some types
of cancer. In other words, it really is
important to focus on those sources
of omega 3s or, of course, take a fish
oil supplement. So even though it has
been speculated that the omega-6s from
oils may cause inflammation, the bottom
line is that correlation does not really
equal causation. There's ultimately not
enough strong evidence to really make
this claim, but what we do have stronger
research on, however, is the benefits of
omega-3s. And when we're talking about
oils, these things come as a package. So
if you're concerned just try to choose
oils that have higher omega-3 to omega-6
ratios, like walnut oil or flaxseed oil,
and minimize those heavily refined
omega-6 rich oils that we already
discussed. Now let's talk about the
argument that vegetable oils cause heart
disease. I want to start by stating that
heart disease is the number one cause of
death in the world and the numbers
actually continue to rise each year.
That's pretty serious.
But despite the scary statistic, heart
disease can be preventable through
lifestyle and dietary change. I have also
lost family to heart disease, so when it
comes to dietary recommendations for
heart health I do not mess around. Which
is why the claims against oil and heart
health that are promoted by advocates of
the oil-free diet have really got me in
a serious mood. According to dr.
Esselstyn, a vegan doctor and no oil
advocate, oils negatively impact the
cardiovascular system
because they injure the endothelium, the
innermost lining of the artery, and this
injury is the gateway to vascular
disease. Other advocates likewise claim
that oil slows down blood flow and
increases the chance of cardiovascular
disease. Hmm interesting theory.
Now I diligently combed through the
research on these claims and one thing I
did find, unsurprisingly, was the
overwhelming amount of high-quality
evidence on the cardiovascular benefits
of oil, specifically olive oil. So let's
state the legit facts, shall we? Now for a
long time now, the Mediterranean diet has
been a key player in the prevention of
heart disease and one of the main
dietary recommendations is olive oil
consumption. This is because a large body
of evidence supports the benefits of
olive oil in lowering the risk of heart
disease markers, one of them of course
being blood pressure. Now high blood
pressure is one of the strongest risk
factors for heart disease and research
has consistently shown that higher
intakes of olive oil in the diet can
significantly reduce blood pressure
levels. It definitely appears that the
polyphenols, which are the potent
antioxidants in olive oil, may have
something to do with it.
That plus the nitro fatty acids in oils
have a really positive effect on blood
pressure by relaxing the lining of the
blood vessels. Now, similar to blood
pressure, cholesterol is also a semi-controllable risk factor for heart
disease. As you may or may not already
know, ideally you want to increase your
HDL cholesterol, or the "good" cholesterol,
and lower your LDL cholesterol, the "bad"
cholesterol. And several systematic
reviews have found that the polyphenols
in olive oil may help increase HDL
cholesterol, while unsaturated oils like
olive oil and flaxseed oil, were
effective in reducing LDL cholesterol.
The same positive effects can be said
for reducing the incidence of stroke.
According to a large 2014 systematic
review there's a significant association
between olive oil consumption and reduced
risks for cardiovascular events and
stroke. In fact, the study found that
olive oil was the only source of
monounsaturated fat to have preventative
effects. Another study with a large
sample size, likewise found that those who consumed olive
oil have a much lower risk of stroke
than those who do not. To drive this
point home even further, a large
prospective cohort study found that for
every 10 gram increase in daily olive
oil consumption, cardiovascular disease
decreased by 10 percent and mortality
risk decreased by 7 percent. That is
powerful stuff. The benefit of olive oil
consumption specifically goes far beyond
heart health and may also be beneficial
for combating Alzheimer's disease,
rheumatoid arthritis, and may be reducing
the risk of type 2 diabetes and some
cancers. With all of this in
consideration, I am definitely on Team
oil when it comes to heart health.
Another problematic claim against the
consumption of oils is that they have no
nutritional benefit and are essentially
"empty calories" and "comparable to white
bread". Oh boy. Let's break down the facts.
So mono-unsaturated oils like olive
oil and avocado oil are rich in vitamin
E and K which are really important for
red blood cell formation and blood
clotting, respectively. This also speaks
to the cardiovascular benefits of olive
oil, which we've already of course
covered. Now in addition, a variety of
oils are rich in antioxidants and
omega-3s, which both have
anti-inflammatory effects. In fact, one study found that the oleocenthal,
which is a phenolic compound in olive
oil, has similar anti-inflammatory
effects as ibuprofen. I'd like to see
white bread do that.
I would also like to discuss the use of
oil beyond nutrition for a hot minute.
Now oils have been used for centuries
across a variety of cuisines and not
entirely for nutritional purposes alone.
Rather, they're used for reasons like
enhancing flavor and texture, which are
just as important for your overall
eating experience. I mean would Chinese or Korean food tastes the same without
sesame oil?
Probably not. Do salads and marinades
taste that much better with a drizzle of
olive oil? Heck yes they do.
Would Brussels sprouts be that appealing
without a little bit of oil to get them
to crisp up in a hot oven? I don't know
about you, but I do not want diet-y
boiled Brussels sprouts cooked in broth.
We use oils because we enjoy what they
can do for cuisine and for making
healthy food that we eat tastes that
much more satisfying.
Is that not nourishing in and of itself?
As for the effects of heating on oil, it
is long being understood that some oils
are unstable when heated and can release
harmful free radicals which can then
have a negative impact on health. The
same negative health effects occur when
oils are repeatedly heated. So for
example, when oils get reused in
restaurants to deep fry food. Though
science has confirmed this about some
oils, I am not at all surprised that no
oil dieters would take this information
and run with it. So the question is, does
heat really ruin the health benefits of
oils or make them dangerous? To answer
this question, it really comes down to
the lipid profile of oils and the
percentage of polyunsaturated,
mono-unsaturated and saturated fats that they contain. Research has shown that oils
that contain higher percentages of
polyunsaturated fats can be more easily
damaged when exposed to high heat
because they degrade more easily. So some
examples of these types of oils include
soybean, grapeseed, and sesame oil. On the
other hand, oils that have a higher
percentage of monounsaturated fats and
saturated fats are a bit more stable and heat-resistant.
So evidence has actually shown that some of the most stable cooking oils are things
like extra-virgin olive oil and coconut
oil. So extra-virgin olive oil has a
monounsaturated fat profile of about 75
percent and, combined with its
antioxidant content, it's fairly
resistant to heat. Coconut oil is also
ideal for high heat cooking because it's
high saturated fat content. Despite the
higher amounts of saturated fat, studies
have shown that coconut oil can in fact
increase HDL cholesterol, which is the
"good" cholesterol, while some but not all
of its fatty acids raise the bad LDL
cholesterol. Personally, I try not to
really overdo it on anyone oil,
especially because the research is still
evolving on coconut oil, specifically. So
in case you're wondering with coconut
oil I'm totally cool with enjoying it in
moderation, same with butter, same with
canola, same with basically anything else.
Then there's a popular assumption that
fat from vegetable oils makes you fat.
When are we going to finally put the "fat
makes you fat" argument to bed? Folks, yes
oil is a source of fat and yes fat has
more calories per gram than
carbohydrates or protein. These are facts.
However, the argument that consuming oils
in your diet will make you gain weight
is a bit of a stretch and I'm gonna tell
you why. One of the main arguments for
the vegan no-oil diet is that oils are
calorie dense and, as a result, an easy
way to add extra calories and cause you
to gain weight. Many "no-oil" advocates are
quick to mention that one tablespoon of
oil contains roughly a hundred calories
and one cup of oil contains around 2,000
calories. First of all who is shooting
back a whole cup of oil in one go?
Second of all, though one tablespoon of
oil for 100 calories may seem like a lot of
calories, when you think about your total
daily caloric intake this amount is
actually pretty negligible. For example,
let's say you
use one tablespoon of oil to cook up a
veggie stir-fry that yields four
portions. When it comes time to dig in, is
there really an entire tablespoon of oil
in that serving? No there isn't. Even if
it was, that is only four percent of your
total caloric intake for the day.
Assuming you eat a balanced diet with a
variety of fruits, vegetables, whole
grains, and protein, this amount of fat is
actually quite insignificant. More
importantly, food is more than just
calories and adding oils to food and
cooking may actually aid in weight loss.
One 3-year study found this actually to
be true with a diet rich in olive oil.
Similarly a cohort study on 7,000
participants found that higher intakes
of olive oil was not associated with
weight gain. This is actually not all
that surprising to me as fats have a
role in satiety by slowing down the rate
of digestion and keeping blood sugar
levels even keeled. Overall, it may be
seemingly easy to point the finger at a
specific food or food group as the
culprit behind weight gain, especially
because this is really the common and
most consistent message that we get from
the media and from diet culture, in
general.
The truth is, a lot of weight loss and
weight gain is kind of out of our
control and much of it has to do with
our genetic makeup and socioeconomic
factors.
And finally, let's talk about processing
for a minute. Another claim behind the
oil-free diet is that oils are highly
processed and therefore should be
avoided. Now before we get to oil
processing, one thing that we really need
to make clear is that processed foods, in
general, exist on a spectrum and some
amount of processing can actually make
food healthier and safer. So for example,
minimally processed foods use little
processing or preserve freshness, so
washed or pre-cut fruits and vegetables,
canned beans, frozen vegetables, milk,
yogurt etc. On the other end of the
spectrum exists ultra-processed foods
like those ready-to-eat convenience
meals like frozen meals and hot dogs etc
which of course should be consumed in
moderation. But where do oils exist on the
spectrum? Well that actually depends on
the type of oil, its intended use, and the
manufacturer. Some oils are minimally
processed and unrefined to retain the
flavor and smell of the original oil
seed. You can find these oils on the
grocery store shelves labeled as
"cold-pressed", "expeller pressed", "virgin" or
"extra virgin". However, because these oils
are less processed they are less stable
and have a shorter shelf life. Therefore,
storage temperature and exposure to
light and oxygen are really important
things to consider. Oils that are more
processed and refined are designed to
withstand long-term heat demands. So for
example, deep fat frying. These tend to
have longer shelf lives and are more
uniform in their taste, smell, and
appearance. Refined oils are also less
expensive than unrefined oil so that's something to think about, as well. When it
comes to deciding what oils to use,
unrefined oils are the ideal choice
whenever possible if your budget allows.
If you're confused by all the processing
labels and terms just stick to this list
of the most commonly unrefined oils.
So, almond oil, avocado oil, cold-pressed or
expeller pressed canola oil, virgin
coconut oil, flaxseed oil, cold-pressed or
expeller pressed grape seed oil, hemp oil,
extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed or
expeller pressed sesame oil, and
cold-pressed or speller pressed walnut
oil. Now before we finish up, I do want to
talk a little bit about how this harmful
messaging around oils can have a
negative impact on our relationship with
food. Knowing what we now know about oils,
spreading the message that oils are
harmful or bad or dangerous or make you
fat, only perpetuates disordered eating
and harmful eating disorder behaviors.
Fear of oils is actually very common in
eating disorder circles, especially in
those suffering with orthorexia. Having
someone who is highly respected in our
society, like a doctor, recommend that we
avoid oils like the plague will only
further entrench people in these highly
restrictive food rules and rituals that
take over their everyday functioning. It
can also actually help mask
disordered eating and eating disorder
rules as this messaging can easily be
accepted as being healthy. From my own
experience with orthorexia, I remember
how these types of messages would fuel
and validate my anxiety around food,
giving me another reason to eliminate
something from my diet that I truly
enjoyed. We need to stop demonizing food
and start letting go of the "good food"
versus "bad food" mentality. And this goes
for health professionals especially. I've
said it before and I will continue to
say it until I am blue in the face, but
all foods can fit in the diet even those
that may or may not be considered
healthy. So should we be swearing off
oils as the oil free diet suggests? My
answer is a big fat NO.  Though not all
oils or fats are considered equal, to
completely eliminate healthy and
beneficial oils from the diet is simply
impractical and unfounded by solid
scientific research. And part of the
reason being that the benefits of olive
oil on heart health are really well
established. Other oils like flaxseed and
virgin canola oil are also rich in
omega-3 fatty acids which have been
proven to be highly beneficial for
overall health. I would also say that
these food rules really do pull us away
from a lot of amazing social experiences
around food because, I don't know about
your experience, but it's probably really
hard to go to a restaurant or be a
dinner guest and order a meal that is
completely devoid of any fat or oil.
Of course there is nothing wrong with being mindful about added oil portions because
yes of course added oils do add extra
calories to your meal.
However, the absolute "no-oil diet" does
seem to be taking this to an extreme.
Well folks, that is all for today. As
always if you like this video be sure to
give it a thumbs up, leave me a comment
below about the vegan oil-free diet if
you have any questions that you might
have, subscribe to the channel and I will
see you next time on Abbey's Kitchen. Bye!
