30d (edited) • 🔁 Belief Flip
Olive Oil and Cooking
Most people ask the wrong question.
They ask:
“Is olive oil healthier than seed oils?”
That’s not the decision.
The real question is:
What fat causes the least damage when you heat it?
🫠 Heat is the constraint
Cooking applies heat.
Heat breaks fragile fats.
Broken fats don’t stay neutral.
They turn into inflammatory byproducts.
So the best cooking fat is the one that stays stable under heat.
💔 Why fats break
Fats break through oxidation.
Oxidation increases with:
- Heat
- Light
- Time
Polyunsaturated fats are fragile.
Saturated fats are stable.
This difference explains most diet-related inflammation.
😵 Linoleic acid is the bottleneck
Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fat.
Because of that, it:
- Oxidizes easily
- Accumulates in body fat and cell membranes
- Persists for years once stored
High tissue levels of linoleic acid are associated with:
- Chronic inflammation
- Insulin resistance
- Obesity
- Cardiometabolic disease
This isn’t about one meal.
It's about long-term accumulation.
🧪 How much linoleic acid is in common fats
- Butter / tallow: ~1–2%
- Coconut oil: ~2%
- Olive oil: ~8–12%
- Avocado oil: ~15–20%
- Seed oils: 50–70%+
Lower linoleic acid = less oxidation
Less oxidation = lower inflammatory burden
🫒 Where olive oil fits
Olive oil is better than seed oils.
It contains:
- Mostly monounsaturated fat
- Polyphenols
- Vitamin E
These compounds are associated with improved lipid markers and reduced cardiovascular risk.
But here’s the constraint:
Olive oil still delivers meaningful linoleic acid.
And heating it still accelerates oxidation.
So while olive oil may be beneficial in some contexts, it is not an optimal cooking fat if the goal is lowering long-term metabolic stress.
🐮 Why animal fats and coconut oil perform better
Butter, ghee, tallow, and coconut oil are predominantly saturated.
That makes them:
- Heat-stable
- Resistant to oxidation
- Far less likely to contribute to inflammatory byproducts
Animal fats also contain:
- Stearic acid (supports mitochondrial fat oxidation)
- Odd-chain saturated fats linked to better metabolic health
These properties matter when the goal is reducing chronic disease risk, not just calories.
📏 The rule
Keep the rule simple.
- ❌ Don’t cook with olive or avocado oil
- ✅ Cook with butter, ghee, tallow, or coconut oil
- ⚠️ Olive oil works best cold and occasional
You’re not optimizing flavor or trends.
You’re minimizing long-term damage.
↘️ Bottom line
Chronic disease doesn’t come from one ingredient. It comes from repeated exposure to fragile fats that oxidize and accumulate.
Seed oils are the worst offenders.
Olive oil is less damaging but still not ideal for heat.
If you care about:
- Lower inflammation
- Better insulin sensitivity
- Reduced risk of obesity and heart disease
Use cooking fats that don’t break.
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Olive Oil and Cooking
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