Oil-free diet fad is for idiots!

Humans have been eating oil for thousands of years. Olive oil production began in the Mediterranean 6,000 years ago.

Fat (aka lipids or fatty acids) is one of the 3 macronutrients along with protein and carbohydrates. Oil is concentrated liquid fat extracted from plants, minerals, or animals. It is non-polar, hydrophobic (repels water) and lipophilic (attracted to fat).

The fats in oil used for eating and cooking can be broken down into saturated, monounsaturated (omega 7 & 9), polyunsaturated (omega 3 & 6), and trans(unsaturated).

Alpha Linoenlic Acid ALA (omega 3) and Linoleic Acid LA (omega 6) are considered essential because the body cannot synthesize them, it must obtain them from diet. The body creates DHA and EPA in small amounts from ALA as well as Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) and Arachidonic Acid (AA) from LA. These fatty acids can all be obtained from vegan sources, such as flax and algae.

Some of these fats are known to be bad for our health, such as trans and saturated fat, hydrogenated oil, and the triglycerides and cholesterol found in animal products like dairy, eggs, and meat.

Other types of fats, like extra virgin olive oil, flax oil, hempseed, cannabis, and coconut oil despite controversy, are good for your health. "Good for your health" is somewhat vague because the chemical structure and nutritional profiles of oils is different, so are people's nutritional needs.

So where did this no-oil, catch-all diet fad suddenly come from? Why is it so highly associated with veganism? If oils are nutritionally different, why lump them all together and abstain from them?

• Virture signalling

  
  Veganism is going mainstream. Some people are vegans mostly to feel superior, so now they must add additional labels to themselves, like zero waste (which is impossible and not a diet) to remain in the top precentile of greatness.

• Religious/dogmatic views on nutrition

  
  Adhering to the diet for a title or without really knowing why. Following the letter of the law to a T without thinking about why. These are the people who go vegan just to call themselves vegan.

• "Free" thinking

  
  Pun intended ;)
  The idea that abstaining is gaining is appealing to those who are vegan for health reasons. It's sometimes true, but the concept has become an all-or-none idea, a thought distortion. These types don't really understand nutrition, and are looking for the latest helath craze to try and stumbled upon this. Unlike oil-free though, some dietary restrictions, like gluten, are actually evidence-based.

• Processed

  
  A lexical fallacy. Processed foods has a connotation of unhealthy because of its association with food like pop tarts or kraft dinner. Processing isn't always bad: peanut butter, hummus, juice, and flour are all things that are "processed". Unless you're eating greens straight from the garden, your food is processed.

• Concentrated

  
  Another erroneous association. Some things in concentration are almost always unhealthy, such as sugar: we know it causes diabetes and has very little nutritional value. Some things in concentration, like vitamins, become medicines, supplements or nutraceuticals.

• High in fat

  
  Bad comprehension of nutrition. We've all heard that a high fat diet leads to obesity, heart disease, etc. However, that comes from a culture that eats mostly animal products. Most of us haven't had much education about nutrition, so we don't know that not all fats are the same. Some of us have maybe heard the terms "good fat" and "bad fat", well it's kind of true.

Things about fat/oil that we know are BAD for our health:

• Trans fat
• Saturated fat (with the exception of coconut oil)
• Animal fat (with the exception of fat from fish)
• Excess of Omega 6 (with the exception of GLA essential fatty acid)
• Overheating, reusing and deep frying in oil, both to eat and to breathe in an unventilated room.
• Refined oil

Things about fat/oil we know are GOOD for our health:

• Contain (fat soluable) vitamins
• Are essential macronutrients
• Contain esssential fatty acids which synthesize endocannabinoids, cushion nerve conduction, aid in absorption of viatmins, and treat cancer, depression, diabetes, obesity, vascular disease, and more!