By Catharine L. Kaufman — a.k.a. The Kitchen Shrink

We’ve come a long way from the days when fresh bread dunked into chicken or goose fat was considered to be a healthy treat; or when ‘marbled’ steak was ‘choice,’ but lean was a poor man’s cut.

Today, most of us have learned to avoid trans-fats and go for the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils in olives, nuts, seeds and certain fish—such as salmon and sardines.  When used properly and portioned moderately (25-35% of daily calorie intake), these ‘good’ fats are essential to health and beauty and do not cause weight gain on their own.

It is ironic that more fat—and usually the saturated or ‘bad’ kind—tends to be consumed in difficult times when people can least afford to trade the cheap fast-food calories for costly healthcare expenses and lost income due to the low energy, muddled thinking and missed workdays that are often the results of poor nutrition.

The good thing about difficult times is that they don’t last any longer than we let them. Sooner or later, we tend to figure out ways to help ourselves. My way is to come up with foods that please the taste buds, nourish and energize the body, promote health and lead to better eating habits. Switching from junk food to good nutrition makes excellent economic sense, since it empowers us to slow, stop or even reverse the current epidemic of debilitating obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer that is pushing healthcare expenses into the stratosphere, lowers productivity and shrinks earnings.

No need to freak—all it takes to make healthy food choices is to keep in mind the following few pointers:

1)    As I said before, there are good fats and bad fats, oils that are best used straight out of the bottle on salads, others that are fine in low-heat cooking, some that can be used at high temps (as in stir-frying), and a few fancy oils to add unexpected flavors to special dishes. (More info on this later.)
2)    While food shopping, do the best you can to avoid chemical additives, pesticides and processed or refined items that masquerade as real food.
3)    Go for organic everything as often as it’s available.
4)    Avoid high fructose corn syrup—a deadly form of sugar and main cause of obesity and diabetes.
5)    Choose whole grains—pass on the white, look for tan or darker breads, rice, etc. But no matter what, make sure to read labels to avoid buying a cereal or bread darkened with molasses or food coloring to make it look like whole grain, though it’s not.
6)    Eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits—if at all possible, choose produce grown locally, or on nearby farms. (Long-distance trucking equals pollution.)
7)    Avoid sodas and other sweetened drinks like the fattening junk they are. Choose spring or distilled water—which can be flavored with a splash of your favorite  (organic) juice(s) and jazzed up with berries, slices of lemon, orange or other fruit.
8)    Choose organic herbs and spices—they taste better and are free of the concentrated residues of pesticides and chemical fertilizers found in some of their non-organic counterparts. And always have a jar of the flavor-enhancing, colorful antioxidant Turmeric in your spice rack.

Back to the fats…
Although, as I mentioned before, mono- and polyunsaturated are the heart-friendly fats, even some healthy diets may contain small amounts of saturated (or animal) fats, found in meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. Vegetarians range from those who stick to plant food, to others who supplement it with fish, dairy and/or eggs. Vegans, on the other hand, avoid all animal products and thus use only mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

I can’t help but wonder what the food industry was thinking when it developed the monstrous, partially or entirely hydrogenated ‘trans-fats.’ (BOOOO!) Goodness knows how many arteries were clogged and bypass surgeries performed because of the damage done by this insidious product, the role of which was to make baked goods look enticing and taste rich. One of the original trans-fats is packaged in quartered sticks and rhymes with Frisco. Fast food—and especially French fries—is dripping with the stuff.
The good news is that trans-fats are, by law, no longer allowed to be used in our foods.

Since there are conflicting reports about the safety or dangers of coconut, palm and other tropical plant oils to the human body, I follow the old adage of “When in doubt, avoid…”  The controversy about these oils centers on their various processing techniques, which produce consistencies ranging from liquid to thick paste, with equally diverse claims. Some of these shape-shifter fats are proclaimed downright medicinal for certain conditions, others are said to be harmless flavor enhancers in baked goods. Our own researchers here at FRC are beginning to suspect that tropical oils in whatever form are at best questionable, and at worst, merely artery-clogging sludge.
Dear Readers, if you have some inside info on this matter, we’d be grateful for your input.

Moving on… Butter is better than any margarine, no matter what its manufacturer claims on the package. As far as I’m concerned, most margarines are a couple of molecules away from plastic. We are familiar with butter as the churned cream from cow milk. But there are also butters made form sheep, goat, buffalo and even yak milk cream. Organic butter (and other dairy products) from reputable producers are free of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides found in the milk of conventionally raised cows. USDA-certified organic dairy comes from cows that roam vast, pesticide-free pastures, are not fed hormones to grow faster and bigger, and by not being crowded into unsanitary pens, don’t need to be injected with antibiotics.

Goat dairy in general is easier to digest and is lower in fat content, even in cream and butter. It’s head and shoulders healthier than sheep milk products. As far as buffalo and yak milk, you’re on your own.

While the heart healthy olive oil—especially the organic, virgin, first- and cold-pressed kind—is the gold standard of heart-friendly fats and makes the Mediterranean cuisine one of the healthiest in the world, it is best used straight from the bottle on salads and in low-heat cooking. In short, don’t use olive oil to fry anything. Better yet, for good health and youthful looks, sauté, boil, stew or bake your food, but never fry. Olive oil has also recently been heralded as a natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory remedy—even recommended for migraine sufferers.

Cooking with olive or sesame seed oil at high temperatures (such as in frying) changes their molecular structures and reverses their health effects. But both are superb in salad dressings, and can be simmered with liquids in sautéed and stewed dishes. Sesame oil contains the anti-carcinogenic substance, lignin, as well as phytosterols that block cholesterol production.

Grape seed oil is my pick for high-heat cooking, such as frittatas and quick blanching of chicken breasts or fish for certain dishes. Pressed from the seeds of various grapes, this oil has a high flash point, about 420 degrees F, so you can safely sizzle at high temperatures. It is also high in Vitamins A, C and Beta-Carotene, and an anti-oxidant. Its mild personality easily blends with, but doesn’t overpower other flavors or food textures.

My advice is to avoid peanut oil—alas, a favorite in Thai cooking, which I love—and in fact, at least for a while, ALL peanut products. Recently, most have been recalled because of a nationwide salmonella contamination discovered in various peanut products. Health problems have been blamed on this popular legume for decades, ranging from allergic reactions to sensitivity to a toxic fungus in the soil, various molds and bacteria. (Almond and walnut butter are excellent—and healthier—substitutes for your peanut fix.)

As a transplanted Canadian, I often remind myself while grocery shopping that  “Canola” is the acronym for “CANadian Oil Low Acid”—a small vanity. Especially since it is considered a healthy oil—derived from the rapeseed plant—with one of the lowest ratios of saturated to unsaturated fats. Unfortunately, while rapeseed is an ancient plant, today, most of the crops that are turned into Canola, are genetically modified—i.e., injected with various biological agents to make them pest-resistant, and thus requiring less pesticides to conserve the crop in the field. Since there is a lot of apprehension about the exact nature of the substances used in genetic modification, I prefer not to use these Frankenstein products.

Soybean oil also seems to be popping up in everything. It’s a phytoestrogen so if you are at risk for breast cancer, soybean is not the oil for you.

The omega-3 fatty acids in certain fish like salmon and sardines and the oil in avocados are among the super-friendly fats. Go ahead, dig into your guacamole guiltlessly, but please, not with bio-engineered corn chips fried in trans-fats.

The California Rice Oil Company (see our link) touts its rice bran oil as “balanced and versatile,” and “closest to the American Heart Association recommendations.”  With a high ‘smoke point’ of 490 degrees, it can be used for high-heat cooking, yet it is light and tasty enough for salad dressings. Rich in vitamin E and antioxidants, rice bran oil is 47 percent mono- and 33 percent polyunsaturated, although the remaining 20 percent is saturated oil.

Here’s a great recipe for Italian infused herbal oil for dipping your breads, tossing in your pastas or splashing on your salads. This will keep in your refrigerator for a week, so you can live off the fat of the land. Prego!

Infused Italian Herbal Oil
2 cups of extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil
6 sprigs of fresh basil
6 sprigs of fresh oregano
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon of peppercorns
Sea salt to taste

In a large skillet, heat the oil on low. Pour all the ingredients into the oil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine strainer. Pour into a glass jar and cover. Enjoy for up to one week.

If you want to chew the fat, please email us at FRC (dinatalk@gmail.com) or email me directly at www.yourkitchenshrink.com.