You might want to read this then. For some time I’ve been hearing squeaks from alternative practitioners that canola oil is not a good for you monounsaturated, flavor neutral, (I don’t like the flavor at all), all purpose oil.

After catching up with both sides of the debate, which included reading Dr. Fred Pescatore’s article “The Real Story on Canola Oil (“Can-Ugly Oil”). If you are not familiar with Dr. Pescatore, he wrote The Hamptons Diet described on his website as, “The Hamptons Diet takes the best of the Mediterranean Diet and the best of controlled carbohydrate eating and puts them together in the context of whole foods (organic whenever possible), minimally processed, nothing artificial, and with minimal use of sugar alcohols.” He also educates about monounsaturated fats, the right balance of Omega 6 – to Omega 3 fatty acids, and overall health vs weight loss.

In addition to Dr. Pescatore’s work, Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon have written copious articles and books on the subject of safe and healthy fats vs the unhealthy ones, including the one you can link to above titled, The Great Con-Ola. You might be surprised to know that they have reams of proof to back up the idea that saturated fat does not kill people. And that using only monounsaturated fats with no saturates–such as those found in meat, eggs, coconut–is not only unnatural but it’s causing health problems.

Listen, canola oil–or Canadian oil, so named for the Canadian scientist who first brought it to the public eye–is a highly processed, non-nutritive version of a natural oil used for many hundreds of years in Asian countries. The modern version has too high a smoke point and as such becomes toxic with trans fats when used for sauteeing or frying. Oh, and did I say it comes with more trans fat than margarine? According to Jonny Bowden in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, the Omega 3s in canola oil–usually a healthy thing–”become rancid and foul-smelling when subjected to the high temperatures needed to extract the oil. Therefore they have to be deodorized. The deodorizing process turns a large number of the omega-3 fatty acids into trans fats.”

He goes on to site a study from the U at Gainsville Florida which found trans fat levels as high as 4.6% in commercial canola oil, even more than margarine.

Then there is the genetically modified aspect. Rape seed, from which we get canola oil, was originally genetically modified  to lower the amount of something called erucic acid, a fatty acid that has potentially dangerous heart health implications. With the help of Monsanto it has continued through more GM permutations to make it more commercially viable which means less healthy.

So I ask you? What’s healthy about this oil? Producing a cheap alternative to olive oil and hiring the best marketers over the years has allowed the food industry–with help from the mega empire of evil Monsanto–to put a healthy spin on a mega profitable unhealthy product.

After probably years of eating products with this unsafe oil and pouring it on salads and into muffin recipes it’s time to stop. Replace canola oil with coconut, olive, nut oils, butter, ghee etc. Found in nature, processed minimally, ahh, now that does a body good!

Do you know the site Vibrant Nation? Their tagline  is “What women 50+ know” and it’s a great site to get other’s opinions on products, concepts, food and health; well actually anything that has to do with life at midlife, period.

Recently I saw a tweet –that’s a mini post of 140 characters or less using an application called Twitter–from Beth Blakely their community manager asking for 5 health books to recommend to boomer women and why. I answered and the results can be seen here.

A book only does us good when we read it and put into action what we’ve read but still, buying some books just to have on hand seems like a good plan. You never know when you might decide to start a new eating regimen or when you might develop a symptom that you want information on. The web is great for finding information but sometimes it’s hard to know who to trust. The authors of the 5 books I’ve suggested are trusted mainstream professionals and the books are all easy to use for reference.

Take a gander and why not share your most trusted books? At the very least take a look at the Vibrant Nation site and join the community. I’m really enjoying getting other women’s take on things like “what’s your favorite eye cream” and “5 fabulous reasons to be single after 50″ to “Job hunting at 50.” The site is so easy to navigate and it’s in my fave networking/ community sites.

We’ll see about that now won’t we. Well, yes, we will because I’m currently taking the 3 Day Face Lift Diet challenge. Not familiar with this idea? Surely you must know of the dermatologist to the rich and famous, Dr. Nic Perricone,  he of the divine skin care products that really do work to sooth, smooth, and generally improve boomer-aged skin? (His product line works for others as well but he has a targeted line just for us) And he’s big on eating to prevent inflammation–the source he believes of much of what ails us and our wrinkled, tired looking skin.

How did I come upon this idea? I answered a query for “a woman with wrinkles who will agree to eat a certain diet for 3 days created by a doctor who says it’s like a non-surgical facelift.” How could I resist being the guinea pig for all things natural and boomer-women-helpful? Not to mention I would like to do all I can to avoid the knife for as long as possible.

Here’s the fun part. I’m going to be on TV as a part of this promotion for Dr. Perricone’s diet! It’s a syndicated show that runs on Fox 5 called The Morning Show with Mike and Juliette

Most of the foods for my Face Lift Diet

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The diet is pretty limited and the photo shows some of the ingredients I’ll be living on for 3 days. What’s missing from the picture is salmon–twice per day minimum and turkey or chicken breast for snacks.

Dr. Perricone’s website has plenty of great skin care information as well as the 3 Day Diet plan if you want to know more. Freshly brewed coffee is not on the plan. My husband may want to leave the country til this is over. Green tea is allowed so I’m sipping that but it’s like drinking club soda when what you really want is a Champagne as far as I’m concerned. But it’s only 3 days. 

Dr. Perricone’s book, The Perricone Prescription has a number of before and after the 3 Day Diet photos. The women really do look better. I hope I can deliver for them, if not there is always the make up artist.

Have you ever tried this plan?

Are you at an age or a stage where your body has a mind of its own?
Have your new year’s goals been thrown under the bus?
Are you tired all the time or just don’t feel right?
Join me and 15 other smart boomer women for 4 weeks and learn exactly what works and what no longer does at midlife for weight loss, more energy, 
heart health, and so much more.
You get my food, nutrition and coaching skills all rolled into one every week for hour per week.
Ask the questions you’ve always wanted to–this intimate setting is open and designed to best serve you.

The course begins on February 5th and runs 4 consecutive Thursdays at 4pm EST.
Why not take a look and see if this short but powerful course is right for you.
http://mindandbodytuneup.com/teleclass.html

I hope to meet you on the calls. And for a limited time–til January 31st to be exact, you can save $77 off of the very reasonable price. Just enter coupon code SW477 when you get to the payment page

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I hope to get to know some of my readers beginning on February 5th.