Making The Switch

When I started studying about healthy fats about six years ago, I realized that I was using very unhealthy fats.  I was buying butter (went through a very short phase on margarine because it’s so cheap, glad that didn’t last long), but I was using canola for cooking.  I read Dr. Mary Enig’s very in-depth book, Know Your Fats and my eyes were opened!  At the same time, my suspicions about butter were confirmed.  Yeah!  Butter really was better for you.  I learned how bad canola is and why.  I learned that of all the vegetable oils, peanut oil is the most stable.  It contains omega-6 fatty acids, whereas the other vegetable oils contain a combination of omega-6 and omega-3.  I know, I know, we hear a lot about omega-3 and how good they are for us.  BUT, omega-3 oils are damaged when heated.  All the vegetable oils in the general grocery store are very refined and have been heated to high temperatures.  Omega-6 oils are not damaged as bad with heat.

So, I switched to peanut oil for most of my cooking.  It has a high smoke point and thus makes nice crispy french fries and is great for stir fry, which is done at a high temperature.

But that was six years ago and I have since learned that while peanut oil is better than canola and soybean oil, it isn’t the best.  In fact, consuming too many omega-6 fatty acids is detrimental to our health, one example is inflammation.  We hear a lot about this lately, how inflammation is at the heart of a lot of diseases, click here for a great article on that topic.  Then I read this article in Prevention magazine that said omega-6 oils are responsible for a slower metabolism and fat storage.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a slower metabolism!  So I started looking for alternatives.

I have used tallow for our french fries quite a few times now and I’m happy with it.  Best of all, my picky family is happy with it.  :)  I decided to try making my homemade croutons with coconut oil instead of peanut oil and they turn out great.  Next up was hash browns.  These are the shredded potato variety, not those pre-formed patties–those are loaded with trans fat.  Last Sunday I tried using half coconut oil and half butter (because I needed them to brown, coconut oil alone doesn’t brown very well) and they, too, turned out great.

On Monday night I tried making fried rice with coconut oil.  I have always used peanut oil.  There were pros and cons.  On the positive side, I was happy that the oil didn’t smoke at all.  I drizzled the oil in the pan immediately before adding the eggs to scramble and the rice to fry.  If I had left it very long, it would have smoked (coconut oil has a lower smoke point than peanut oil).  Another positive was that this seemed to be a good fat for keeping the rice from sticking to the pan.  But we lose points in the taste category.  The coconut flavor was too predominate.  My family wasn’t thrilled.  My son hates coconut oil (but I do require he take a dose everyday for eczema, he just holds his nose).  My husband is a picky eater and didn’t care for the taste, although we did eat the entire batch of rice.  I am going to buy a refined coconut oil for this recipe, it won’t have a coconut flavor.  This will still be healthier than peanut oil, so I am happy.  :)

Remember, we all need to be taking our babysteps, don’t get stuck in a rut.  None of us has “arrived.”  Keep changing, keep learning, keep growing.

October Challenge Update

Little late here with my update on the trans fat challenge–been busy!



Well, trans fat is probably the number one thing I look out for. I avoid it like the plague. I don’t just look for the grams of trans fat listed on the label (it’s often not correct), I look at the ingredients list and check for partially hydrogenated oils. That’s the true tell. So, I don’t have a lot in my house that contains it. The only staple I can think of is flour tortillas. Some day I will get around to making my own, but for now I still buy them. However, I abstained during the challenge.



My family wanted Oreos with our movie night. In the past I bought Newman’s Own Newmanos, because the cream filling was trans fat free. Since companies are now required to label trans fat, Oreos has reformulated their product. They couldn’t risk everyone knowing just how many grams of trans fat their product contained. So now I will buy them about twice a year. The other night I indulged in one cookie.



Other things that come to mind are peanut butter. I buy Smucker’s Natural because it truly only contains peanuts and salt. Don’t be fooled by the other brands that try to say they don’t contain trans fat. They do, and they’re loaded with sugar.



Many bread products have trans fat added to soften them–sandwich bread, hamburger buns and hot dog buns. Packaged cookies, cakes, and chips contain trans fat. Packaged cookie dough is a big one–it’s loaded, and also packaged biscuits and rolls. Make your own cookies and use real butter. Believe me, they will be much better for you!



I used to buy crescent rolls in a tube. Pampered Chef recipes call for this ingredient all the time. Well, not any more! Not since I found out about the trans fat! Packaged pizza crust, too. Make your own with my french bread recipe. It’s so very easy and much, much more delicious!



Boxed cake mix contains trans fat and canned icing is pure trans fat and sugar. Think of it as a can of Crisco with sugar and flavoring added. I do not eat store-bought cakes anymore and trans fat is the reason. If you invite me over for a party and see that I do not partake of the cake, don’t think I have immense will power to avoid junk food. I have just read about trans fat and what it does to your body and it totally turned me off to store cakes. I make my own and enjoy them fully! Click here for my chocolate cupcake recipe.



I could go on and on about trans fats. Learn to check your labels. Cook with butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Start making more things at home from scratch. Take your babysteps and checkout The Trans Fat Solution by Kim Severson for more information.  I don’t agree with everything in this book (she mentions using soy protein, for example), but her information on trans fat is wonderful.  And she has good information about coconut oil, too.  The informative part of the book is only 31 pages, the rest are recipes.  It’s available at my local library, it might be at yours, too.

Colds & Flu

I took my son to his homeschool PE class today.  Quite literally two-thirds of the class was absent due to sickness, or being afraid to expose themselves to sicknesses.  It seems each year the germs get worse and worse.  But there is no reason to fear.  Arm yourself with this powerful medicine:

Coconut Oil!

It sounds strange, but this healthy oil is a powerhouse.  It fights viruses, bacteria, and even yeasts/fungus (think candida, or athlete’s foot, etc.).

As I mentioned here, Hippocrates (460BC – 377BC) said, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”  Apparently the Chinese have this same philosophy, too.

Coconut oil is food, but it is a powerful medicine.  We take it at the first sign of a cold or flu and in our experience it has drastically cut down on recovery time, sometimes in less than 24 hours.  In the past I have been down with the flu 10-14 days, and nothing natural I tried was working (before finding coconut oil).  I used to take massive doses of vitamin C (now I know that will only work with infection, whereas most issues are viral), I tried oscillococcinum, echinacea, goldenseal, and another herbal tincture that slips my mind right now.  None of them ever worked (for me, they may work for some, but not for me).

Click on these articles to read more about coconut oil:

‘Tis the Season – How I Beat the Flu with Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil – How to Take It and Where To Buy It

This post is part of Natural Cures Blog Carnival on HartkeisOnline.com.  Go check it out to learn about more natural remedies for colds and flu.

The UPS Man

The UPS man came by the other day.  Here’s what he brought me:

From VitaminShoppe.com -
KAL Nutritional Yeast Tablets – a food source of vitamin B. Bs are beneficial for lots of reasons, but for me they reduce stress, keep me from being as irritable (my kids appreciate that), and keep me upbeat.  You can read more about nutritional yeast here.

Concentrace Minerals – minerals are vital to health. I add a few drops of this to each glass of water I drink. It makes my water taste so good.  Click here to read a primer on minerals.

Magnesium Capsules – I started taking these after researching adrenal fatigue. I’m still taking them to be proactive.  The above mineral primer includes information on Magnesium.

Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra – fabulous probiotic! You really get what you pay for. I decided to save a little a while back and bought a cheaper brand. They did not do for me what these do. When I was still dealing with dermatitis, and after I used up all the cheap probiotics, I ordered these. After taking one pill I noticed a difference in my hand. I don’t even think we fully understand the role of probiotics in our body. They aid digestion and help with intestinal issues, but beyond that, many, many issues are rooted in intestinal health. When our gut is out of whack, the rest of our body is. Probiotics help heal your gut. Dr. McBride has discovered that autism and even dyslexia are rooted in gut health.  Click here for a great article about probiotics.

Maca Capsules – I have heard great things about this herb. Click here to read more. I have heard that it is great for your adrenals and even though I have been healed, I want to be proactive and prevent future flare-ups. I have been extra tired lately and am hoping these will give me energy. I have been taking them four days now and am feeling pretty great. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence. I’ll have to see if it lasts.  Click here to read one woman’s experience with maca and click here for more information.

Papaya Chewable Enzyme Tablets – I take an enzyme supplement because a few months ago I had a few episodes of intense intestinal discomfort. It happened three times and was horrible. They would last about an hour, but then I was still weak for a while afterwards. My husband discovered years ago that enzymes cured his IBS, so I figured they would help me for whatever this issue was. I bought these chewable ones for the kids. My son has had a few of those episodes like I had in his little life. So he is really the one I bought them for. (On a side note, as I write this I am thinking that I do not recall him having any stomach aches while I gave him coconut oil regularly. I haven’t been giving him any the last couple months and he has had two stomach aches. I am going to start giving it to him consistently again.)  You can read about enzymes here.

From Green Pastures –
Blue Ice Cod Liver Oil – this is the best source of vitamins A and D you can get.  Amazingly, this cod liver oil doesn’t taste bad and I’m not just saying that.  :)  Since I have been taking cod liver oil, I have noticed that I don’t ever really get sick and when I do, it’s incredibly mild and doesn’t even slow me down.  Cod liver oil is a preventative measure and coconut oil is for fighting sickness when it hits (among other things).  Read more about cod liver oil here.

Virgin Coconut Oil (for friends, I still have about a gallon) – You can read about my experience with coconut oil here.

Hippocrates (460BC – 377BC) said, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.” I really try to keep in line with this. However, our modern food supply is very, very deficient, supplements are sometimes needed. The best supplements to buy are those that are from food. Not just natural, but an actual food item, like the yeast tablets and cod liver oil. These are called superfoods. They are food items that are packed with nutrition.  As always, remember My Motto.  This holds true for vitamins.  If it is a chemical version of a vitamin, our bodies won’t absorb it.  If it is a compound taken from food, it still isn’t very good, it’s missing all the other parts.  The best is in it’s whole food form, with all of its cofactors and such present.  There are things that scientists still haven’t even discovered about vitamins, but God knows just what your body needs.

Coconut Oil

The more I use coconut oil, the more I learn of its wonderful benefits.  You can read about my results with the flu and coconut oil here.  I used to take it only if we felt a cold or the flu coming on, but I have discovered other uses. 

 

My daughter broke out with a patch of eczema and I had just read Gut & Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (GAPS), so I gave her coconut oil for it.  Dr. Campbell-McBride explains in her book how many, many issues are a result of an imbalance of bacteria in our gut.  Coconut oil will kill harmful yeast, bacteria, and viruses in our gut.  And most recently I learned that it helps ward off certain parasites, too.  I gave my daughter the coconut oil daily for a couple of weeks and the patch disappeared.  (It was the size of my palm.) 

 

This summer, just a few days before my son was to leave for camp he had an outbreak of eczema all over both legs.  It was the worst outbreak he had had in years, it itched so bad he was scratching through the night without even realizing it.  My thought was that I couldn’t send him to camp like that!  I gave him a half-teaspoon dose, three times a day, for three days.  By the second day the itching had stopped and by the third day it was almost completely healed.  I stopped the doses at three days since he really doesn’t care for coconut oil and the eczema kept healing, it didn’t come back. 

 

In GAPS, Dr. Campbell-McBride also linked seasonal allergies with gut imbalance so I started taking a daily dose of coconut oil and drinking a lot more raw milk (great source of probiotics).  My seasonal allergies were relieved by about 90% this year.  That was awesome!

 

A Spoonful of Coconut Oil

 

How To Take It

 

Some people put coconut oil in hot liquid, like tea, to drink it down.  I am not sure what temperature would negate its health benefits.  Hot liquid to drink is probably fine, but I’m not so sure the anti-viral, bacteria, and fungal properties are kept when we cook with the oil.  It is a healthy oil to cook with, but I try to get some raw oil in my family, as well.

 

When I gave it to my daughter for her eczema I would put a dollop (semi-solid) on her first bite of banana at breakfast.  I have mixed it with honey for my son, but he didn’t like that.  Now I barely warm it to liquefy it and put it in a medicine dropper for him.  I take a spoonful of it in its semi-solid state (see above pic) with a drop of honey on top.  For some reason the honey makes it go down, without that it’s not so easy.  J

 

I cook my popcorn in coconut oil and also use it to sauté onions for my marinara.  I don’t cook with it as much as some people.  I am frugal and butter is cheaper and still very healthy.  But for some dishes, butter will burn; so then I will use coconut oil.  I also put some in my yogurt smoothies.  I have started putting it on my kid’s peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.  I just spread a thin layer on one slice of bread, spread on the jelly and the peanut butter and voila!—they don’t even know it’s there!  This way they are getting a little bit every day.

 

I like to buy my coconut oil from www.greenpasture.org.  It is quality oil at a great price!  (I’m not paid to say that.  J)

 

Here is an article I found that lists in detail all the wonderful benefits of coconut oil.

 

Here is another article by the same blogger about all the ways you can use coconut oil.