All oils are bad for you- even olive oil

"Olive oil is healthy" is a myth

There is no such thing as "healthy oil" in your diet.

We know that some oils are bad for you. Seed oils such as sunflower oil, grapeseed, and corn oil are toxic for your system. These oils are produced by an industrial process with the goal of utilizing leftover agricultural crops for profit, not providing nutrition to the human body. They cause inflammation, weight gain, and even cancer.

But some oils are healthy, right? Coconut oil and avocado oil are supposed to be beneficial for your diet. Not to mention olive oil- that mythical elixir at the heart of healthy living.

Actually, no. All oils are bad for you.

Some are less bad than others. But there is no such thing as a healthy oil.

Olive oil is often cited as a healthy oil that contains antioxidants and vitamin E. This is not true. Olive oil contains almost no nutrients. Any vitamins the natural olive oil may have contained were destroyed by the high heat process used to create it, and oxidation during storage.

But the real reason oils are bad for you is calories. Oil is the densest form of calories in the food world. Just as crude oil is the densest form of energy in the energy sector (far more than coal or wood) so too food oils are the densest form of energy in the food world. And by energy, we mean calories.

One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories. Just one measly tablespoon! Think of how many tablespoons of olive oil you use to properly cook your food or dress your salad. It's ten times that amount.

The average recommended daily calorie intake for a woman is 2,000 calories and for a man is 2,500 calories. If you use ten tablespoons of olive oil, that's half your daily calorie intake- from a food that provides no nutrition at all.

Olive oil is just empty calories. It's no different from beer or sugar in that regard. It has no nutritional or health value whatsoever.

People use olive oil with abandon, because it is portrayed as a healthy food. They closely monitor the amount of sugar or butter in their diet- but not olive oil. It gets a pass. A lot of olive oil creeps in to your diet as a result. If you eat properly yet struggle to lose weight, the hidden culprit may be olive oil.

Most people who enjoy food are aghast at the thought of living without olive oil. It is central to our cooking and our joy of eating. The good news is that olive oil is like any other food- you can train yourself not to miss it. It’s like sugar, bread, or anything else. Remove it from your diet for a month, and your body will forget that you ever enjoyed it. You'll drop a lot of weight and your heart will be healthier, too.