116. Chemo Different kinds of Cooking Oils

I've decided to stay on the topic of food and nutrition for a bit.  

It's been suggested to me by my oncologist for one, that the colon cancer may be attributed to my diet.  So this thought has been swirling around in my head and as a result I read everything and anything on food and nutrition that I can possibly lay my hands on.  But there are so many opposing and controversial ideas around, that it is hard to decide on what the best plan of action is regarding meal preparation.  Luckily Mary lent me a book called "Food  What the heck should I eat?" written by Mark Hyman, MD.  I find it a very useful book.  The author goes into detail on every food group and what the latest findings are.  The part on Fats and Oils is so interesting  because I find this topic most confusing.  Although I  have tried cooking with several different kinds of oils in the past, lately I have decided that in my kitchen I really need only 3.  And no, even with my husband being a grain farmer and us growing canola ourselves, canola oil is not one of them.  1.  Avocado oil for high temperature cooking  2.  Extra virgin olive oil for medium temperature and on salads  3.  Flax oil for on salads, not meant to be cooked with.  Flax oil is the only oil where the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids is 4:1, apparently a good thing since we consume too much of omega 6.  Some people swear by coconut oil, but I found that when I was taking chemo and my taste buds were super sensitive, the coconut oil tasted rancid.  As far as canola oil  goes:  when I was teaching in the northern part of the province I used to drive by a canola processing plant and the smell coming out of there was "very unpleasant" at best.  My husband and I also have tried Virgin Cold Pressed Canola Oil but were not impressed with the taste.  Oh and in the above-mentioned book it is suggested by the author that olive oil originating from Italy could be diluted with other oils the way that some imported honey has been adulterated with other sweeteners to increase profits.  According to him good olive oil should have a greenish, not a yellowish tinge.

So that's what I'm cooking with at the moment.  But then again, nothing is written in stone!  

Back tomorrow with a humorous and tasty story!  SanTeh!