We recently received an email questioning why we do “no-oil” tours. The writer said that he is a doctor and has been vegan for many years and eats healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil.
Here was my response:
Thank you for your email. Kim Giovacco of Veg Jaunts and Journeys sent me your email as we are partners on the no-oil tours. I am the Executive Chef on these specialized tours as well as a PCRM-licensed Food For Life Instructor (www.pcrm.org)
Added oil has no nutritional benefits for the vast majority of people while adding calories. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, and 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories.
However, there is a recent study that shows for thin vegans, olive oil has positively impacted cholesterol. Dr. Kim Williams, speaks about this towards the end of the following podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AGXuzRbUN8
I’d offer the following podcast regarding fats https://www.pcrm.org/news/exam-room-podcast/healthy-fat-how-much-too-much-and-other-fat-facts-dr-neal-barnard-live-qa
Also, the following physician experts talk about oils and directly answer your question.
https://nutritionstudies.org/plant-oils-are-not-a-healthy-alternative-to-saturated-fat/
https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/olive-oil/
https://dresselstyn.com/site/is_oil_healthy.pdf
https://groundleaf.co/dr-klaper-olive-oil-is-not-healthy/
The following has footnotes referencing medical doctors’ take on “healthy oils. https://happyherbivore.com/2011/03/say-no-to-oil/
[Also, T. Colin Campbell has been writing about his concerns with oils and saturated fat since the 1970s. He details his take on this topic in a recently updated article in Why Saturated Fat Is Not the Villain and Plant Oils Are Not a Healthy Alternative
As you know there is a difference between whole-food plant based and vegan. There are many vegan junk foods that have little nutritional benefit or the benefits are limited due to processed grains and oil being added to the item. Dr. Michael Greger looks at research related to “vegan junk food” in his book “How Not to Age” and a talk he did on this book can be found here.
Spoiler Alert: Vegan junk food , namely highly processed food is can cause health issues similar to non-vegan highly processed foods.]
I’d encourage you to take a look at my website, specifically https://letseatgreat.com/latest-research/ for the latest researched benefits of a whole food plant-based diet.
Please let me know if you have any further questions, and we hope to see you on an upcoming tour soon.
Mark Cerkvenik
Executive Chef
Licensed Food For Life Instructor
Let’s Eat Great Food
mark@letseatgreat.com
www.letseatgreat.com