Hi Trulie,
I really liked your olive oil tip, as I wasn’t aware of the additional calories that it brings to a meal. But, it makes total sense. My question is….what is a good thing to use for frying? I have heard positive things about coconut oil, but it has is a lot of saturated fat. Also, what about butter? I never know about butter vs. synthetic butters–isn’t the artificial stuff actually worse? For instance if I am making scrambled eggs for breakfast, what should I use in the pan? ( I don’t use non-stick because of the chemicals found in teflon).
Any tips/info you can give me would be great 
Thanks for the question! Unfortunately, oil is oil. Whether it is extra virgin olive oil or the health industry hyped coconut oil (and you are right, it is very high in saturated fat) or butter or margarine, all oil is 120 calories per tablespoon and contains little more than fat. If we are going to eat 120 calories, it should contain a large variety of nutrients like:
- antioxidants
- vitamins
- lignans
- flavonoids
- isothiocyanates
- phytic acid
- minerals
- fiber
(To name a few). Oil contains none of these and neither does butter or margarine. For most of us, we need to be choosy about what every 100 calories is giving us to avoid unnecessary weight gain and chronic disease.
How can I cook low fat and without oil?
I prefer to water saute. So I will either add a little broth or water to the pan. Or I won’t add anything (as vegetables tend to leach out their own water). I would only add a little liquid to keep things from sticking. I also do not use use non-stick cookware. Ideally, everything you would be “frying” would also include some vegetables that will add their own water to the dish and prevent things from sticking.
For foods that need to be dry heated (eggs, oven crisped foods), a cooking oil spray will allow you to add very little oil to the pan (don’t use a heavy trigger finger to hold down the sprayer!). Also, you could drizzle a teaspoon then use a paper towel to coat the bottom of the area and remove the excess. Keep in mind that heating oil damages it. The chemical structure is damaged and not healthy to be consumed (much like teflon chemicals). So keep the amount very minimal and the days that you are frying an egg in oil, minimized (i.e. not an everyday food).
