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Seed Oils, Healthy Fats and Food Quality: What Should You Actually Do? with Cherie Calbom · FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast

• 1:08
  Turo Virta: So today's conversation is about something many people have heard about, but maybe don't fully understand, and it's seed oils.
• 1:13
  Turo Virta: You might have seen strong opinions online. Some people say seed oils, seed oil, seed oils are one of the biggest problems in modern nutrition. Others say the fear is X-rayed, and like with many nutrition topics, it can become confusing very quickly. So, today my goal is not to make this conversation extreme or fear-based. My goal is to make it practical. What are seed oils? Why are they used so much, and why are they hidden, and what we should know about cooking oils, healthy fats, processed foods, and food quality, and most importantly, what can a normal busy person actually do in real life without becoming obsessive. That's why I'm excited to speak today with Cherry Kalpum. Cherry has a long background in nutrition, wellness, choosing healthy living, and helping people make better food choices in a realistic way. In this episode, we talk about seed oils, staple fats, feeder oils, information, energy, digestion, healthy aging, and simple swaps you can make in your everyday meals. So, if you have ever felt confused about oils, fats, processed foods, or what actually matters when you're trying to eat healthier, this episode will help you think about it in a more practical way. So, let's get into it. So, Jerry, first of all, welcome to my.. so I'm so excited to learn from you, and before we go into seed oils and healthy fats, could you share a little bit about your background and what led you into nutrition and wellness?
• 2:58
  Unknown: I was really sick in my 20s, I had chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, and so sick that I had to quit work and move home, and I would sleep 12 hours a day, and still feel sick and tired, and like I had the flu all the time, and ache all over, and no doctor knew how to help me. So that was the moment I decided I needed to help myself, and I started talking to people at health food stores, and learning about diet, and I learned my diet was all wrong. I love fast food and junk food and sugar. I was addicted to sugar, and I hated vegetables. No wonder I was sick. So I went on a five day juice fast, vegetable juice fast. I should clarify that. And on day number five, my body expelled a tumor this size, size of a golf ball with blue blood vessels attached that look like somebody cut them, and after I got my Master of Science degree in Whole Foods Nutrition, and my thesis on nutrition and cancer, I learned those blood vessels is cause or is the cause and is known as angiogenesis, and it feeds the tumors, so nature scissors like luteolin, apigenin, physitine cut off that blood supply, and I saw that, and I was overwhelming my body, and just flooding it with all of these wonderful juices, especially from the greens, and so I was getting a lot of that, and I was so impressed with what that juice fast had done, what nutrition could do. I wasn't well the next day, but I continued juicing and adding in a plant-based diet. It took me three months, but I was well and felt fabulous at the end of that, and I thought, this is powerful, and food is medicine.
• 4:46
  Unknown: It is powerful, and when we do the right things, amazing things happen. But that's when I decided I wanted to go back to school and get a master's degree in nutrition, so I could be a credible source. So, since that day, I have written 36 books.
• 5:01
  Unknown: The truth about sea dogs is number 36 I've sold 3.5 million copies globally, and my best seller was Juicing for Life, my first book on 50 different ailments and the juices and nutrients and diet for those, and it sold over 2 million copies. So, my books have gone all over the world in 23 languages, and it's been quite a journey of helping people find better health all over the world
• 5:27
  Turo Virta: that's such an amazing background and huge congratulations for such an amazing career. So, what made you interested in seed oils specifically?
• 5:42
  Unknown: Well, I wrote a book in the early 2000s called The Coconut Diet, and at that point in time, in most of the Western world, coconut oil was no longer popular. It had once been popular, and prior to World War Two, it was advertised in America as the healthiest oil on earth. People loved coconut oil, they loved cooking with it, and.
• 6:04
  Unknown: And then during the war, when the oil, the tropical oils, couldn't make it through the waters because of World War Two, then the seed oil industry, which was very small prior to that, stepped up production and really made it a goal to seize the market, and when the war ended, they did not want to let go of that market, of course, because it was worth a lot of money, and so they, well, something else conveniently showed up for them, not for the people, and that was heart disease and heart attack, and that showed up after this step up of seed oils during the war, and then they started doing autopsies and finding fat and cholesterol in the arteries, and they weren't looking underneath the plaque much to find out why that plaque formed, but it was irritated arteries, and what was irritating those arteries, seed oils and sugar and smoking, so it isn't just the seed oils, but seed oils were big factors in all of that. But anyway, they started demeaning anything with saturated fat, suddenly was bad, and some common sense voices said, "Wait a minute, we've always eaten saturated fats, butter, cheese, eggs, red meat, lard, tallow. You know, they've been around for centuries.
• 7:32
  Unknown: People have eaten those. Why would they just suddenly, out of the blue, cause these problems?
• 7:35
  Unknown: But coconut oil, back to the subject at hand, got demeaned because it has saturated fats in it. It's not bad for you. It's excellent for you, it's a great oil, it's very healthy, but they really attacked it, and it fell from grace, and it didn't come back until a couple of importers were bringing in a little bit of coconut oil, and I looked at their work and what they were saying, and some of the work of Dr. Mary Innig, Professor Enig, who wrote the book Fats and Oils, and it all made sense to me that coconut oil was demeaned for no good reason at all, and so I began to write about it, and a couple other people, and that book became a bestseller, and we brought coconut oil back to the West, but in smaller quantities, and then it started catching on, and now you can find it in big box stores, but it was that whole scenario that got me interested in fats and oils, and when this no seed oil movement popped up, and lots of confusing comments and need for practicality, I decided there was a need for a book.
• 8:44
  Turo Virta: You are so right.
• 8:44
  Turo Virta: So, when people was you, I'm sure if you follow any, any social media, you, there is all over this big debate seed oils, so but when you hear the term seed oils, what oils are we actually talking about?
• 9:04
  Unknown: So we're talking about, and they're also known as vegetable oils, so the they're one in the same. We're talking about canola, which is rapeseed, soy, corn, safflower, sunflower, grape seed oil, rice bran, cotton seed, and peanut oil.
• 9:23
  Unknown: Those are your seed oils. And why are they not good for us?
• 9:28
  Unknown: Why are they toxic? If they were just pressed cold pressed in some old-fashioned way of making oil, they would not be toxic.
• 9:37
  Unknown: But what happens to them is industrial processing, and that's where they really break down into toxic byproducts. So they take big bats of seeds, and why did they start with big bats of vats of seeds? It was cotton seed that were piling up at the turn of the century before last, when cotton crops were flourishing, and the seeds were mounding up and rotting, and they were saying, what do we do with this? Oh, well, we'll make oil, and the oil that they made was dark and smelly, and it was used for machine lubrication.
• 10:08
  Unknown: And then they still had a lot of seeds and needed more things to do with it, so they decided to make cooking oil out of it by refining it even more, so that it wasn't dark and smelly anymore. It had no fragrance and no taste to speak of, and looked clear, and it wasn't dark any longer. So, what happens in that processing after the high heat of about 500 degrees on these big vats of seeds? Then they pour in hexane, which is a very toxic chemical to extract the last bit of oil out of the seeds, and then they have neutralizers and deodorizers and bleaching agents, and on it goes with the chemicals that go into these oils, so by the time these oils are rolled out of the mar the factory to the market, is what I wanted to say, they're very dog. Toxic, they have toxic byproducts like lipid peroxides and aldehydes. These create oxidative stress in the body, and that leads to inflammation, and inflammation leads to every disease you could name. And so that's why these oils are not considered good for you. And then there's a second reason they are dominant in linoleic acid, which is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, and polyunsaturated fats have double bonds, at least two sets. And what does that mean? There's no carbon or hydrogen attached to those bonds, they're just like equal signs, that means they can be broken very, very easily, and when they break, that creates toxicity, free radicals, toxic byproducts, and so they're very fragile oils, and so all that processing creates a very, very fragile oil that breaks down very easily and becomes very toxic in the body, but I want to go back to linoleic acid, so here's the other side of the coin, and the other side of the argument, that side says wait a minute, linoleic acid is very good for you, we need it, it's an essential fatty acid, and we need to have it in our diet, and that is true, but not in the amount that we're getting it, we're getting it in huge amounts, because it's in so many packaged foods, especially in America. All this packaged stuff, and fast food restaurants love it, because it's cheap and shelf stable, and restaurants love it, and so it's everywhere.
• 12:37
  Unknown: We're getting it, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and so we're getting way too much linoleic acid. And what does that mean for the average person we should have about a four to one ratio for Linna Lake or omega six, it's known as two one omega three. Most people are in the range of about 20 to one, that is way out of range. And do you know what that causes? Also, just being out of range, inflammation, so we're getting double whammy from the toxicity of the processing and just the over consumption of omega six and the under consumption of omega threes.
• 13:20
  Turo Virta: Yeah, because it's, it's so you said it so well, and explain it like that. How it's used so much in all restaurants, packaged foods, snacks, sauces, and list goes on, and that causes, and that we get way too much. But how, in your opinion, how can we talk about seed oils without making people afraid of every food they eat?
• 13:46
  Unknown: Well, I don't want you to be afraid, I want you to be empowered, right? So we can make good choices. When I shop, I don't feel afraid at all, but I shop with a magnifying glass or my phone, take pictures, or you can have a scanner. There's one called Seed Oil Scout app, and you can get a free trial. Go to my landing page, the truth about seed oils.com is right there, but you can shop with power, right, and look at labels and look at what's in there, and fortunately, because it's a hot topic, and because more and more people are becoming aware and want a seed oil free product, more things are coming on the market that are available to you, so for example, I have been- I'm always scouting around when I'm out shopping, even at the big box stores, so big big sacks of organic popcorn with sea salt. Now you can get it with olive oil, not with a seed oil, chips, organic corn chips with sea salt, you can get it made with avocado oil or olive oil, and I found olive or avocado oil mayonnaise at the big box stores. I found beef tallow there, which has a high smoke point and is great if you're going to do hot, hot cooking, very high heat, like frying, and I found it there.
• 15:06
  Unknown: You can find now salad dressings, if you don't want to make your own. It's so easy with olive oil and vinegar, and some herbs and spices, and pinch of sea salt. But if you don't want to make your own, there are brands now out there with olive oil and vinegar, and more and more products are coming on the market, so I just say let's be empowered and let's be wise shoppers. Also, on the Seed Oil Scout app, it'll show you in your area what restaurants are seed oil free, so there'll be little green bubbles all around where you live. Click on it and there's a restaurant, so for example, and you would like hearing this. Three minutes from my house is my favorite Italian restaurant, and they import all their ingredients from Italy.
• 15:53
  Unknown: Well, yeah, the owner came out the other day because I was telling him about my book, and he said, "Oh, yeah, here's our can of olive oil. We import it from Italy. We cook everything in olive oil, no other. Oil in this restaurant, and all their flour is imported from Italy, and it's the one place in town I can eat some bread. I can't eat it anywhere else, because it's not sprayed with all those nasty pesticides. So it's getting encouraging, and there's some big chains. Well, they're smaller big chains like Steak and Shake, Popeyes, and Outback have gone seed oil free, so as we request it, we, the shopper, voting with our wallet, we're going to get more choices, but right now there are a lot of independent restaurants around where people live, where you can eat seed oil free and enjoy every bite of your dinner.
• 16:45
  Turo Virta: Oh, that's so nice here, like obviously here in Italy, it's not that thick an issue, like it's a traditional Italy, Italian cooking, it's all with olive oil, and and we prefer to eat fresh stuff, and from local restaurants, but of course you never know what oils are they using, but so what oils or fats do you personally prefer for cooking?
• 17:16
  Unknown: So, the good ones, everybody wants to know what's on the good list. So, here's your list: clean out your pantry. If you have any of those bad seed oils, toss them out, get rid of them, and buy these, so olive oil, of course, and extra virgin olive oil. The cold press, first press is the best avocado oil, coconut oil, and then ghee, which some people call oil of butter. It's clarified butter, is a good one, and sesame oil, because most people just use it in little bits, you know, small quantities for Asian style cooking. They haven't wrecked it yet, so pretty much it's okay. And then, if you want to spend a little more for a nut oil, macadamia nut oil and almond oil are good ones as well.
• 17:58
  Turo Virta: Yeah, and what would you use for higher heat cooking?
• 18:03
  Turo Virta: Because with olive oil, that's the issue, is right, that you can't heat it too much, so
• 18:09
  Unknown: no, it's it does not have a very high smoke point, but avocado oil does, so it can be heated to the high 400 range, like about 480 and so go with avocado oil, or if you're not vegan or plant-based, you could go with beef tallow for high heat cooking as well.
• 18:35
  Turo Virta: Yeah, so what is what people should know about olive oil then, like you mentioned already a little bit, but so I'm curious,
• 18:48
  Unknown: I'm a big fan of olive oil. It's part of the Mediterranean diet, and I was just looking at a couple of new studies that came out on.. I'm going to digress for just a second here, but eating more eggs to prevent Alzheimer's disease, and then they talked about what diet as well, so the people that ate at least five an egg five days a week had the least Alzheimer's, 27% less Alzheimer's, and then they looked at diets, and you know it keeps coming up over and over again. The best diet to prevent Alzheimer's or dementia is the Mediterranean diet, and of course the oil that's central to that is olive oil. So I would just link those up and say there's a lot of preventative measures and including olive oil in your diet as well, and then it does so much for your system as well. It's been linked to lower blood pressure, anti-inflammation. It's great for your skin and your hair, and good for your heart. So, olive oil all the way around is just a great oil to cook with, and fortunately it never fell out of vogue, no one ever criticized it, but just didn't promote it very much when it was really popular to promote seed oils, also called vegetable oils, but now Olive making a big comeback.
• 20:22
  Turo Virta: Oh, that's good to hear, because I, I'm like, it's great to learn from you, and because it's at least here in Italy, it's olive oil, is people are going for it, and using, like, we don't use salad dressing, or I'm originally I come from Finland, and there is, it's always salad dressing, but here in Italy, it's just olive oil, maybe a little bit of salt or pepper or something like that, but no, you don't use like kind of dressing or anything, it's mostly like testo leaf oil, and that is, I find it so helpful, where like was there like people are talking so much about hidden. Oils in everyday life, so where are in Europe?
• 21:07
  Turo Virta: And you mentioned already a couple things, but where are those seed oils most commonly hidden
• 21:17
  Unknown: in baked goods, packaged foods, anything boxed, boxed dinners, even protein bars? Many of them will have it.
• 21:29
  Unknown: Many plant-based milks, like oat milk or almond milk, will have it. So, not all of them, and you can find brands without them.
• 21:36
  Unknown: So, that's where reading labels really is so important. But if you're buying anything packaged up, boxed, or even breads, anything in a sack, a bag, a box, read labels, because here's why they're using seed oil so much. It's cheap, it's easy to store, it has a long shelf life, you don't have to refrigerate it, it's tasteless and odorless, so you can just dump it in everything it creates moist products that look delicious.
• 22:14
  Unknown: You don't taste it, you don't smell it. I call it the silent killer because it is linked to just about every disease or illness, even emotional issues, about everything you could name, and it is new, relatively new in history to come on the scene in the 1920s and then be called heart healthy, and when it came on the scene, cardiovascular disease rose and rose and continued to rise, and it's still the number one killer in America. So, what does that say?
• 22:43
  Unknown: We've been on a wrong path, and what we've been calling heart healthy is obviously not heart healthy, or we would see heart disease going down and down and down, but people are eating it in so many things, it may even be in candy, candy bars, and all sorts of desserts, so we've really got to be wise shoppers.
• 23:04
  Unknown: The fortunate part is that we can find things now. If you're wanting to have more pre-made things, more and more showing up, and more restaurants are working to accommodate people to go seed oil free.
• 23:20
  Turo Virta: Yeah, and then I was.. it's always like what I..
• 23:23
  Turo Virta: what I.. when I talk with the people about shopping and everything, and it's one thing that pops up always, that how can someone read labels without becoming too obsessive?
• 23:38
  Unknown: Yeah, well, that's a good question. I read labels all the time, but I don't feel that I'm obsessed with it. I'm just looking for, I've got some choices on the shelf here, and which one is the best one for me, and it doesn't take very long, and it's so easy. Picture on your phone, blow it up, or, like I say, the Sea Girl Scout app, or a little magnifying glass, whatever, and you can assess pretty quickly what's in that package, but I never want people to be afraid of food or afraid of eating, because I believe as a nutritionist and as a healthcare provider and coach we should have joy and happiness and peace, and that is far more important, I think, than most things that we can do, and so the joy of eating and the joy of choosing good food is so important for your digestion and for your good health, so make it a journey and a joyful journey.
• 24:37
  Turo Virta: Yeah, that's so.. I totally, I can't agree more with you, because it's.. it should be enjoyment, but if you are a little bit aware what you are actually doing, and it's I think if you just start to look things using either that scanning those or just feeding labels, your choices they make such a big difference, because usually when we go for grocery shopping, it's you are in your auto mode, you are doing it without thinking, and it's just always the same stuff. You have, like, most people, they have a same shampoo brand or same toothpaste brand, and they just scrap it without thinking anything, and it's often same thing with the food, like you just take something without even checking what alternatives you have, and that is when you become a little bit more aware, you start to make it's not about fixing everything at once, but if you make one, two swaps, that's already amazing progress, and it's gonna benefit in the long term a lot more than people I think believe
• 25:50
  Unknown: it is. Well, I'm going to tell you a couple of stories of people that made swaps and what happened for them. I have a young woman, yeah, we all love stories, don't we? I have a young woman I worked with who had migraine headaches, and no one could figure out why, and then she decided. She would cut out all seed oils, or as much as she could. I don't know that we never cut them all out, and her headaches went away and never came back. And then we had a lady that attended one of our health and wellness raw food and juice retreats, and she came with pretty severe cardiovascular disease and was hoping for improvements at the end of the week, she felt pretty good. Went back home, got an appointment with her cardiologist, and he said, "What have you been doing? You are my model patient, cardiovascular disease anymore. Well, we had no seed oils at our retreat, everything was organic, fresh, all plant-based, a couple of days of vegetable juice fasting.
• 26:51
  Unknown: She'd been on this incredibly ideal diet. She went home and stuck with it, got the seed oils out, no more of those. All good foods. I heard from her recently. She's 83 and she is so cute and healthy, and her cardiovascular disease never came back.
• 27:09
  Turo Virta: Wow, those are such great examples. What small things and relatively quick time in a quick time can already make so, so for women over 40, like, because this is.. it's like I think most of my listeners are in that category. Why might food quality and healthy fats matter more than they realize?
• 27:35
  Turo Virta: Actually,
• 27:37
  Unknown: oh, I'm so glad you brought that up, because that is a big topic right now, and lots of women are asking, what can I do? Seed oils are known as hormone disruptors. Why is that?
• 27:48
  Unknown: Because they produce inflammation. Inflammation is a huge hormone disruptor. So, as women begin to get these seed oils out of their diet, and the good oils in, and, and it's so easy, you know. Who doesn't love olive oil or coconut oil?
• 28:04
  Unknown: Especially those two are favorites among a lot of people that I work with and talk with daily, but as we get the good oils in, people notice women notice that their hormones are balancing better, that they're sleeping better, that maybe some aches and pains are going away.
• 28:20
  Unknown: I've had women go through menopause with no symptoms, no hot flashes, no night sweats, no problems, like many of their peers. It has so much to do with what you're eating, and of course, it isn't just seed oils, it's getting the sugars out, getting the processed foods, all of those chemicals out of your diet, eating real whole food, unsprayed food, so organic. Yes, and as much as you can do that, it's going to pay off. And you know, people say, well, maybe it's a bit of a hassle, like you said. I'm, they say, I'm used to always doing it this way, or I've always eaten this, or I always buy this brand. Maybe it's time to venture out and say, I'm going to try something new, and see what can happen, because what can happen is pretty amazing. I had one young woman that had MS, and she worked with me to completely change her diet, and it was a process, but all her symptoms went away, which was so exciting, encouraging, and then a relative came by with some wine, and she was not doing any alcohol, persuaded her to have that glass of wine, because it was so special, and some of her symptoms started coming back that afternoon, and she thought,"Oh no, and her slogan is one
• 29:43
  I've used ever since: nothing on earth tastes as good as good health, and I want you to taste good health.
• 29:51
  Turo Virta: Wow, that's so well said. So, how do then healthy fats fit together with protein, fiber, and strength training?
• 30:02
  Unknown: Oh, thank you for asking that. So, we need to bring it all together, right?
• 30:05
  Unknown: And this is incredibly important. You mentioned women earlier to prevent osteoporosis or osteopenia, or if you're at your, you know, been diagnosed with that, you need strength training, you need lots of minerals, greens, good fats, and oils, and high fiber diet. So, fiber maxing is a new term I found that interesting. I heard it recently for the first time, and what it does that mean means making sure that you're getting enough fiber in your diet, like about 30% should be high fiber foods, and so what are those vegetables, especially your cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, all very, very high fiber vegetables, whole grains, and I go more for the ancient grains like whole grain rice, brown. Or black or red rice, millet, buckwheat, ancient grains that are whole that have the fiber intact in those, and seeds and nuts will give you some legumes, that's beans, lentils, and split peas will give you some, but we want to eat a high fiber diet, and why is that important? Because it's very important for the gut.
• 31:32
  Unknown: We're only as good as what we digest. People used to say you are what you eat. Now the slogan is you are what you digest, and if your digestive system is all out of whack, you're not going to be digesting that food well.
• 31:42
  Unknown: You're not going to get all the nutrients. A good portion of your nutrients are absorbed in your intestinal tract, and so we want a healthy intestinal tract, and we must have good fiber in our diet to make that happen.
• 31:57
  Unknown: When people are eating a lot of processed foods, junk food, fast food, they're probably not getting hardly any fiber, so that's where making your food yourself as much as you can is extremely important, you can make those great big main course salads, which is something that I like to have for dinner a lot, lots of steamed vegetables, stir fries, soups, stews with lots of vegetables, but think vegetables and get a lot of those into your diet.
• 32:24
  Turo Virta: Yeah, Kristen, like what we want to bring it a little bit together, what we have been talking, because many people, like over 40 and women especially, they are trying to lose fat, but also at the same time they feel tired and having some stress. How should they think about fats then in their diets?
• 32:47
  Unknown: So the old slogan that I love, eat fat, lose fat, right? Because fat brings satiety of that feeling of fullness. We came through a crazy, crazy era of low fat, no fat diet, started in the 80s, and it was supposed to make people thinner, it did the opposite. We just blew up after that, all that sugar and minus the fat, and people were always hungry and eating more sweets, and putting applesauce instead, like in muffins instead of oil, and it was just a bizarre time, and obesity really increased, and it never went back down.
• 33:29
  Unknown: People got used to eating a lot of sweets, got used to that very sweet taste, and, and somehow that old teaching still lingers on in the minds of many people.
• 33:40
  Unknown: Oh, I shouldn't eat very much fat. Do you know coconut oil is a slimming fat, it's rich in MCTs, medium chain triglycerides. The liver likes to burn them, and it is called a slimming fat. When my book, The Coconut Diet, came out, I did a lot of pilot studies with women, and everyone was losing weight, and they were getting, making sure they were getting at least three tablespoons of coconut oil in their diet a day, maybe they were adding a little bit to their smoothie and cooking with it, whatever, but people were losing weight like crazy, and so it is a very slimming fat, but don't cut out your fats to lose fat, we need fat for satiety, for that feeling of fullness, so that we're not wandering around after we've eaten a meal like dinner. How many times people wander around after dinner saying, I just want something more. Oh, I need something else.
• 34:31
  Unknown: Well, it's not a bowl of ice cream that you need. You are missing something from your dinner.
• 34:38
  Turo Virta: Yeah, so was you, you mentioned about inflammation, and was seed oils, they are often connected with the inflammation, and what? How would you, how would you explain that topic in a balanced way?
• 35:00
  Unknown: So we want to cut down inflammation, right? We want to put out, I call it the smoldering fire, because many, many conditions that people suffer from have low-grade inflammation. It means it's always there, it just doesn't go away. Inflammation isn't a bad thing. If you cut your, your hand, it will get inflamed for a little while. It's part of the healing process. Turn red, maybe something will swell up, or whatever, but you don't want low-grade inflammation internally, that is a contributor to disease, all sorts of diseases, heart diseases. It is the contributor, not cholesterol, inflammation is the contributor to heart disease. And so, how do you bring that down? Well, you look at inflammatory foods. First of all, I wrote the book, The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, and I looked at what was causing inflammation. So, not only seed oils, but sugar is another big one, and then all sorts of chemicals, additives, so processed foods, eating too many. Buying carbs is a big contributor to inflammation. You want some anti-inflammatory foods in your diet, like ginger, is shown in all sorts of studies, 1000s of studies on ginger and turmeric, showing that the two of them are anti-inflammatory. And so I make fresh juice every day. I'm known as the Juice Lady. I start my day with a big glass of juice, and then often a green smoothie made with juice and an avocado that I put in the blender, and I juice up big chunks of ginger root and put in my juices, and that's very, very anti-inflammatory, and then of course the good oils are going to be helpful, and especially increasing your omega three fatty acids, and how do we do that? Fatty cold water fish, like wild caught, of course, like salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, and then your good oils that you never heat, like flax seed oil, or just sprinkling some flax seeds on your smoothie or your salad.
• 37:08
  Unknown: Hemp seeds are another rich source of omega threes. Hemp seed oil and walnuts are great source of omega threes. So sprinkle some walnuts, maybe on that bowl of oatmeal in the morning on a salad, or use walnut oil. You never heat walnut oil. None of these oils should ever be heated. They're very, very fragile, but cold.
• 37:29
  Unknown: You can drizzle some walnut oil over a salad, you can put some in a smoothie, but it is very, very rich in omega three fats.
• 37:38
  Unknown: And if you like to make your own plant-based milk, walnut milk is excellent and easy to make, and then you've got rich omega three fats, but bringing up your omega threes can also really help reduce inflammation,
• 37:57
  Turo Virta: and then for athletes, and who are like people who are like interested, or about their athletic performance. How can food choices support better recovery and energy?
• 38:15
  Unknown: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that. You know, we had in the news not too long ago one of our football teams, the Tennessee Times. Did you see that? Yeah, they went seed oil free for just what you said, performance and recovery, because what they were discovering is the seed oils hindered performance, because it makes you more tired, they make you more tired, make you, they're linked to fatigue, and then recovery, getting the seed oils out, so that's getting the inflammation out, really helped with recovery, so what I would add to that is increase your electrolytes, get your minerals up, you know, your essential minerals, that helps always with recovery and with performance.
• 38:59
  Unknown: Minerals are extremely important for your muscles, and your biggest muscle internal hair is your heart extremely, extremely important, and then getting the omega threes in your diet again for overall health, heart health, and MCTs. In fact, in the medium chain triglycerides, you can buy them as MCTs, or you can just eat coconut oil, but the fat around the heart is saturated, C 16 and C 18, and the heart draws on that in times of stress. Well, if you're an athlete, you're going to have times of stress, of course, when the heart is going to draw on that fat that is around your heart. Well, what if you're eating a lot of inferior fats, seed oils, those are very inferior fats, but your body's going to use what it's got. If you give it inferior raw materials, it needs some raw materials, it'll choose that.
• 39:57
  Unknown: So, give it the best materials that you possibly can give it, and it's going to replenish not only the fat around your heart, the fat around your cell membranes is saturated fat.
• 40:09
  Unknown: Well, give it the right kind of fat, you're going to right at the cellular level get more energy, and also fresh raw foods give you bio photons for energy.
• 40:19
  Unknown: What does that mean? The plants absorb the energy from the sun, right, and convert it to photons, and when you have fresh, like fresh vegetable juices, or a big salad, or fresh raw piece of fruit, you're getting bio photons. Those are from the sun. They energize your body because they feed the mitochondria, that's the little energy units of our cells, and they produce ATP, and ATP is our energy fuel. I could just go on and on, but I think good picture.
• 40:55
  Turo Virta: Yeah, it's a very well said. I know that this is so large topic, and I hear you are so passionate, like myself too, but maybe all listeners are not. Passionate, and so we try to keep it simple, so for someone like, for let's call it a normal person who trains two to four times per week, what practical lesson could they take from that? What you just said,
• 41:21
  Unknown: well, a lot of people I know like to start their day with smoothies, because they can get a lot of nutrition packed into a big glass, and if you're one of those, add some good oil, maybe some coconut oil, or olive oil, or hemp seed oil, or walnut oil, but get some good oil in there, which is great, get some raw, of course, you're going to want some raw fruit, some raw vegetables, get some greens in there and go with a great milk that is good for you in Europe.
• 41:50
  Unknown: I trust the dairy more than I trusted in the US, so I don't have dairy here, but when I'm in Europe, I can have dairy, and it's not a problem. But get a great smoothie going, if that's if you're so inclined for that, and you can put some protein powder in that, and just charge your body, and start your day, you know, with something that's going to perk up your cells, and a lot of people don't, they want quick energy, maybe it's just a cup of coffee and something sweet, or a bagel, and that's going to leave you crashing later on, so start your day with something that's going to sustain you, like fresh juice or a smoothie, and try to get a salad in somewhere during the day, some more live food, and that's going to perk up your cells.
• 42:39
  Turo Virta: Yeah, that's such a good advice, because I think I'm also I'm a big believer of a good breakfast, like some people say that you should skip it, but I think it's, it's for most people where you have most control about what you are eating, and once you get all like those oils or healthy vegetables or fruits in your breakfast already earlier in the day, it makes everything, or your protein, it makes everything so much easier later on, when you might have not so much control anymore, what you are eating, if you are eating out, or something, or you, they get busy or crazy, so breakfast is often the time where most people have the most control over, so time is flying. I want to ask last couple questions, because many people, they are trying to, they are over complicating things. What do you think people who over complicate what too much when it comes to nutrition,
• 43:49
  Unknown: what would I say if they're over complicated? Yeah,
• 43:52
  Turo Virta: or what do you think that people are over complicating like too much when it comes to nutrition?
• 43:57
  Unknown: Too much. Where are they? I think we tend to over complicate things when we get into fear, and fear just blocks our creativity, and so I say, have fun with it. Have fun with food. It's, it's a joy. Making food should be joyful. Eating food should be joyful. We should enjoy what we eat. Real food is enjoyable. If you're not eating real food, switch over and make it as simple as you can get some good recipes. I have a bunch of them in my book, The Truth About Seed Oils, and over 50, and I've found that a lot of people just don't know how to sample food today, because they've grown up with everything made for them, pre-made, but it's they're the very best when we can make our own, we know what's in there, we can choose the best ingredients.
• 44:50
  Unknown: It's fresh, and it's going to be the best for us. But you know, once you get going and you get some payoffs, and you start feeling better, and you start looking better, and you can work out with more energy, and you see the results of that, I think you'll be inspired to do more.
• 45:05
  Turo Virta: Absolutely. Last question, if someone was.. I know so many people are way too confused about all this information online, so if someone listening and feels confused, all the nutrition information online, what you would want them to remember.
• 45:25
  Unknown: Remember, make it simple, make good choices, read labels as much as you can, and you know, like if you're making a juice, we say start off with a simple ingredient, three ingredients, carrot, apple, ginger, maybe to start with, or if you're making a smoothie, make it simple to start with, maybe three or four ingredients, you know, berries and some spinach, and some kind of milk, and put in some good oil, and I like ice, and everything, I like it cold, blend it up, but make it simple, but give it a start, give it a try, you'll never know how good you can feel until you start making. Making some of these changes,
• 46:07
  Turo Virta: that's such a great advice. So, where people can learn more about your work, where they can get books, please share all information. I will add links to show notes, but please share it.
• 46:20
  Unknown: Come visit me. My main site is Juice Lady Info, info.com My landing page for the book is The Truth About Seed oils.com You can get free gifts there. There's lots of stuff there for you. The seven anti-inflammatory juices, we have the 21 day menu plan with recipes and ideas for preparing foods with good fats and oils.
• 46:42
  Unknown: You can follow me on Instagram at Juice Lady Sherry, C H E R I E, and really all social media is that handle. I'd love to connect with you. Sign up for my newsletter, it's free, and you get lots of tips and recipes.
• 46:58
  Turo Virta: Thank you so much, Sherry. I really, really enjoyed this conversation, and I think the big takeaway today is that nutrition doesn't need to become another thing we do perfectly, but food quality does matter.
• 47:08
  Turo Virta: The oils we cook with, the processed foods we eat often, and the hidden ingredients in sauces, snacks, and restaurant meals, they all can add up. So, thank you so much for listening.
• 47:21
  Turo Virta: And if you haven't, leave any five-star review, please do as a do me a favor and leave a five star review, as they are helping so much more people to find it.
• 47:33
  Turo Virta: Thank you so much more listening, and talk to you in the next episode.