One tricky aspect of a keto diet is understanding that it's not only OK to consume fats and oils. Contrary to what we've been told growing up, it's not only OK, but really healthy to get most of our calories from fats. The tricky part is, not ALL fats are good to eat. It would be great if we could simply switch off all carb intake and go for any fat-based calories we want, but we have to take care!

Processed vegetable oils, margarine, hydrogenated oils, partially hydrogenated oils and other trans fats, interestified fats – sunflower, safflower, cotonseed, canola, soybean, grapeseed and corn oil are all damaging to your health.

These are bad ingredients because trans-fatty acids and processed oils like these:

• are oxidized during high-heat processing which creates free radicals
• they are often made from genetically modified seeds
• are pro-inflammatory and bad for your gut health
• consumption of trans fats increases risk of coronary heart disease
• consumption of trans fats negatively affects cholesterol levels – reduces concentrations of HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) and increases concentrations of low-density LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol)
• associated with increased risk of cancer

In fact, artificial trans-fats like the ones above are sometimes referred to as “metabolic poison”! Get rid of them from your diet. Avoid foods that contain hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils found in margarines, cookies, crackers and even french fries.

If you want to learn more about eating fats on a low-carb keto diet, check out KetoDietApp's Article on the topic.