NUTRITION HOTLINE
What About an Oil-Free Diet?
by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
QUESTION: My husband and I are healthy long-term vegans. Neither of us eat much processed food nor cook with a lot of oil. Recently, I've seen a lot about oil-free plant-based diets. Is a completely oil-free diet worth the effort and sacrifice?
AR, via email
ANSWER: In your situation, there is likely little benefit to completely eliminating oil from your family's diet. Eating few processed foods and no animal products means that you are choosing a diet that is associated with better health overall. In terms of health effects, a healthier plant-based diet may be more beneficial than simply reducing dietary fat.1,2
Instead of focusing on oil, you may consider the amount of saturated fat in your diet. Vegan diets are typically low in saturated fat; however, coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut milk, and vegan foods made with these oils and coconut milk are high in saturated fat.
Proponents of no-fat diets point out that oil provides calories and little or nothing else in the way of nutrition. So, for those trying to lose weight, moving from using oil generously in cooking to eliminating oil can significantly reduce calories. If oils are being used in a limited fashion, as you are doing, it's unlikely that eliminating them entirely will make much difference in terms of daily caloric intake. Interestingly, lowfat diets do not appear to be more effective than other dietary changes in terms of weight loss.3
There are some reasons to use some oil or other sources of dietary fat. For those who have difficulty gaining weight or maintaining a healthy weight, the concentrated calories in oil, used judiciously, may be helpful. Some vitamins are better absorbed along with some dietary fat.4 Using a little oil in cooking can increase the flavor of food and promote satiety.
Some vegans choose to eat oil-free diets. It sounds as if this is not your preference and there does not appear to be a significant health benefit in changing your current way of cooking.
REFERENCES:
1 Shan Z, Guo Y, Hu FB, Liu L, Qi Q. Association of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets with mortality among US adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2020;180:513-523.
2 Zhao Y, Li Y, Wang W, et al. Low-carbohydrate diets, low-fat diets, and mortality in middle-aged and older people: A prospective cohort study. J Intern Med. 2023;294:203-215
3 Tobias DK, Chen M, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, Willett W, Hu FB. Effect of low-fat diet interventions versus other diet interventions on long-term weight change in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2015;3:968-979.
4 White WS, Zhou Y, Crane A, Dixon P, Quadt F, Flendrig LM. Modeling the dose effects of soybean oil in salad dressing on carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability in salad vegetables. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;106:1041-1051.
