Start off spring skinnier and happier with the only “magic bullet” in my arsenal

As a rule, I don’t believe in magic bullets. (I’ve been in the diet business long enough to know better.) But there is one exception. And that’s macadamia nut oil.

Start using it today, and you’ll be swimsuit-ready by Memorial Day—if not well before. And no, that’s not an exaggeration. It’s a research-proven fact.

Burn more calories and boost your mood in as little as three weeks

Yes, it’s possible. And all you need to do is switch the focus of your fat intake. This was the takeaway of a study featured just last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers assigned two small groups of young adults to one of two diets for three weeks. One was packed with palmitic acid—the main fatty acid in palm oil and animal fat. The other diet favored oleic acid. That is, the chief monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) in olive oil, avocados…and most abundantly, macadamia nut oil.

And surprise, surprise. The group that consumed mostly MUFAs every day were more active, burned more fat at rest, and even had fewer feelings of anger and hostility.1

Pretty impressive results from a simple oil change, don’t you think?

Now, this particular study focused on replacing saturated fats. But as far as I’m concerned, those are hardly the villains you need to watch out for. (In fact, they offer plenty of fat-burning medium-chain triglycerides. So you don’t want to avoid them completely.)

But all those supposedly healthy vegetable oils? (I’m looking at you, canola oil.) Well, they’re a different story. Swap those rancid Franken-fats out with MUFAs from macadamia nut oil, and the benefits to your body will blow you away.

I know I’ve covered this topic before. But the national misconception over what constitutes a healthy cooking oil runs incredibly deep. So I like to remind you of a few key facts from time to time.

Why canola oil should carry a skull and crossbones (and olive oil isn’t always much better)

Despite its reputation as a heart-healthy powerhouse, canola is the last oil you should ever use. High temperature processing is necessary to pull the oil out of rapeseeds. And this destroys any omega-3 content entirely.

The deodorizing process manufacturers use to make the oil more palatable does even more damage. And all this occurs before canola oil even makes it into a bottle, much less to your local supermarket.

But you shouldn’t always assume that olive oil is vastly superior. The “pure” and “light” versions you buy at the supermarket are often heavily processed blends, lower in polyphenols and antioxidants. But buying extra-virgin isn’t an ironclad guarantee of health either.

In fact, a recent exposé found that many of these oils are spiked with other low-quality, non-olive oils. Not exactly the vote of confidence most health-conscious consumers are after.

The truth is, even if you spring for the good stuff and buy pure, MUFA-rich, estate-bottled olive oil, it still has a smoke point of about 325 degrees. Which means it could start turning into heart-harming trans-fats even during a light sauté.

Obviously, that’s not what you want. Especially after you’ve spent a fortune on a top-shelf bottle of oil.

So just do what I do. Save the olive oil for a finishing drizzle. And do the bulk of your cooking with macadamia nut oil, instead.

The profile that puts macadamia nut oil a cut above the rest

So what makes macadamia nut oil so great? Well first, there’s its rich, almost buttery flavor. Then there’s its sky-high smoke point. (As high as 450 degrees, in fact.) It’s also low in inflammatory omega-6 fats and packed with nutrients like potassium, magnesium, calcium, selenium, vitamin E, niacin, and folic acid.

And it boasts 10 percent more MUFAs than the highest quality olive oil, too.

This is by far macadamia nut oil’s biggest benefit. Because MUFAs can do more than help you lose weight fast. They can also cut your stores of visceral fat by as much as 20 percent. Visceral fat is the inflammation-generating belly fat that builds up around your internal organs. They can even help lower blood sugar enough to allow you to give up your meds for good.

And that is why these fats are the new wunderkinds of the nutrition world. Even Dr. Oz jumped onto the MUFA bandwagon last month. More than five years after I started banging my drum for macadamia nut oil, I should add.

But better late than never. It feels good to see my life’s work vindicated. Even if it took the better part of a decade for everyone else to catch up.

References:

1.“Substituting dietary monounsaturated fat for saturated fat is associated with increased daily physical activity and resting energy expenditure and with changes in mood.” Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Apr;97(4):689-97.


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