"I Thought I Was Aging Naturally — Until I Found This in My Kitchen"

 "I Thought I Was Aging Naturally — Until I Found This in My Kitchen"

They fool us with lies.

This very subtle, innocuous lie is that there is an aisle in every supermarket, online and offline, of so-called "healthy" recipes, so it even comes home in the kitchen. Aging is simply something that goes with the passage of time, being slower and fuzzier and stiffer which happens to the body with the years.

Could it be more than just time?

What if it were about what you eat?

I recognized it around something Wrong. Not in my doctor's office after an injury from working out, but from something most mundane. I was in my backyard on a glorious sunny Sunday soaking in sunshine with my seven-year-old nephew when he turned to face me and said, 'Uncle, sit criss-cross applesauce with me.' So I smiled and tried to mimic him when, all of a sudden, I froze.My knees wouldn't bend. My hips felt like they were made out of concrete.I was half-kneeling and half slouching, trying not to wince before a kid who could easily sit cross-legged like a rubber band. That was my moment of awakening. I wasn't just a little sore or out of shape. I felt old.

And I am talking about not gray-haired-old with wisdom; I mean feeling stiff, slow, foggy in my brain, and achy in the morning-old, and this was barely my forties. But the worst part? 

I thought I was doing everything right. 

My workout schedule included that three times a week. 

At least half a plate of veggies

I avoided butter and sugar Whole wheat breads were also on my list. In the name of, "heart health", I chose canola or sunflower. 

Low fat 

But all this didn't stop me from feeling like I was aging fast. 

What did I really miss? There I was, an RD with all the research at her fingertips. I had researched macronutrients, inflammation, cardiovascular risks-the whole shebang. 

But alas; the more I probed, the more cynical I became about one reply for all things healthy about my diet. Seed oils. 

Canola oil. Soybean oil. Sunflower oil. Corn oil.Cottonseed oil.Safflower oil. Couldn't forget oils under your salad dressing, oils under your hummus, oils in almond butter, oils under protein bars; oils in health foods-called clean or organic. Manufactured cheaply, and they are odorless. Hence, the mobile manufacturing genius and lying low curse for our bodies. 

A Radical Change

Once I saw the pattern, I couldn't unsee it. 

So I decided to read every last ingredient label in my kitchen. The so-called healthy granola bars? Soybean oil. The avocado mayo? First ingredient: canola oil. Plant-based butter? A blend of safflower and sunflower oils. 

Everything that had seed oil in it would be written off my life. That was really hard. Really painful. I grew up with margarine. I loved my pre-packaged so-called health snacks. But I knew I had to try something different. 

I will be replacing these oils with: 

Low-heat cooking and salad dressings-extra virgin olive oil. High-temperature cooking: avocado oil. Grass-fed butter and ghee instead of margarine. Used coconut oil for baking. 

I began to focus on wild salmon, walnuts, chia seeds, and pasture-raised eggs for more omega-3s. 

And here's what happened: 

Weeks Later, the Change Became Apparent in My Body 

Joints that would creak in the morning trembled no more 

Increased energy during the day with no 3 pm crashing 

Improved digestion 

Brain fog that would cause me to forget words in mid-sentence? Disappeared 

My body finally allowed me to sit cross-legged (well...almost). 

These were not huge and sudden changes, however, they were gradual and felt real. For the first time in years, I felt as if my body was cooperating with me instead of working against me. 

Why are We Still Told These Oils Are "Healthy?" 

The short answer-money and obsolete science.

Seed oils entered into broad public consciousness, thanks to science in the mid-20th century when it began to vilify saturated fats and when cholesterol became Public Enemy No. 1. 

- Now food companies realize that they can easily market "vegetable oils" as modern, clean, and better for your heart. 

Such was the flawed scholarship of that time. Well-designed research studies of better quality nowadays have gradually demonstrated that, certainly, not all saturated fats are enemies and equally not all "plant-based" oils are healthy.

The very truth is oils are ultra-processed, making them harmful more than helpful, especially in continuous consumption.

It Isn't About Perfection; It's About Awareness

A drizzle of canola oil in one restaurant meal shouldn't make one afraid anymore. Fear is not what we are looking at; rather, it is the fact that you will take back your power.

Here are some of the simple steps to start on: 

Read the ingredients: Does it say "canola," "soybean," "sunflower," or "vegetable oil"? You need to think twice.

Cook as much as you can. 

Stick to whole, unprocessed foods. 

Use olive oil or avocado oil as your go-to fats. 

Don't be fooled into thinking "plant-based" means healthy. 

Marketing is cute and endearing. I have fallen prey to it for years. However, the bitter truth is that what we eat every day cumulatively does damage. Typically, it is the invisible on label- oxidation, inflammation, imbalance- against which we are aging faster than any calendar could. 

Final Assessment 

Feeling stiff, foggy, or just beaten down shouldn't be something that people just accept as "aging." 

Maybe you aren't aging alone - you are likely inflaming. 

And guess what? You can change it. 

One oil, one meal, one label at a time. 

Your body knows how to heal. You only need to fuel it correctly, and it will turn back to dazzle you.

Perhaps aging is not really all that time ticks by-the-stiffness and fatigue and mental fog are accumulated bouts of inflammation meal-by-meal? For years, I have been doing everything right, according to mainstream health advice-not eating fat, stuffing my plate with whole grains and filling my plate with "heart-healthy" oils. Yet it did not change life for me. This changed with questioning that which stood out in plain sight-the seed oils. They were ditched and replaced with nourishing fats like olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, wild omega 3 rich foods. My body wasn't ready for overnight changes. But gradual improvements emerged, which today is clear, full of life, mobile and easy. This isn't about getting it right. It's awareness; that is small, deliberate shifts like checking a label, choosing real food, cooking with intention and knowing how those small shifts can create a change in how we grow older and live in our bodies. You shouldn't require an overhaul today. But if something feels "off" in your body, don't ignore it. Have confidence that you can change the course of your health with every decision you make. You are in middle age, not just by age. Certainly, you are inflaming; and friend, that can be changed.