evidence: That’s not the information you’ll read when you pick up any health-related magazine or follow a "lighter" recipe. It’s still all about lean meat, low-fat dairy, and reduced-fat versions of tasty classics. They tell you to use vegetable oil because it’s "healthier" for you – because it’s lower in saturated fat. But I disagree. [...] What they don’t tell you is that cooking with unsaturated fats, the kind found in vegetable oils, damages them and creates free radicals. Free radicals are essentially the opposite of antioxidants. That’s bad. They lead to inflammation in the body that’s linked to the very heart disease and diabetes you were trying to avoid by using them. [...] When baking recipes list vegetable oil, I replace it with an equal quantity of coconut oil. Note that coconut oil is naturally solid at room temperature, so if your house is cool, you might have to scoop it out with a spoon and melt it before use. Because if this, coconut oil doesn’t make the best salad dressing oil. I still prefer extra virgin olive oil as a base for salads dressings.