This $5 Avocado Oil Spray Makes It 100X Easier To Cook Healthy Food

Until the Chosen Food Avocado Oil Spray came along. This spray is a total kitchen game-changer. I haven't used any spray products in my kitchen in years, because the products that come in sprays tend to be highly inflammatory vegetable oils and because the sprays themselves contain propellants to create that smooth fine mist. Instead, I use coconut oil or ghee. Both of these are solid at room temperature, which presents problems when, say, trying to evenly coat a pan of chopped vegetables in the middle of a New York winter. I'll also lean on avocado oil, but regardless of which of the three I choose, I use far more oil than I prefer. Instead of a light coating, I often spill out a few tablespoons, meaning I'm consuming more oil than I'd like (even healthy oils should be consumed in moderation)—not to mention wasting quite a bit of cash.

You want to pay attention to two things when you cook with fat: the health qualities of the original fat itself, and the way the fat changes when subjected to heat. Spray oils tend to be partially hydrogenated vegetable oils like canola, which have been shown in numerous studies to increase inflammation with typical household use. Olive oil is a seemingly healthier, slightly less common option but has a smoke point of 350 degrees, which is a far lower temperature than most stovetop or oven cooking takes place at. I prefer to stick with coconut oil, avocado oil, and ghee for cooking, as they're all less processed, less inflammatory, and have a fairly high smoke point (400 degrees or above).

These include dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone; diacetyl, which often lends that "butter" flavor to cooking sprays and has been linked to lung cancer1; and propellants like butane, isobutane, and propane. While the jury is still out on the negative effects of consuming these, they tend to fall in the category of additives many people with nontoxic inclinations (myself included!) tend to avoid.

Is coconut oil bad for you? The AHA says yes, but doctors disagree. Plus, nine reasons you should eat avocados every day.