Fats Are Fuel — Not Foe: The Truth About Cooking Oils vs. 1-Cal Sprays

Fats Are Fuel — Not Foe: The Truth About Cooking Oils vs. 1-Cal Sprays

For years, diet culture has cast oils as villains — more feared than the Evil Queen in Snow White.
Tiny bottles of guilt, dripping with shame and “hidden calories,” blamed for every missed weight-loss goal. In most commercial diets, they’re the first to go.

But the truth? The right oils are liquid gold — nourishment for your hormones, your gut, and your nervous system.
And for those of us who actually enjoy food, they make everything taste divine.

My Turning Point: When the Spray Stopped Making Sense

I’ll admit it — I used to do it too.
Spraying, measuring, feeling smug that I’d outsmarted calories.

Then one night, I caught the smell of my 1-cal spray sizzling in the pan.
Something about it made my stomach turn. I paused, took the pan off the heat, and washed it out.

That smell — synthetic and sharp — reminded me of a lesson from years ago.
At a spa, a therapist once asked me to smell the oils before my treatment and choose the one I liked best. When I asked why, she smiled and said:

“Your body knows what it needs. If you don’t like how it smells, don’t put it on your skin.”

It hit me later — the same must be true for what we put inside our bodies.

So, this time, I listened.
The next day I bought coconut oil, and my nose was happy. So was my gut.

That was the day I started asking:
What else have we been trained to fear that’s actually trying to feed us?

The Truth About 1-Cal Sprays

Those “1-calorie per spray” bottles are marketed as miracle hacks — but let’s decode what’s really inside.

Typical ingredients include:

  • Propellants (butane, propane, isobutane)

  • Emulsifiers

  • Artificial flavourings

  • Highly refined vegetable oils (soy, rapeseed, or canola)

  • Anti-foaming agents

Why it matters:

  • You’re not getting 1 calorie — a few seconds’ spray is often equal to a teaspoon of oil (~40 kcal).

  • These are ultra-refined oils stripped of nutrients.

  • Propellants and additives can irritate lungs and digestion.

  • They add zero real flavour, zero nourishment, zero joy.

In short: it’s not saving you calories — it’s costing you connection to your food.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The Queen’s Elixir

Calories: ~120 kcal per tbsp (14g fat)
Nutrients: Polyphenols, oleic acid, vitamin E, antioxidants

  • Supports hormonal balance — Olive oil’s monounsaturated fats help your body create sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone, key to energy, mood, and metabolism.
  • Reduces inflammation — Its antioxidants calm the immune system and ease chronic fatigue or that “wired but tired” feeling.
  • Gut + brain connection — Polyphenols feed good gut bacteria and strengthen the gut lining, sending “safety signals” via the vagus nerve for calm focus.
  • Practical use — Best for medium-heat cooking, dressings, or drizzling over roasted veg — flavour and micronutrients no spray can match.

Coconut Oil: The Warrior’s Fuel

Calories: ~120 kcal per tbsp (14g fat)
Nutrients: Lauric acid, caprylic acid, MCTs

  • Quick energy without the crash — MCTs convert rapidly into ketones for brain fuel and stable energy.
  • Antimicrobial power — Lauric acid supports immune and gut health by reducing harmful bacteria.
  • Hormone + thyroid support — Healthy fats improve absorption of vitamins A, D, E, K and keep the thyroid — your metabolism’s command centre — happy.
  • Practical use — Perfect for higher-heat cooking, baking, making homemade popcorn or stirring into oats for richness.

Reframing Fats: Cooking with Confidence

Cooking with real oils isn’t indulgence — it’s intelligence.
You can’t build a calm, hormonally balanced, strong body on fear-based nutrition.

Fats are how your body:

  • Absorbs vitamins A, D, E, K

  • Builds hormones and brain cells

  • Keeps blood sugar stable

  • Feeds the gut-brain axis (that 80% signal highway we talked about)

  • Makes your food taste divine — and therefore satisfying

Fats are how your body learns safety, stability, and satisfaction.
They whisper to your nervous system:

You are safe to rest, safe to digest, and safe to grow stronger.

Your Next Step: Nourish, Don’t Restrict

Ready to rebuild your relationship with nourishment — body, mind, and soul?

The Strong Girl Starter Pack will help you reconnect with your body’s cues, balance your plate, and find safety in strength again.

Because Queens don’t restrict — they replenish. 👑

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