Thanks for pointing out that I need calories from fat. I know that. I currently and for the past 4 years, since my quadruple coronary artery bypass graft surgery, have been getting more than 10% of my calories from fat. None of my 4 times a year blood work-ups have shown any abnormalities. My total cholesterol had been at ~100 until this past year, and now it is creeping up.
It's probably not a coincidence that I've been hitting the ice cream during this time. NOt much, but I'm susceptible to high cholesterol. Cholesterol levels (the bad one) will rise as consumption of dietary cholesterol rises (eggs, shrimp, etc), and it will also rise as consumption of saturated fats rises. So I follow a diet that has been scientifically proven to lower the bad cholesterol. I also exercise, because that has been scientifically proven to raise the good cholesterol, which acts as a transportation system for the bad cholesterol to be processed in the body, and removed as needed.

I read the article by young Dr. Kang, and was alarmed to read that he calls olive oil a monounsaturated fat. It is not. It is absolutely, positively NOT a mono-unsaturated fat. It CONTAINS 55-83% monounsaturated fats, depending on the particular oil, but it also contains saturated fat and polyunsaturated fat, AS DO ALL OILS. To his credit, Dr. Kang notes that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol (the bad one). However, he ought to know, as should anyone who eats food, that ALL OILS ARE A MIXTURE OF SATURATED, MONOUNSATURATED, AND POLYUNSATURATED FATS. And my impression of the article is that he was speaking to the general population, not to the specialized, specific population of recovering heart patients. I am ALL FOR THE USE OF OLIVE OIL BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

Canola oil has the lowest percentage of saturated fats of all the oils, beating olive oil in the contest. Canada has made canola oil its "national oil" for this reason. For regular healthy people, using canola oil or olive oil to cook (in reasonable quantities) is fine. However, I personally am a person who has: high cholesterol (I take Simvastatin, and I do not eat saturated fats of any kind - except when I cheat, which is probably too often). I eliminate cooking oils from my diet because they contain saturated fats. If they did not have saturated fats, I would probably use them, because I like the flavors. And Dr. Ornish would probably say it's okay, too.

Dr. Ornish states in his explanation of the scientifically-proven program to reverse heart disease, that the reason to refrain from the use of cooking oils, is to eliminate saturated fats, which are scientifically proven to raise cholesterol levels and contribute to heart disease and heart attacks.

I AM NOT TELLING ANYONE ON THIS FORUM TO NOT USE OIL. Please, keep on doing what you do. I just happened to (unwisely) mention it in a post.

I DO GET A HEALTHY PORTION OF CALORIES FROM FATS. Fats are found in foods. Avocadoes and nuts and seeds have LOTS of fat. So does anything dairy. Brown rice has fat in it. Beans have fat. It IS possible to have adequate fat content in the diet without adding cooking oil, even my diet, which is vegetarian. It would amount to getting 10% of your calories from fats if a person ate a vegetarian diet without adding cooking oils. Since this diet, combined with daily exercise of the aerobic variety, stress reduction, and social support, IS SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TO REVERSE HEART DISEASE, I am following it. If you or someone you know has heart disease, I would highly recommend this program, including all four facets of it (diet, exercise, stress reduction, social support).

I do respectfully request that you acknowledge that this no-added-fat diet is for me only, as a person trying to reverse heart disease, and is not intended for healthy people who walk around the world with a ultra-light house on their backs. DO NOT FOLLOW THIS DIET IF YOU ARE HEALTHY. IT IS AN EXTREMELY RESTRICTED DIET FOR MEDICAL PATIENTS ONLY, WITH A MEDICAL RESULT AS ITS GOAL.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion. I need to consider more carefully the things I say on this forum. Sorry!