What’s the best thing for you to eat today? It’s a tricky question to answer because even if we’re all trying to eat healthy, balanced diets – we all do it a little differently. And there’s no one-size-fits all when it comes to healthy eating. For some, the Paleo diet is ideal. For others, being vegan is the answer. But wherever you fall on the food spectrum, there’s one food group that you should avoid: vegetable oils. Scroll down for more information on what to eat today.

Cornwell-educated family physician, Dr. Cate Shanahan, is known for her work in nutrition and longetiviy. Her latest book, Deep Nutrition, explores how many diets are getting it wrong by placing too much focus on the three macro nutrients: carbohydrates, fats an proteins.

Instead Dr. Shanahan wants you to look at food from an empowering, historical perspective.

Back in the 1950’s, she says, there was a huge fear of fats, and it led people to eschew animal fats, like butter, lard and tallow. They traded in those fats for vegetable oils. And while vegetable oils might sound like a safe food, Dr. Shahanan believes they are your brain’s worst enemy. What’s more, vegetable oils make up about 25 to 45 percent of the average American diet.

Therefore, many bright and beautiful woman – like you and me – could be compromising not only our body’s health, but our brain health by consuming too many of the wrong type of vegetable oils.

According to Dr. Shanahan, you should avoid certain vegetable oils, like soy, sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed. That’s because the molecules in these oils are very susceptible to something called oxidate stress.

Oxidative stress happens when oxygen reacts to other chemicals in an uncontrolled way, and that can lead to inflammation in various parts of the body.

So, ask yourself how much and how often you consume soy, sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed oil. And while you’re at it, try consuming other vegetable oils like avocado, olive and coconut oil.