If I could advise my younger self, I would say: “Learn how to cook” (for real). It turns out olive oil is all you need, and even not much of that. I discovered that most of my use of oil was simply covering for my lack of ability.
It’s instructive to remember that two hundred years ago, palm oil/vegetable oil/canola oil/avocado oil/almond oil/etc didn’t exist, nonstick pans didn’t exist, and somehow people could still cook amazing food.
Canola is made from rapeseed, which is toxic before processing. (And mostly not toxic after processing. ) The oil it produces used to be used only for greasing engine parts.
It is not that they lead to obesity on their own, but over consumption of them might and the effect they have on the body (inflammation) might have other secondary effects (insulin resistance, higher cholesterol, fatigue).
To say it is "just a fitness fad" is dismissing a ton of good research:
Meta comment: parent and GP are an interesting contrast between the "settled science" drum-beat dismissiveness narrative and the science/study-based curiosity counter-narrative.
Here's to hoping that with the death of the dollar, the "settled science" practitioners lose their bullhorns.
You don’t need oil to cook. Your diet will look a lot different, but you certainly don’t need oil to cook.