I didn’t taste butter until I was ten. You see, I grew up in a margarine household, one of many families hoodwinked by anti-cholesterol zealots into believing fake butter made in a lab is better for you than the stuff that comes from a cow.

Today I denounce margarine, along with the seed oils that compose it. The anti-seed-oil position has become a bit of meme these days. Of course it’s also become politicized as a “right-wing” obsession, leading both conservatives and liberals to chalk it up to hysteria. But all of these “well, actually …” pieces use a lot of words without contradicting the fundamental premise: Seed oils – oils extracted chemically from soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, and cotton seed, to name a few – are better avoided. They’ve been linked to chronic inflammation, obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions. You can delve into the science if you like, or you can just use a simple rule of thumb: Always go with simple, unprocessed foods people have been eating for thousands of years.

Our distant ancestors probably didn’t eat protein bars, but not all modern innovations are bad. Consider the holiday travel many of us undertake at this time of year. A stash of filling, portable protein bars can save time and money and limit your intake of the usual convenient junk. These are a few of the brands we recommend: