Q: Is hydrogenated vegetable oil unhealthy? I eat peanut butter and it has HVO. Is it better to eat pure peanut butter that only has peanuts?

A: Yes! And I should've mentioned this last time I was talking about peanut butter... Hydrogenated oils / partiall hydrogenated oils / trans fatty acids are all just about the worst thing you can put in your body. They increases the levels of LDL cholesterol ('bad cholesterol'), decrease levels of HDL cholesterol ('good cholesterol'), clog your arteries, increase risk of type II diabetes and a host of other problems. The reason they're used is because they're cheap, taste good, and store for the long time (they're essentially already spoiled fats, so they don't spoil any more). But they are anything but good for you! Be careful because they're used in many products you might never think of as containing them. Besides baked and fried foods, they're often used in breakfast cereals. Read the nutrition label fine print carefully!

As you guessed, natural peanut butter which contains only peanuts and maybe salt is what you should be eating. Even better, try natural almond butter! Almonds have a lot of healthy monounsaturated fat (same as olive oil) while peanuts are mostly omega-6 polyunsaturated which most people get too much of already.

In general I have a very simple yet very effective rule of thumb as to what foods to buy and what foods to avoid. Look at the food's nutrition label ingredient list. If there's more than 2-3 ingredients listed and especially if you can't even pronounce some of their names, then put it back on the shelf.