The IYO summary
Not all cooking oils are created equal, and some are downright unhealthy.
The good ones
Oil
Benefits
Notes
Olive oil is the cornerstone of the longevity promoting Mediterranean diet.
As you would expect it has many health benefits. It can improve or help treat – digestion issues, weight management difficulties, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular diseases.
Smoke point : Low – it’s not good for deep frying.
Use for drizzling on salads, pasta, and bread. It’s okay to use for a quick sauté or for baking.
Store somewhere cool, dry, and dark
High in healthy fats, antioxidants and nutrients. It’s great for the heart, brain and overall health.
Some oils definitely have different factions arguing over their benefits or dangers. You will not find this with avocado oil, its all good.
Smoke point : Very high.
The safest oil for high heat cooking, also great for salad dressings and condiments.
It also makes a great beauty treatment for hair and skin.
A more processed version of Olive oil.
It shares many of the health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil but lacks some important antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. It also is light-tasting ( some would say bland ).
Smoke point : Very high.
A great oil for high heat cooking. It’s OK for salad dressings and condiments, but I definitely prefer the extra virgin.
The contentious one
Advocates claim it’s a super health food, helping with everything from alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer and inflammation. The other point of view focuses on the high saturated fat content, which may increase the risk of heart disease. I will leave the detailed discussion to our Coconut oil debate video.
Smoke point :
Extra virgin : Medium, use for mid-temperature cooking.
Choose unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil.
Buyer beware
There are many types of vegetable oil – canola, cottonseed oil, corn oil, soya bean etc. They all have a few things in common:
– they are highly processed, ‘unnatural’ oils, that involve an unholy combination of chemicals and industrial processes to produce.
– many have high omega-6 content which can lead to increased inflammation in the body and contribute to disease.
– they often contain nasty trans fats
– they are high in polyunsaturated fats which are highly unstable and oxidize easily in the body.