Oil is a classic staple in any kitchen. But It turns out that some oils are better for cooking and overall health than others. This quick guide will teach you which oils cook best, which oils to avoid, and even discuss the pros and cons of oiling up your pans with cooking spray. Let’s start with the five healthiest cooking oils.
#1 OLIVE OIL: My personal favorite and go to. The main type of fat found in all kinds of olive oil is monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). MUFAs are actually considered a healthy dietary fat. If your diet replaces saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats such as MUFAs and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), you may gain certain health benefits.
#2 AVOCADO OIL: Avocado oil is especially rich in monounsaturated fat, which can show your ticker some love by improving cholesterol numbers. The über oil also supplies lutein, an antioxidant shown to bolster eye health. In addition, the white coats at Ohio State University determined avocado oil can goose your dinner salad’s potency by improving the absorption of fat-soluble antioxidants like beta-carotene and lycopene present in vegetables.
#3 CANOLA OIL: A big upside is that, compared to many other vegetable oils, canola has a healthier omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio of about 2-to-1. In comparison, corn oil has a ratio of 7-to-1. It’s believed that the consumption of high amounts of omega-6 fats in comparison to omega-3s can encourage inflammation in the body, leading to heightened disease risk and perhaps even poor recovery from training. In fact, the omega-3 fat in canola oil is alpha-linolenic acid, which has been linked to reduced risk for heart disease.
#4 COCONUT OIL: Coconut Oil is an incredible source of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which have been shown to have many health benefits. Most of the fats we consume are long chain fatty acids that must be broken down before they can be absorbed. While unrefined coconut oil likely has higher amounts of naturally occurring antioxidants, refined coconut oil does retain the high levels of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). Because of their unique structure, MCTs are more likely to burned for energy in the liver rather than being stored as body fat. While the weight-loss powers of coconut oil have largely been overblown, a 2015 report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , which reviewed several studies, did indeed find evidence that replacing some of the long-chain fatty acids in the diet with MCTs like those found in coconut oil may bring about reductions in fat mass.
#5 RICE BRAN OIL: Nearly 80 percent of the calories in rice-bran oil hails from heart-healthy unsaturated fats, while research suggests that an antioxidant compound in the oil called gamma-oryzanol can improve cholesterol levels, making this another reason why rice bran oil is a champion for heart health. You can also count on rice oil as a source of vitamin E, which is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells, including muscle cells, from free-radical damage. It also has a long shelf life and therefore is less prone to rancidity than many other oils.
OILS TO AVOID:
The one oil you might want to keep out of the frying pan is sunflower. A British investigation found that this oil from the sun-worshiping plant produced aldehydes, potentially cancer-causing compounds, at levels 20 times higher than that recommended by the World Health Organization in response to heating.
Corn oil was also found to possess disturbing amounts of aldehydes, whereas olive oil, canola oil, butter, and even goose fat produced far fewer aldehydes when heated. While there is no published data linking sunflower oil to an increased risk of cancer risk, you may want to limit its use when cooking.