Regardless of your diet, you probably cook with some amount of oil – it’s often an essential ingredient for preparing vegetables, meats, eggs, sauces and more, and it also provides texture, lubrication and flavor. But not all cooking oils are created equal when it comes to nutrition.
“A healthy cooking oil is an oil that is predominantly made from monounsaturated fatty acids or omega 3 fatty acids,” explains Kylene Bogden, RD and co-founder of the Nutrition Advisory Group. FWD fuel.
But the composition of an oil in the bottle is only part of the picture when it comes to its healthiness. The other critical piece is its smoke point, or the temperature at which the oil is no longer stable. Oils have a variety of smoke points and should not be used for cooking above this point. So depending on what you’re cooking, the healthiest cooking oil will also be one that stands up to high temperatures.
“Each oil has a different smoke point, which is the temperature at which the oil begins to break down and produce harmful compounds,” explains Noah Quezada, RDN and CEO of Noah’s Nutrition. “It’s important to use oils with a high smoke point when cooking, as overheating oils can cause harmful chemicals to be released.”
Of course, to benefit from the nutritional potential of a cooking oil, you must actually want to use it Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, RDN, recommends selecting your oils with this three-point test: “Are the oils themselves nourishing and can they withstand heat? Not to mention that you like the taste of them, so would you reap the benefits of using them? She notes that flavorful oils “can help make the foods we need most in the diet, like vegetables, more delicious and perhaps easier to eat.”
Read on to find out what nutritionists say are the best healthy cooking oils—as well as some oils to avoid.
What makes cooking oil healthy?
A healthy cooking oil is one that is low in saturated and trans fats, and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. “When any of these replace a less healthy oil or are mixed with another oil, that can be a health win,” explains Bazilian.
The American Heart Association recommends choosing oils with less than four grams of saturated fat per tablespoon and no partially hydrogenated oils or trans fats, it notes Amy AdamsRDN
The healthiest cooking oils to use
Olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil is often considered a great cooking oil because it’s full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, explains Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and author of Recipe for survival: what you can do to live a healthier and more environmentally friendly life. These are anti-inflammatory and beneficial in lowering LDL cholesterol levels. “However, it doesn’t have a high smoke point and is best used as a salad dressing, or to decorate pasta, or for slow cooking,” she says. “Its low smoke point is due to the fact that it contains more microparticles from the olives themselves—[resulting in] the greenest color.”
Regular olive oil is also healthy and still full of monounsaturated fats, but it’s not as anti-inflammatory as it has been processed more and some of those plant nutrients (phytonutrients) have been removed. “However, it can be cooked to a higher temperature, higher smoke point, and is therefore better for frying and browning,” explains Hunnes.
Peanut oil
Especially popular in Asian cuisines, this is another healthy monounsaturated oil that has a very high smoke point and can be used for deep-fat frying, though such a preparation method “would negate its health benefits,” says Hunnes. “It is an oil that does not have much flavor, despite its peanut derivative,” he adds, and that may be desirable for its taste neutrality and versatility in dishes.
Avocado oil
Refined avocado oil has a high smoke point of 520 degrees (and unrefined at 375 degrees). It’s also full of monounsaturated fats and is good for baking as it has almost no flavor.
“Avocado oil is a good cooking oil and it carries with it some, though certainly not all, of the nutrients that a whole avocado has,” says Bazilian. (In practice, Adams adds, “although avocado oil is fine for sautéing, it’s quite expensive.”)
Canola oil
Canola oil has a smoke point of 400 to 450 degrees and is low in saturated fat. And because it doesn’t have much flavor, says Quezada, “this makes it a good choice for recipes that call for subtle flavors.”
chia oil
This oil is less familiar to casual cooks in the US, but it’s starting to get noticed, says Bazilian. She recommends it as a healthy oil because “it has a very high smoke point and is stable at high temperatures due to its high antioxidants that remain in the cooking oil.”
What makes a cooking oil “unhealthy”?
Although our report suggests a lot of subjectivity even among registered nutritionists, some oils are generally considered unhealthy because they contain high levels of unhealthy saturated and/or unsaturated fats. “Partially hydrogenated oils found in products like vegetable shortening are the least healthy because they usually contain trans fats,” explains Adams. “Trans fats are man-made fats created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil.”
Trans fats simultaneously lower “good” cholesterol (HDL) while raising “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and have been linked to heart disease. To determine if you’re cooking with trans fat, look for “partially hydrogenated oil” on the ingredient list.
Without even looking at the label or researching ingredients, you can tell which oils contain saturated fat because they’re solid at room temperature, Adams explains.
Bogden adds: “Oils that are not ideal to use are highly refined and contain a higher ratio of omega 6 to omega 3, a ratio that, if consumed routinely, can greatly contribute to inflammation.”
Cooking oils to use sparingly
- Palm oil is high in palmitic acid, “a type of saturated fat that has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases,” explains Quezada.
- Butter is high in saturated fat and trans fatty acids, “which have been shown to increase the risk of heart disease,” he says.
- Sunflower oil has a high smoke point, “but it contains a lot of omega 6 fatty acids,” according to smooth young, Doctor. and registered nutritionist. “Too many omega 6s are considered pro-inflammatory, and eating too many omega 6s without balancing them with omega 3s could lead to inflammation, so you may want to limit this oil.”
- Margarine contains a unhealthy combination of saturated and trans fats.
What’s the deal with coconut oil?
Among the many dieticians who contributed comments to this story, coconut oil was controversial. Some called it healthy; others don’t.
“Depending on who you ask, some people love coconut oil, while others think it should be avoided. This is due to its high saturated fat content,” explains Dr. Young. “Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat compared to other vegetable oils. The American Heart Association advises replacing foods high in saturated fats like coconut oil with foods high in unsaturated fats like olive oil.
Because it has a high smoke point, it’s good for cooking, but because of its high saturated fat content, it should be consumed in moderation, she says.
Bazilian agrees with the approach. “Coconut oil, which has gotten a lot of attention, is actually a saturated fat, but it’s shorter chain and can be used sparingly,” he says.
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