Cooking Oils: What's Healthy And What's Not

We've all heard that certain types of oil are healthy for us -- studies have found, for instance, that two tablespoons of olive oil a day may be linked to heart benefits and early laboratory research has indicated that there may be a possible connection between flaxseed oil and several health conditions.

But not all oils are on the same playing field -- and some are better for you than others.

"It can get pretty confusing with the variety of oils on the market today," Michel Nischan says on this "Quick Tip" from Pure and Simple with Michel Nischan. Check out his healthy, money-saving breakdown on how to choose the best oil for cooking and flavoring your favorite dishes.

Comments

[Ethan Dussault]

02:47 PM on 06/20/2011

Rice Bran Oil. Do the research. Best.

[wronald]

11:22 PM on 06/05/2011

What an ironic juxtaposition. Oils and fats are the most caloric substance on the planet. Avoid oils. Eat whole foods. Anything in olive oil is in olives--plus all the good stuff that didn't get pressed out.

[HerrMonk]

11:29 AM on 06/11/2011

Yeah, use butter instead.

[Ganched]

04:04 PM on 06/05/2011

There is some seriously unhealthy advice in this clip. The seed oils he recommends for cooking are poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs include omega3 and omega6 fatty acids). Heating PUFAs will cause them to oxidize - which is real bad. Why? Oxidized oils generally form "trans fats" - and they are definitely linked to heart disease, cancer, ED in men, etc. Although grape seed oil would appear a good choice because of its high smoke point, with over 70% omega6 PUFAs - it has lots of places for oxygen to react with this oil and form trans fats - avoid cooking with this one for health reasons.

What you want to cook with are either saturated fats (which are resistant to oxidation as there is no where for oxygen to bind with the oil) or mono-unsaturated fats (room for one oxygen molecule to bind with the oil). Saturated fats really are the best choice for healthy cooking - butter, lard, and tallow. Good mono-unsaturated fats for cooking include coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, peanut oil, and palm oil.

I agree with his comments on flax oil - which is a great choice - and would also recommend for salads a tasty Japanese mint oil called "Shisho".

[polishlogician]

03:04 AM on 06/06/2011

coconut oil is saturated...

[50PlusSam]

03:44 AM on 06/05/2011

I use either olive oil for seasoning salads or grilled fish etc. and canola oil when frying.
http://www.vegetarian-zone.com

[DonsBlog]

04:45 PM on 06/01/2011

what they believe this week. Next week may differ.
The niaspan trials show that medicine really has no clue how fats and cholesterol affect the body. Look for lots of conjecture in the future.

[Parkite]

06:10 PM on 05/31/2011

Canola oil is not healthy. Most of it is GMO.

[HerrMonk]

11:30 AM on 06/11/2011

The health issues with conola oil are not related to it being GMO...

[Runey]

03:44 PM on 05/31/2011

ugh. i got nothing from this article! He basically just kinda bunched canola and grapeseed into an 'equal' heading.. and they aren't equal at all.. grapeseed, from what i've been able to research, is much better for you than canola.

I also cook with olive oil frequently, and it beats out canola oil for healthiness

[HerrMonk]

11:33 AM on 06/11/2011

The article basically takes the position that carcinogenics are bad... and it's right, and treats the fattty acid profile as secondary.

Olive oil is "okay", but for years it's been touted (especially by the veg community) as God's gift to the cooking world... only it breaksdown and you get carcinogens and transfats at cooking temps.

Both grapseed and conala are good at high temps, but grape seed has more Omega 3, so it's better in that sense.

[Steveh0607]

09:04 AM on 05/29/2011

Butter, ghee, lard and coconut oil and best and healthiest to cook with. Use good olive oil on salads and such.

[polishlogician]

03:10 AM on 06/06/2011

what?...you mean the stuff people used for generations is better than the last 50 years of insulin-resistant, trans-fat producing garbage...next you're going to say cattle should eat grass and not corn shot up with sugar and antibiotics...shhhh, agribusiness and drug companies want to ignore that...

[Terri Lorz]

08:09 AM on 05/28/2011

Thanks - I did not know that - Terri Jo Lorz

[Peter Gubbe]

09:00 PM on 05/27/2011

Olive Oil is the healthiest oil to eat and cook with. The benefits far out-way the negatives. Most back-goods like brownies and cakes certainly have a change of taste. I never eat or cook those with a thought of health anyway.
http://healthyeating423.blogspot.com

[HerrMonk]

11:35 AM on 06/11/2011

It's really not.

Try and argue it is. It smokes i.e. good carcinogenic at cooking temps, creating free-radicals and transfat, and even at room temp, doesn't have a very good fatty acid profile.

It's probably the most over-rated oil out there, mostly because it's a cultural food.

[Peter Gubbe]

11:56 AM on 06/11/2011

Culture or not Olive Oil compared to many others is healthier. Maybe not healthy overall, but still healthier. Canola will break-down at lower temperatures than Olive Oil. I think you forget or do not know this is where the carcinogen-affects come from cooking at higher temps. Grape Seed is phenomenal but, like Canola and many other oils breaks down or burns to produce carcinogens. This is why Peanut Oils are used with Woks to deal with the higher heat. http://tiny.cc/1wzwg

[w84it]

04:57 PM on 05/27/2011

If I want olive oil, I eat olives :)

I stopped using cooking oils and oils in my salad dressings. I love it!

[HerrMonk]

11:35 AM on 06/11/2011

Olive oil isn't a cooking oil.

[itsagamble]

06:06 AM on 07/08/2011

what kind of oil-free dressings are you eating that are so delicious?

[StephenJK]

07:51 AM on 07/22/2011

Straight vinegar with salt and pepper.

[nondiagnostic]

09:42 AM on 05/27/2011

Either this page isn't loading right for me, or a hyperlink is missing. I see three short paragraphs, but there's no meaningful content about cooking oils here. The last sentence I see is "Check out his healthy, money-saving breakdown on how to choose the best oil for cooking and flavoring your favorite dishes," and no obvious related link. I've temporarily enabled all scripts and am still having the same issue.

[Steveh0607]

08:37 AM on 07/19/2011

"...there's no meaningful content...". Exactly.

[beauley]

09:05 AM on 05/27/2011

The highest quality olive oil can be bought at a good price if one knows what to look for. Because this oil is so valuable for human nutrition it is worth the effort to get the very best available for the best price
Buying the Best Quality Olive Oil for Your Money
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2387090/buying_the_best_quality_olive_oil_for.html?cat=5.