What Are The Health Properties Of Different Cooking Oils?

Even registered dietitians disagree about which cooking oils are best avoided and which are safe, making healthy and safe choices difficult for the average home cook. Grocery store shelves offer many options: avocados, greens, canola, grape seeds, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, safflower, soybeans, palm, coconut and olive oil.

Experts agree that cold-pressed avocados and extra virgin olive oil are healthy. First, both have high "smoke points" that can withstand the heat before they begin to burn, rot, and lose their nutritional benefits. Maya Fussell, a registered dietitian at Yale New Haven Hospital, says avocado oil has a higher smoke point than extra virgin olive oil and is the best choice when used over high heat.

According to a study published in the journal Vascular Pharmacology, when fat is broken down during cooking, it oxidizes, increasing your risk of heart disease. Remember to use the oven fan when cooking with oil. According to a study in PubMed, oils that reach their smoke point and burn release a substance called acrolein into the air, which can be harmful to the lungs.

"If you're cooking something quickly in the oven, like roasting vegetables, use extra virgin olive oil," says Fussell. She recommends using extra virgin olive oil with vinegar and water when making salad dressings at home, but using a little more vinegar and water to reduce the olive oil to vinegar ratio to three to one. Avocado oil is more expensive than extra virgin olive oil, so it can be saved for high-temperature cooking.

The cheapest options are olive and canola oils, says Fussell. Olive oil is more processed than extra virgin olive oil, but it contains omega-3 fatty acids and offers health benefits. Home cooks can also add a little wine and water to reduce the amount of cooking oil. Canola oil is processed, but Guy Crosby, assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, writes, "Canola oil is a safe, healthy fat that lowers LDL cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. Oil ] or contain oil.In fact, in the randomized trial that showed the most significant reduction in heart disease risk, canola oil was used as the primary form of fat.

However, Alyssa Adler, another registered dietitian in general and bariatric surgery at NuVance Health in Norwalk Hospital, recommends avoiding canola, sunflower, cottonseed, sesame seed, grapeseed and corn oils. "These oils are heavily processed and lose a lot of nutrients that way," says Adler.

A common misconception is that the omega-6 fatty acids in seed oils are bad for you, Fussell says, noting that the argument that consuming omega-6s increases your risk of inflammatory and metabolic diseases is flawed. "We have no evidence that increasing dietary omega-6s increases the risk of heart disease." In fact, a 2019 article published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation on the role of omega-6 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease analyzed 30 studies from 13 countries and concluded that higher omega-6 levels are associated with an inferior. Events related to cardiovascular disease

Widely recommended as a healthy way to eat to prevent heart disease, cancer, dementia and other diseases, the Mediterranean diet has a five-to-two ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, which is good, Fussell says. Omega-6s are a problem in the typical Western diet because the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is 10 to one.

Fussell recommends staying away from overly processed foods as much as possible and cooking most meals at home instead of eating out. “The food industry uses vegetable oil in highly processed foods, but more worryingly, the food contains more refined sugars, added sugars, saturated and trans fats. [It's] more practical to boost your omega-3s through whole food sources like fish, nuts and seeds than it is to worry about depleting your omega-6s," says Fussell. "Choose whole foods as much as possible."

Fussell says vegetable oils get a bad rap in the food and restaurant industry because of the way they are used to fry food. When restaurants reuse and reheat vegetable oils, "but the oils create unhealthy byproducts like trans fatty acids," she says. "Cooking with vegetable oil at home is no problem." If your budget allows, dietitians say extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil are better. Regular cooking oils are refined, bleached and deodorized before being packaged for consumers, while extra virgin olive oil is cold-pressed and does not undergo any heat or chemical treatments.

Coconut oil is another cooking oil that has generated mixed messages from nutritionists and researchers. Adler says some people claim the presence of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) can help with weight loss and reduce inflammation, but WebMD says there's no evidence to support that. Both Adler and Fussell say coconut oil is high in saturated fat, which is bad for heart health. Fussell advises people to "avoid any tropical oils like palm and coconut oils," which are solid at room temperature. "Any liquid at room temperature will be a good choice."

Both registered dietitians advise people to read labels on processed foods, even if you've been eating them for years or are vegan. Mayonnaise contains soybean oil; Oat milk contains sunflower oil; Vegan cheese contains coconut oil; Vegan oils include palm, soy and canola oils. "If you're going to buy a veggie burger," Adler said, "what do they use there? Do you use soy protein? Do they add extra preservatives to get the same texture and flavor as a meat product?"

Above all, says Adler, "always read the labels."

Cooking Oils: What and When to Dr. using Sarah Berry