Deciding on the healthiest cooking oil to use in your dish isn't always quite as simple as it seems, because you've actually got a good number of options. Despite the ubiquity of ever-popular olive oil, there are plenty of other nutrient-rich cooking oils that deserve a spot in your pantry.
While most cooking oils have pretty similar nutritional profiles in terms of calorie and total fat content, they do differ considerably when it comes to flavor, odor, and cooking properties. So the best healthy cooking oil for the job really depends on what it is you're making. Whether you're baking, frying, cooking with a cast iron skillet, or whisking up a vinaigrette, there's a cooking oil that has exactly what you need. Read on for more on what it means for an oil to be considered healthy, how to choose an oil for whatever you’re making, and a list of our favorites.
Here’s what we mean by “healthy cooking oils.”
Oils are an important part of a healthy diet because they are a key source of essential fatty acids and vitamin E, according to the USDA's Dietary Guidelines. (Not to mention they make food taste delicious and help keep you fuller longer.) Oils are also rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, the kinds people mean when they say “healthy fats,” and the kind we’re advised to eat more of (in place of saturated fat). As SELF has reported, these unsaturated fats are good for cholesterol and blood pressure, and can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Like all dietary fats, oils also contain at least a little saturated fat (“unhealthy fats”), which some research (but not all) shows has negative effects on cholesterol and heart health in large amounts, as SELF has reported. (BTW: Unhealthy fats also include human-made trans fats, but they’ve been banned in the U.S. because of their link to heart disease.)
Oils can vary a lot in the makeup of their fat content, and basically, the more poly- and monounsaturated fats an oil has, the more healthy it’s considered, and the more saturated fats it has, the less healthy it’s considered, Yasi Ansari, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and assistant director of performance nutrition for UC Berkeley Athletics, tells SELF.
At the same time, blanket-labeling foods “healthy” or “unhealthy” is always a little tricky. Nutrition is a complex science, healthy choices look different for everyone, and all foods can have their place in a diverse and balanced diet. Plus, other factors like cost and availability are also important to consider here, Cara Harbstreet, M.S., R.D., L.D., of Street Smart Nutrition, tells SELF. For instance, “canola and vegetable oil, while not necessarily the standouts in the nutrition category, are widely available and relatively affordable compared to the other oils,” Harbstreet explains. Despite having a slightly less impressive fat makeup than, say, olive oil, canola and vegetable oils are still quite rich in unsaturated fats and very low in saturated fat.
Here’s how to choose the healthiest cooking oil based on what you’re making.
The single most important factor when choosing which healthy cooking oil to use is its smoke point. When an oil gets so hot it starts smoking, it starts to taste burnt or bitter. What’s more, “Heating an oil past its unique smoke point can damage or degrade the molecular structure of fatty acids and produce potentially harmful free radicals,” Harbstreet says. In general, the more refined an oil is from its natural state (or “virgin”) an oil is, the higher its smoke point is, and the hotter it can get without degrading. Meanwhile, more virgin or unrefined oils may have more flavor, but they’re more volatile and less able to handle heat.
