There are so many cooking oil options on the grocery store shelves! It's confusing! I'm here to take the guess out of what to buy because some oils are healthier than others. You also want to match the correct oil with the cooking method you're using so you don't exceed the smoking point, which degrades the oil and makes it less healthy.
I Do Not Recommend Vegetable Oils
Common types of vegetable oils include palm, soybean, sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed, and canola oil. Generic 'vegetable oil' is typically made from a blend of several types of these plants.
Pros
Inexpensive
Long shelf life
Minimum flavor
Cons
Heavily processed and refined.
They're unstable, meaning when they're exposed to chemicals in the refining process, they're stripped of their antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Often made from genetically modified (GMO) plants, especially soy, corn, and canola. GMO foods destroy the fragile bacteria in your microbiome, which is detrimental to health.
May be partially hydrogenated, which contains trans fats. These highly processed fats increase the risk of heart disease and weight gain.
High in omega-6 fats which fuel the body's inflammatory pathways, and also reduces availability of omega-3 fats (the good fats), and this results in more inflammation.
I Do Recommend These Healthy Fats and Oils
Here are the Pros, Cons, and Uses, including the smoke points, for avocado oil, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, and ghee. What type of cooking oil do you like to use?
With Love,
Kelly
References:
Micha, R. and Mozaffarian D. Saturated Fat and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes: a Fresh Look at the Evidence. Lipids. 2010; 45(10): 893-905.