What Is The Healthiest Cooking Oil?
healthy cooking oils good fat bad fat trans fat LDL HDL Turbo Tagger
Saturated and trans fats are BAD and polysaturated and monosaturated are GOOD fats.
Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). Nuts including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios, avocado, canola and olive oil are high in MUFAs. MUFAs have also been found to help in weight loss, particularly body fat.
Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Seafood like salmon and fish oil, as well as corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils are high in polyunsaturated fats. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.
Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. Some plant foods are also high in saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.
Trans fats are invented as scientists began to "hydrogenate" liquid oils so that they can withstand better in food production process and provide a better shelf life. As a result of hydrogenation, trans fatty acids are formed. Trans fatty acids are found in many commercially packaged foods, commercially fried food such as French Fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn as well as in vegetable shortening and hard stick margarine.
Healthy cooking oils:
- canola oil
- peanut oil
- olive oil
- sunflower oil
- corn oil
- soft margarine (non-hydrogenated)
Unhealthy cooking oils:
- coconut oil
- hard margarine
- butter
- palm oil
- palm kernel oil
- vegetable shortening
Dr. Dominic Gaziano - Dr. G
The Feel Good Health Guy / Health & Wellness Expert
Thanks for this. The poly and monounsaturated fats are also supposed to be very beneficial for athletes, particularly those marathon runners.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--10200-0,00.html
http://drwayneandersen.com/
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Thanks for sharing and the great links!
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I have to disagree with your Unhealthy Cooking Oil list...there are two items that are quite beneficial but which have gotten a bad rap over the years...pure virgin coconut oil and raw butter. The benefits are too numerous to list here but here is a source I would like to recommend for your further investigation and study...
http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/ppnf/Articles/trans_fats_answers.htm
This comes from the Price Pottenger Foundation. There are many other informative articles on that site.
I use coconut oil everyday...for my hair and skin, in cooking and I eat about 4 tablespoons of coconut butter daily, with beneficial results. We also use raw butter.
I hope you will look further into these topics.
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Thanks for the link Susan! I try to look at all the sides and always open to new information! You know, how often have you heard this is bad for you, this is good is for you....then months or years later, the decision is flip-flopped! There is always new evidence to evaluate. Thanks!
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Thanks for that ready reckoner for healthy and unhealthy cooking mediums. However i was surprised to see coconut oil and butter in the unhealthy list (i see that someone else is too). While both have traditionally been used in Indian cuisine over the ages, there is new evidence to suggest that both have health benefits that far exceed their negative impacts.
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