Dietary Oils for Cooking and How to Use Them

Best Uses for Popular General Purpose Healthy Cooking Oils

Nov 10, 2009 Bridget Coila

Choosing the right dietary oil can be tough. This guide to healthy cooking oils can help narrow down the most popular options for general kitchen use.

Because of the ways that different oils heat up, their nutritional composition and their health benefits, it can be confusing for a home cook to choose which oil to use for a given circumstance. Here are a few of the most popular cooking oils and how to use them best in the kitchen.

Canola Oil/ Rapesed Oil – One of the Healthiest All-Purpose Cooking Oils

Canola oil, made from a variety of rapeseed developed by plant breeders in Canada, is commonly used as the primary cooking oil in many households.

Because of its ability to handle medium to high temperatures and a mild flavor, canola oil is a good choice for stir-frying, baking and sautéeing. It also works well in marinades and salad dressings.

Canola oil is low in saturated fats, the dangerous fats that cause heart disease and high in healthy monounsaturated fats. It is also high in the omega-3 fat alpha linolenic acid, an extremely healthy fat that the body can't make on its own. The balance of good fats in canola oil have led it to be promoted by organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association as a heart-healthy dietary oil that also helps improve insulin tolerance and liver function.

Soybean Oil and Vegetable Oil for Cooking

Vegetable oil is extremely common edible oil with a bland flavor and middle-of-the-road nutritional profile. Many vegetable oils that don't specify their contents are a mixture of oils containing primarily soybean oil with corn, palm and sunflower oils as common additional ingredients. They may contain trans fats, which are one of the unhealthiest fats in the diet.

A better choice is pure soybean oil, which has a similar taste and heat tolerance to mixed vegetable oil. Soybean oil contains more omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E than vegetable oil. However, consumers should avoid soybean oil that has been hydrogenated, as this alters the fats into a less healthy configuration.

Corn Oil in a Healthy Diet

Another popular option for stir-frying and sautéing, corn oil is low in saturated fat, mild tasting and one of the most inexpensive edible oils. Corn oil contains fairly high levels of omega-6 oils, which most people get more than enough of in their daily diet. Choosing an oil with more omega-3s, such as canola oil, is usually a better choice for health than corn oil, but corn oil's low cost keeps it popular among consumers.

Sunflower Oil as a Healthy Oil Option that Lowers Cholesterol

Low in saturated fat and high in vitamin E, sunflower oil is good for stir-fries, salad dressings and sautéing. It doesn't have much omega-3, so anyone using this oil often should find other dietary sources of that kind of healthy fat. Because of the mix of fats in sunflower oil, there are indications that it might help lower cholesterol levels. Sunflower oil comes in three varieties with different amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, but all are low in saturated fats, the unhealthiest kind of fat.

Healthy Cooking Oil from the Safflower Plant

High in polyunsaturated fat and including a mixture of omega-3 and omega-6, safflower oil is good for cooking things at a medium temperature, including both stove top cooking and baking. There have been research studies showing that safflower oil helps reduce belly fat and modulate blood glucose levels in diabetics.

Popular Olive Oil – Edible Oil With a Distinctive Taste

Olive oil is one of the most popular dietary oils today, as well as one of the healthiest, with high levels of monounsaturated fat. But it does have some limitations. The rich taste of olive oil permeates anything it is cooked with. It also doesn't hold up to high heat well, making it better suited for low heat cooking, salad dressings and as a drizzle over breads or vegetables.

Some evidence has accumulated showing that the antioxidants and phytochemicals in olive oil may lower cholesterol levels and help prevent some kinds of cancer.

Other Oils Good for Special Uses

While these are the most popular oils used in cooking, there are plenty of other oil options available for adventurous cooks. Many nut oils have beneficial properties that make them suitable for general cooking and special meals, as described in the article Gourmet Cooking with Nut Oils.

Other types, such as flaxseed and sesame oils are popular in places around the globe.

With such a rich variety of dietary oils to choose from, home cooks should stock their pantry with a few different kinds and experiment to find the best option for their health and lifestyle. However, it should be kept in mind that all oils are fats, so they should be used sparingly no matter which variety is chosen.

Resources:

Dietary fats: Know which types to choose Mayo Clinic website

Belury M et al. " Comparison of Dietary CLA with Safflower Oil on Body Composition in Obese Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 17, 2009

The copyright of the article Dietary Oils for Cooking and How to Use Them in Healthy Cooking is owned by Bridget Coila. Permission to republish Dietary Oils for Cooking and How to Use Them in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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