3 healthy oils for all your cooking needs and how to use them

Overwhelmed at the thought of picking a healthy cooking oil? Why wouldn’t you be? There are so many things to consider! And it doesn’t stop with choosing one type. Oils have different smoke points (the point at which it breakdowns into really unhealthy compounds), so it’s not a one-oil-for-all-your-needs kind of fix. Here’s a lowdown on the oils you need to stock up on.

1. Extra virgin or virgin coconut oil

Extra virgin coconut oil can make you feel like you’re on an exotic getaway all year round. Except you don’t have to travel to make the most of its health benefits! The oil can help rev up metabolism that’s slow or sluggish.

If you’re someone who’s at risk of developing metabolic syndrome or have hypothyroidism, cooking with extra virgin coconut oil is a healthy choice.

Lauric acid, the major fatty acid in the oil is antimicrobial and can kill harmful viruses, fungi and bacteria that make their way into your food. It can even fight oxidative stress in your body, especially that sustained as a result of heavy drinking, as some researchers found.

Remember, hydrogenated coconut oil is not healthy due to the high heat and pressure it is subjected to during processing.

2. Olive oil

The American Heart Association recommends cutting down on saturated fat intake, including in the cooking oils you consume, to cut risk of heart disease and stroke. Which is why they suggest olive oil among the healthy alternatives you should switch to.

Of the most common cooking oils, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has the lowest oxidation rate, which means it doesn’t result in the kind of free radical damage that other vegetable oils do.

EVOO can also help cut inflammation in your body due to its Omega 3 fatty acid content. This acts as a shield for your system against inflammatory conditions like hypertension, coronary artery disease, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Olive oil also contains a lot of antioxidants. You’ll be able to get a good amount of vitamins A, D, E, and even K, through olive oil. And these can benefit everything from your eyes, hair, and skin, to your blood.

3. Avocado oil

Avocados have always been a favorite among health experts, thanks to its heart-healthy fats. The oil contains the goodness of monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid oleic acid, much like olive oil. And like olive oil, it cuts inflammatory response in the body, lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome. Animal studies have found that it it positively alters cardiovascular risk profile markers.

Avocado oil also contains lutein, a carotenoid that can improve eye health and reduce risks of age-related macular degeneration and cataract.

Using them right

Cooking oils are kind of tricky. If you don’t handle or use them right, you won’t be gaining all its wonderful benefits.

Be sure to store your oils carefully without exposing them to direct sunlight or bright lights as this can cause them to oxidize, developing free radicals that are potentially harmful. Always store cooking oils in a cold dry place like a cupboard, especially if you intend to use them slowly over a period of time.

Sometimes, you may need to swap what oils you use for each kind of cooking. Here’s how:

• Pick oils that have a high smoking point if you need to fry your food. That means EVOO is a bad idea, because it has a very low smoking point but olive oil is fine.
• For roasting, steaming, baking, or using in cold food, EVOO and the other healthy oils work like a charm.
• Avocado oil is also great for sauteing vegetables because of its distinctive flavor that enhances the taste of the meal.
• If you’re grilling or roasting food at a high temperature, avocado oil is better than olive oil because it has a higher smoking point.
• Coconut oil too has a low smoking point is best used for low temperature sauteing or baking.

A common concern is whether or not to reuse oil after you’ve cooked with it once. This is typical when you use a whole lot of oil for deep frying and think twice about tossing it all out after just one use. Unfortunately, heating the oil to such high temperatures even once destabilizes it, causing it to break down. The more you reuse it, the worse it gets.

One thumb rule to check if oil has decomposed during cooking, is to look at color, consistency, smell, and clarity. Has it turned darker? Has it become thicker and almost gummy in consistency? Does it have foam on top? Is it cloudy? Does it have an acrid smell? If you answered yes to any of these, it is time to toss it out.

Besides this, if you have heated your oil to over 375°F, it may accumulate HNE( 4-hydroxy-2-trans-nonenal), a toxic substance that can raise your LDL cholesterol levels and increase your risk of Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, stroke, liver disease, and Parkinson’s.

Oils to avoid cooking with

When it comes to cooking oils, avoid those that are high in trans fats, have saturated fat content of more than 4 gm per tablespoon, and/or are partially hydrogenated oils.

• Vegetable oils like soybean and canola oils have trans fats in them and therefore better avoided. Plus, the omega 6 fatty acids in them can also increase inflammation in the body. Consuming them could put you at greater risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.
• Margarine and vegetable shortening are highly processed hydrogenated fats. Their saturated fat content makes them nearly as bad as eating animal fats.
• Animal fats like lard are rich in saturated fats and not recommended by the American Heart Council as healthy cooking options.

Besides the obviously less healthy oils, there are some that are actually great for health but don’t make a good choice when it comes to cooking. These may be better consumed as supplements.

• Fish oil offers a world of goodness but may seem challenging to use in your cooking, even as a seafood lover. So how do you use this oil that’s packed with the goodness of omega-3 fatty acid, and vitamins A and D? In a word — don’t. The oil contains far too much polyunsaturated fat to make it a good choice. You shouldn’t consume more than a spoonful a day and with cooking you’re likely to need far more.
• Another oil that’s great for you but better taken in small doses is flaxseed oil. It could help lower blood pressure, improve heart health, cut heart disease risk, and treat constipation, but has some pitfalls. It can interfere with other medication rendering them less effective, and may also not be properly absorbed by diabetics. It is also a very delicate oil and does not hold up well to heating and is easily oxidized when exposed to heat.