Cooking Oil Confusion

The consumption of cooking oils has increased dramatically in the last century. But with so (so!) many options out there, it can be hard to know which one are healthy and which ones are harmful for us.

But what do “healthy” and “harmful” cooking oils even mean when we are talking about our health? For the most part, it comes down to inflammation. While oils have various nutritional components, the ones that have big impact on inflammation are omega 3s and omega 6s. Omega 3s and 6s are both essential fatty acids meaning our bodies can’t make them on their own so we need to consume them through food or supplement. We need them both but we also need them to be in the correct ratio. Way too many omega 6s without enough omega 3s promotes an inflammatory pathway in our body which over time can lead to chronic inflammation. Research has shown that chronic inflammation is linked to things like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis (to name a few).

This is where cooking oils come in. The following cooking oils are high in omega 6s and consuming too much of them can lead to overall inflammation:

· soybean oil

· corn oil

· cottonseed oil

· sunflower oil

· peanut oil

· sesame oil

Unfortunately, some of the chemical components in these oils can start breaking down quickly (oxidation) and cause them to go rancid. To prevent this from happening, food manufacturers use a process called “hydrogenation” to keep them from going bad. But, these hydrogenated oils now contain something called “trans fats” which are really, really bad. In addition to being inflammatory, trans fats are associated with diseases like obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease. In fact, these trans fats are so harmful to your heart that they actually can raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol.

So, what do you do? And what should you cook with? Using a little sesame oil or sunflower oil in your cooking isn’t bad, but try to stay away from things like soybean, corn and cottonseed oil which are in lots of processed foods. In other words, even if you aren’t cooking with them, you are likely getting them if a large part of your diet comes from foods in a box or package. And definitely read the ingredients and if you see words like "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" attached to any oil, stay far, far away.

My favorite cooking oils are olive oil, avocado oil (great for high heat cooking like sautéing or pan frying), coconut oil (another one great for high heat cooking), ghee (clarified butter loaded with good fats and great with high heat cooking) or even a little bit of good old-fashioned butter. Just be mindful of your serving and try not to have more than one to two tablespoons per day.