Mar     11

Which OIL do you think is the healthiest for you and your family??

Healthy Living

 

Oils and fats are all very different. More specifically, they contain various amounts of saturated and unsaturated fat content. For health reasons, it is always best to select an oil that is high in monounsaturated fat and low in saturated fat. Olive Oil is probably one of the healthiest and contains a high amount of monounsaturated fat and low saturated fat. Some may argue that it is the healthiest oil to eat, but it is probably not best to use it when you are deep frying foods.

Depending upon what kind of cooking you are doing there may be an oil of choice 🙂 For frying foods-  best oils are those with high smoke points such as canola, corn, safflower and sunflower. For stir-frying and salad dressing-any oil low in saturated fat like canola, corn, flaxseed, olive, peanut, safflower, sunflower and walnut are all great choices. We recommend avoiding coconut and palm oil, butter and margarine (although butter is healthier than margarine).

Listed below is a table of the various types of oils and their fat content.

Type of Oil/Fat Smoke
Temp.		 % Fat
Saturated
 Poly
unsaturated		 Mono
unsaturated
Olive Oil 420F  14 12 74
Almond Oil 420F  8 19 73
Canola Oil 475F 7 35 58
Margarine, whipped   20 30 50
Peanut Oil 450F 18 33 49
Rice Bran Oil 490F 20 33 47
Margarine, stick   20 33 47
Margarine, tub   17 37 46
Sesame Oil 350F  15 43 42
Palm Oil   52 10 38
Cocoa Butter   62 3 35
Butter 350F 66 4 30
Wheatgerm Oil   20 50 30
Butter, whipped   69 3 28
Margarine   25 49 26
Corn Oil 320F 13 59 24
Soybean oil 320 F 15 61 24
Sunflower Oil 450F 11 69 20
Walnut Oil 400F 14 67 19
Grape seed 420F 9 77 14
Safflower Oil 450F 9 78 13
Coconut Oil 350F 92 2

5 Responses to “Which OIL do you think is the healthiest for you and your family??”

  1. Stacy Says:
    March 14th, 2011 at 5:18 am

    Great blog! I love this post! I’ve heard some conflicting research lately about the health benefits of coconut oil. Have you heard this as well? What do you think about the health benefits of coconut oil vs. the high % sat fat in it?

  2. Suzy Eats Says:
    March 14th, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Thanks Stacy! I have heard conflicting information too. Overall, I think the % of saturated is too high for it to be considered healthy. I would not recommend it. Great question 🙂

  3. Suzy Says:
    March 15th, 2011 at 6:19 am

    Hey – great oil info and great site. I’ll be back!

  4. Suzy Eats Says:
    March 15th, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Thanks Suzy!! Love the name 🙂

  5. Kathleen Says:
    February 29th, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    Great site! I am a Nutritional Consultant and think this information is imperative to our health, I am very glad that you posted this for others to see, thanks!