Canola Oil Disadvantages Some studies show that a high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 can raise your risk of certain diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer's, obesity, and heart disease. Canola oil is also highly refined. This means it goes through a process that uses heat and chemicals to extract the oil.
Is Canola Oil Better than Olive Oil? No. Canola oil is high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, making it technically a heart-healthy option. Olive oil, on the other hand, is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, making it a better choice for reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
Canola oil is suitable for frying. Some research suggests that it can improve insulin sensitivity and help reduce cholesterol levels compared with other sources of fat.
Heart-healthy oils like safflower oil and rice bran oil are perfect because they can withstand frying temperatures of almost 500° F. You can also look to peanut oil and sunflower oil if you're frying at 450° F, or canola oil and vegetable oil to keep temperatures around 400° F.
The best substitute for canola oil? Olive oil is well known to be a heart-healthy cooking oil (source). If you're making something savory like a salad dressing or sauteing, you can use olive oil as a 1 for 1 substitute for canola oil.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
Although care must be taken in handling and processing of canola oil and other vegetable oils, canola oil is a safe and healthy form of fat that will reduce blood LDL cholesterol levels and heart disease risk compared to carbohydrates or saturated fats such as found in beef tallow or butter.
Canola is a good choice for cooking and baking because it's low in artery-clogging saturated fat (lower than olive oil) and high in heart-healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
Canola oil is rich in good fats and can help reduce the risk of heart disease when used instead of saturated fats by reducing LDL cholesterol in the blood. Canola oil has: Just 7% saturated fat – the least of the common culinary oils. No trans fat.
Avocados. Avocados are a potent source of nutrients as well as monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). Research suggests that adding an avocado a day to a heart-healthy diet can help improve LDL cholesterol levels in people who are overweight or obese.
Coconut oil, palm, palm kernel oil, and cocoa butter supply large amounts of saturated fat, too, but are cholesterol-free.
Like many other fruits and vegetables, avocados have no cholesterol. Healthy avocados also contain good fats and can improve your intake of dietary fat, which in moderation helps with nutrient absorption, without raising LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels.
Avocado oil is considered a healthier alternative to canola oil. Canola oil is highly processed making it less nutrient dense. Avocado oil is not chemically processed and offers higher amounts of healthy fats compared to canola oil.
Canola Oil: Best All-Purpose Oil for Frying
It's great for all different kinds of frying methods, but it is also a good choice for roasting vegetables or making dressing. At around 400˚, the smoke point of canola oil is fine for deep-frying—a lot of deep-fried foods needs an oil temperature of around 325˚ to 375˚.
While plant-based fats are considered more heart-healthy than animal fats, canola oil is generally believed to be a healthier option because it is lower in saturated fat than vegetable oil.
Once in our kitchens, we cook them in our canola-blend oil so you can have them crispy and hot—just the way you like them. Want to hear more about our fry ingredients? Get the down low on how we flavor our fries.
However, if you do need to deep fry your food, our long-standing advice is that oils like corn and sunflower oils are not recommended for high temperatures. These oils are rich in polyunsaturated fats which can form undesirable compounds when heated at high temperatures.
Corn Oil. Refined corn oil is often used in frying, thanks to its smoke point of 450°. It has a neutral flavor, and is used frequently in commercial kitchens because of its low price point.