The healthiest oils are those that are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as vegetable oil and olive oil. These types of fats can help lower your risk of heart disease when used instead of saturated fats.
The healthiest type is extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). It can help lower your blood pressure and fight inflammation. It lowers your risk of heart disease by improving the health of your blood vessels and preventing blood clots. EVOO is also loaded with antioxidants, which ward off cell damage.
Choose plant-based oils rich in unsaturated fat.
The heart association suggests the following cooking oils, which meet its health standards: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower, as well as specialty oils like avocado, grape-seed and sesame.
Sunflower and canola oil are some the best choices for sautéing and stir-frying. They contain heart-healthy fats, have a mild flavour and are not expensive. Other good choices for high-heat cooking include light olive oil, sesame oil and rice bran oil. Use spray oils as much as possible to limit adding extra calories.
Monounsaturated Fats
According to MayoClinic.com, consuming MUFAs improves your blood cholesterol levels, reduces your risk of heart disease and may help stabilize blood sugar levels. Foods high in monounsaturated fats include olive, canola, sunflower and sesame oils, avocados, pecans, almonds, salmon and herring.
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.
Olive oil has a lower smoke point-the point at which an oil literally begins to smoke (olive oil's is between 365° and 420°F)-than some other oils. When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form.
First of all, it can be expensive. Plus, it has a relatively low smoke point, which, according to food scientist Harold McGee, is the "temperature at which a fat breaks down into visible gaseous products." That breakdown can ruin the taste of foods.
Another concern is the report that canola oil might contain trans-fats that have been linked with significant health problems. In fact, canola oil does contain very low levels of trans-fat, as do all oils that have been deodorized. Deodorization is the final step in refining ALL vegetable oils.
Canola oil is widely considered to be a healthy oil as it's low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat. Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can improve cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease.
The Winner: Coconut Oil
Coconut oil also has powerful health benefits. It is particularly rich in a fatty acid called Lauric Acid, which can improve cholesterol and help kill bacteria and other pathogens ( 2 , 3, 4).
As far as your health is concerned, more evidence supports the benefits of olive oil over canola. Robust research links olive oil — especially extra virgin — to health benefits, including for your heart. It's less refined and boasts more antioxidants than canola oil, which makes it a better choice.
It's also important to consider the saturated fats in oils since they can cause cholesterol build-up. For example, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil contain saturated fat that can increase so-called “bad” cholesterol.
Since this is not always possible or desirable, a better option is to use non-toxic oils such as lavender oil, walnut oil or linseed oil. Each of these oils has its own advantages and disadvantages: Lavender oil has a strong odor that some consider pleasant.
Luckily, there are so-called “good fats” – unsaturated fats – that can give your body energy and support the growth of cells without clogging your arteries. “Avocados contain omega-3 fatty acids, which is the fat that is heart-healthy,” Kim explains.
Canola oil has zero cholesterol. High oleic canola oil has a high smoke point of 475 deg F, while refined canola oil's smoke point is 400.
While there is some truth to this (olive oil does appear to cause relatively less damage than saturated animal fats), it is important to note that 'less damage' is still damage. The scientific evidence clearly shows that olive oil plays a role both in damaging blood vessels as well as forming atherosclerotic plaques.
“Fish and chips need to be cooked in an oil with an animal fat base,” said Susman. “Frytol is the number one brand. If you want to use a vegetable oil for health reasons then you might as well go and eat a poke bowl.”
Canola oil is recommended by leading health authorities because of its health properties, in particular, the low level of saturated fat and relatively high levels of omega 3 and 6 fats. These properties makes canola oil an ideal choice for people wanting to improve their overall health.