What is the deal with cooking oils?

Oils are a key element in every kitchen, but our choices of oils can affect our health.

Healthy cooking oils can promote positive heart health, lower cholesterol, help with blood sugar/diabetes prevention, and improve skin, hair, and immune function.

There are also links between cooking oils and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which is an indication that oils affect brain health as well. And, oils also help us absorb our fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, which impact our mood, infections, heart, and bone health.

It is worth discussing the oils you use in the kitchen and how you cook with them.

• Sesame seed oil maintains great antioxidant levels while having a more browning effect than other oils.
• Avocado oil is calorie-dense and considered one of our richest oils.
• Olive oil is the most researched oil with the most robust benefits, including reduced inflammation. Study after study also shows a reduction in the risk of coronary artery damage and heart disease.
• So, what about butter? Unfortunately, I am not a fan. Butter seems to be strongly associated with cardiovascular disease, earlier mortality, and poor diabetes management (based on a review looking at almost a dozen comparable studies of 636,151 unique participants).

While the smoke point is often discussed when discussing cooking with oils, it does not seem to correlate with stability or performance as much as previously thought. Rather, new research shows the quality of our oils should be our top focus. Oil can be compromised by low-quality refinement or contaminants, which can cause oxidative damage, and chemical reactions such as hydrolysis and oxidation that occur in the refinement process can lead to harmful compounds that are harmful to health.

Exposure to UV light also affects the quality of the oil, which is why you should try to buy your oils in glass containers and store them in dark places.If you take my recommendation and stick with olive oil, the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) certification program can help you choose brands wisely. The NAOOA randomly tests products from store shelves, and when contaminants or other problems are found, they require a recall across all stores in North America.

Look for the NAOOA seal on the olive oil products that you purchase.

Here are a last few tips:

• Try drizzling oil over steamed or baked food. You can also roast or sautee with extra virgin olive oil. All of these methods are preferable to frying with even the healthiest oil.
• Ensure your oils are stored properly and used within 4-6 months to avoid rancidity.

Some sources for more reading:
Bogani P, Galli C, Villa M, Visioli F. Postprandial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of extra virgin olive oil. Atherosclerosis. 2007 Jan;190(1):181-6. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2006.01.011. Epub 2006 Feb 20. PMID: 16488419. 

Wan Y, Li H, Fu G, Chen X, Chen F, Xie M. The relationship of antioxidant components and antioxidant activity of sesame seed oil. J Sci Food Agric. 2015 Oct;95(13):2571-8. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.7035. Epub 2015 Jan 23. PMID: 25472416.