So I was thumbing through a recent edition of a popular newsstand fitness magazine (mainly because John Romaniello had a short article published there, which was good by the way) and then came across a rather troubling article full of misinformation in the nutrition section regarding the best fats to cook with.
Unfortunately, their number one choice (canola oil) is actually one of the WORST fats to cook with or to consume in general, and the REAL number one fat to cook with didn’t even make the list…you gotta love newsstand fitness pubs.
Anyway, so let’s go over while Canola oil sucks, and the true “best” fat to cook with.
Canola oil sucks because…
About 30% of canola oil is made up of polyunsaturated fats, very fragile fatty acids that are easily damaged by high heat processing, which is the processing method of virtually all “commercial” forms of canola oil.
Sure, it’s made up of a large portion of heat-resistant monounsaturates, but that still leaves 30% of the oil as denatured, processed crap.
And you know what happens when fragile polyunsaturates are heated to high temperatures? That’s right, they get all flustered and turn to trans fats, the absolute WORST possible thing you can put in your body, period.
Trans-fats have been conclusively linked to a million and one diseases and disorders, including heart disease and cancer. And oh yeah, their toxicity also has been shown to lead to weight gain while making weight loss harder.
But somehow, this particular publication chose canola oil as the “go to option for every day cooking”…yikes.
I really, really hope you’re not getting your fitness info from the mainstream mags…
(unless of course the article is written by me :)
So what should you be looking for in an oil, particularly an oil to cook with?
The oil should be:
1. cold pressed (not high-heat processed)
2. have a high smoke point (meaning it is relatively stable at high temperatures)
3. even better, comprised mostly of saturated fat (saturated fats are the most stable of all fats, and unlike the media has led us to believe, natural saturated fats are some of the more healthy fats available)
So, that gives us a couple options:
1. For cooking, nothing beats unrefined, organic coconut oil. Coconut oil is high in stable saturated fats, particularly the healthful medium chain triglyceride group (MCTs).
2. Organic butter is a close second.
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is ideal for low-temperature cooking and when used straight from the bottle as a salad dressing base or flavor booster for cooked veggies, etc (added after the cooking process).
If you want to learn about 4 other “health” foods you should NEVER eat if you want to lose fat, click below to watch the video my friend Isabel put together for you:
Enjoy the tips!
Joel
When heating a particular oil – say olive oil, when do you know that the polyunsaturated fats are being converted into trans fats? Is it okay to heat the oil just below it starts smoking? What are good oils to fry with? Where do seasme seed oil and mustard oils feature on the spectrum of healthy oils to cook with? Would love to know your opinion on the above!!
Thanks!!
Hey Joel, thanks for the info! What do you think about organic macadamia nut oil?
Never knew that, I’d better start paying attention to what I’m doing. I strongly believe many people out there do the same – believe every piece of “information” they get fed. Thanks, bro.
Hi Joel – what about grape seed oil or avocado oil? if you read the comments on the avo oil promotions, they make out its THE very best thing to be using?
So how about using cold-pressed canola oil (rapeseed as it’s called over here) for sallads etc where it has not been heated?
hey Joel,
you should put this on facebook!! i would really like for people to know how bad canola oil is.
MJ.
Macadamia nut oil – a good one.
If there is something that EVERYONE should know is this article!!
Hello Joel! Been reading your excellent blog for awhile and have benefited greatly from it. I wanted to ask – have you heard of ghee, a staple in Indian diets? I would really appreciate your opinion. Thanks.
@Diane – Hi Diane, I used to work in the organise food industry and Grape Seed Oil has high smoke points so yes you can use that for high heat cooking. Other high smoke point oils are sunflower, coconut oil and palm oil. Corn oil, canola oil and soy oil rate low on smoke points so should preferably not be used for frying. Olive oil is ok with med temps (I can’t quite remember the exact temp but I believe below 60 degrees celcius is fine). All other oils such as macadamia, cashew etc should NOT be heated but instead used as dressing as they are quite fragile to heat. I hope this helps :)
Peanut oil is the best for high heat cooking but you have to be aware of allergies in guests, A saturated fat, good to take the heat (don’t fry over 350-375 F anyway) Safflower oil is also excellent. To answer Sangita, Ghee is clarified butter and if from an excellent source is good for low heat cooking, not deep frying. Canola oil is inexpensive to the consumer compared to the other oils which is why so many are tempted to purchase it rather than the other oils.
Hey Joel, gr8 to read this on here!! I already knew this stuff, but love to see it published in another spot.. (and good to have a reminder :) It seems like some of this is so simple – just strange that more people don’t learn this stuff and it’s not more widestream!!! Anyway, gr8 post again!!! :) Thanks again!
Hi Joel, why would you not want to cook with olive oil? maybe not hugely high temperature but anything that honors its smoking point, as most of the Mediterranean has done for centuries. I use coconut oil in baking, and also cooking but have recently begun to use grapeseed. What do you think of grapeseed?
Always wondered what a canola was in the first place so never got into using the stuff lol. Most of my adult life I’ve used olive oil or some farm butter now and then (nothing in the store tastes like good home made farm butter) even when everyone said stay away from butter. And it was becuase I liked the taste! Then in the last ten years or so everybody’s talking aboaut that’s the healthy stuff to use. Bonus! I’m 56, have healthy cholesterol levels, good blood pressure and overall pretty good shape for my age. I know where early man found oliv3es and cows but don’t know where they might have found canolas ;-) Have a good one
Hey Joel, what do you think of peanut oil for cooking?
I’ve tried coconut oil and love it “raw”, but really don’t like the taste or the smell of it heated…
I just bought a bottle of cold pressed organic rapeseed/canola/colza oil, so I’m also very interested to know what Joel thinks about using it “raw” – it’s got a lot of Omega 3’s, right?
I love walnut oil on salads and do my high heat cooking with grapeseed oil, which supposedly has a very high smoke point. I realise now that this might be terrible! But probably okay unheated?
How about peanut oil? I’m a high heat fast action chef – it’s the asian in me – maybe this is why I can’t budge the last 5 pounds?! What am I supposed to stirfry with then?
I heard that you can find healthy Trans Fat if you eat meat from grass-fed ruminant animals such as grass-fed beef, bison, lamb. Does anyone have any idea about this?
HA! I read that article! When I saw it I was like “No, completely not true.” Glad you decided to blog about this, I’ve seen it mentioned by a few others but the word need to be spread about not cooking with these oils and the lies about canola oil especially. Also I’d like to vote for the coconut oil, I love the taste and smell of the Nutiva brand personally.
hey joel,
you’ve hit ‘the nail on the head’ with this tip. to all readers- do yourself a favor and read “nourishing traditions” by sally fallon. turns the world, as we’ve been told to view it, upside down…. first forty pages will change your life.
I actually saw an episode of Dr. Oz, last week to be exact, and he said that canola oil is safer to cook with than extra virgin olive oil. Now he didn’t go into explanation about why, he just said what he said and millions of people were probably watching it now thinking he’s correct. I understand the whole high heat thing, but still isn’t it better to use something natural than fake if you just turn down the heat?
Soy and canola are deadly and should be avoided at all costs. It’s about time someone is exposing these toxins for what they are. Nice job!
Hi !
I for one never touch canola oil. My mom is from the Carabeans. She’s the one who told me to stay away from that stuff. Let me explain why. In her native country (which I won’t disclose), Canola oil is used to clean CAR Motors. Yuk!
No wonder this stuff is not good for your health.
Your article justifies what my mom has been telling me about this so-called healthy oil.
Thanks for the info,
Jake
My company sells vegetable oil, mostly to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. I can get any type of oil I want but unfortunately hardly any of it is cold pressed. So I generally use Extra virgin olive oil for everything. Peanut oil has a high smoke point and is moderately high in mono-fats. I have been reading recently about Safflower Oil (unheated). I’d always thought is was super high in poly-fats and that wasn’t so good because of the Omega 6 ratios. Now I’m reading it’s good for you. Who knows?
Joel,
I’d love to see some good scientific sources that I can point people to when you quote this information. Biologically, this makes sense to me, and I have quit using Canola/Corn Oil based on some of your recommendations (and also a general distaste for Corn after reading Michael Pollan). There is so much pro-canola oil information out there. . .
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...read more