Finding healthy oils
Ounce for ounce, tablespoon for tablespoon, all oils have exactly the same number of calories and are cholesterol-free. It’s what you don’t see in oils that determines how healthy they are! That’s because oils are a blend of the three main types of fat — saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The healthiest oils are those that contain lower proportions of harmful saturated fat, and more heart healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Olive oil and canola oil
With their high levels of heart healthy monounsaturated fats, both olive and canola oil get two thumbs up from dietitians and health professionals. Olive oil has the highest proportion of monounsaturated fats and a low amount of saturated fat. Canola oil is not far behind, and also boasts the lowest saturated fat content of any oil, and it contains omega-3.
You’ll find that olive and canola oils are often used in soft margarines and mayonnaise. At home, canola oil is good for baking and is also great for cooking and stir-frying. Olive oil, on the other hand, would smoke or “burn” if used in baking recipes. Instead, olive oil is wonderful for cooking, stir-frying, marinating or grilling vegetables, in salad dressings and even for dipping bread. “Virgin” and “extra-virgin” olive oils usually have a more intense flavour, since a “cold-pressing” process is used to extract the oils from the olives.
To get more of the beneficial monounsaturated fats in your diet, consider using either olive or canola oil whenever you can.
Other healthy oils:
Sunflower, safflower, soybean, corn and cottonseed
Each of these oils contains high proportions of the good polyunsaturated fats, has some monounsaturated fat and scores low in saturated fat. Use any of these oils if you’re looking for an economical, all-purpose oil for cooking, stir-frying and baking. Salad dressings and soft margarines are typical foods that use one or a combination of these oils. “Vegetable oils” usually contain a mixture of different oils, which are stated on the ingredients list.