The Best Cooking Oil For High Heat
Healthiest and worst cooking oils: avocado oil vs olive oil vs coconut oil vs canola oil
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing the best cooking oil for high heat, as well as the healthiest and worst cooking oils.
I’ll also be comparing the health benefits of avocado oil vs olive oil vs coconut oil vs canola oil.
Back in 2012, I posted an episode on the best cooking oil, where I compared canola oil vs coconut oil vs olive oil.
My stance on extra virgin olive oil and canola oil remain the same.
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However, I did mention that coconut oil was the best cooking oil, since it could handle higher heat.
Well another cooking oil has emerged onto the market as the best cooking oil for high heat, due to its high smoke properties.
What is the smoke point of oils?
A cooking oil with a high smoke point means the health benefits of the oil won’t get damaged when it’s cooked using a higher temperature.
Heating an oil to its smoke point, should be avoided as it can produce harmful free radicals.
A lot of the cooking oil labels now include the oils smoke point, so be sure to check those out.
Avocado oil: the best cooking oil for high heat
One of the highest smoke points that I’ve seen for a cooking oil is from avocado oil, at 500F.
This is why it’s important to use a healthy cooking oil for high heat, like avocado oil, as this oxidation is not as much of a concern.
You’d have to heat the avocado oil to over 500F, for it to smoke and become damaged.
This is why we use avocado oil to cook our eggs, grill our chicken, bake our homemade french fries, and sauté and stir fry our vegetables.
From a taste standpoint, avocado oil doesn’t have a strong flavor, so it won’t add unnecessary flavor to your meals.
Plus, avocado oil is not just great for high heat cooking.
Since it comes from avocados, avocado oil is also high in heart healthy monounsaturated fats.
Avocado oil also contains high levels of healthy antioxidants, including polyphenols, which can help fight inflammation.
It’s also great to add to your salad dressings, as avocado oil can help increase the absorption of the antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals, from the fruits and vegetables.
Always add a fat source, like avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil, to your salad dressings and salsas.
And side note, I noticed a comment on my last video called, The 3 Foods To Avoid For A Flat Stomach, asking for sources to the evidence.
So, I’ll post a link to the source from the Journal of Nutrition, in the video description below.
Based on the high smoke point, the heart healthy monounsaturated fats, and the antioxidants, avocado oil is the best cooking oil for high heat.
Is extra virgin olive oil healthy?
Extra virgin olive oil is also a great source of heart healthy monounsaturated fats.
But due to its lower smoke point of approximately 320F, use extra virgin olive oil primarily in salad dressings, dips, and sauces.
A low smoke point means you’re at a higher risk of damaging the health benefits when using it for cooking.
Cooking olive oil over higher heat can turn it rancid, potentially oxidizing the oil, and increasing the toxic free radical production in your body.
That is why we love adding extra virgin olive oil to our salad dressings.
Essentially anything that requires oil without heat, extra virgin olive oil is your best oil.
Coconut oil healthy benefits
Since coconut oil has a smoke point of 350F, so it’s decent for mid-temperature cooking.
This is why I primarily use coconut oil in my coconut oil coffee, sometimes in baking or as a spread, and just eating a spoonful for a quick shot of healthy fat.
If you want to learn more the benefits of coconut oil, I included it as one of the Live Lean fitness superfoods here.
When it comes to the taste, chose refined if you don’t like the taste of coconut oil, and unrefined if you do like the taste.
And yes, coconut oil is high in saturated fat, but it’s the year 2018, and we’ve learned that saturated fats are not evil as they were once falsely portrayed.
Also these saturated fats are in the form of medium chained triglycerides (MCT).
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The great thing about MCT fat is they are burned for energy, rather than being stored as body fat.
Coconut oil is also high in lauric acid, which helps increase immune function.
The truth about canola oil
Do you cook with canola oil, because the food marketers tell you it’s a great source of heart healthy monounsaturated fats?
Prepare to be shocked.
Canola oil is not as healthy as you think.
Sure, canola oil is comprised of 65% healthy monounsaturated fat.
However the remaining 35% is comprised of polyunsaturated fat.
This is a problem because most canola oil is refined, bleached, and extracted using high heat, pressure, and chemical solvents.
Contrast that with extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil, which is cold pressed.
This means the processing doesn’t use heat and chemical solvents to extract the oil.
Polyunsaturated fat in vegetable oils like canola oil, corn oil, and soybean oil, becomes very unstable and oxidizes during this high heat extracting process.
As mentioned, this oxidization causes an increase in free radical production and inflammation in the body.
It’s well known that inflammation can contribute to diseases, including heart disease, and fat gain.
If you must use canola oil, ensure to look for canola oil that is cold pressed and organic.
Bottom line on the best cooking oil for high heat
- Avocado oil is the best cooking oil for high heat.
- Use extra olive oil at room temperate by adding it to your salads, dips, and sauces.
- Enjoy coconut oil in your coffee and as a spread on your favorite foods.
- Canola oil is out.
Other healthy forms of oils include:
- Organic grass fed butter
Always go with grass fed butter as it has a better omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acid ratio.
It’s also high in CLA, which is a healthy fat burning and muscle building fat.
- Udo’s Choice Oil Blend
This oil blend is cold pressed and contains a healthy blend of oils that can be used in salad dressings.
Do not use this Udo’s oil for cooking as it has a higher polyunsaturated fat content.
This means the heat can destroy the health benefits and increase the inflammatory properties.
There are also many other forms of cooking oils, but I prefer to stick to these healthy cooking oils, while always avoiding vegetable oils, like soybean oil.
I hope you enjoyed this episode on the best cooking oil for high heat.
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Last thing, we’re hosting a 24 hour Thanksgiving flash sale where you can get $100 off our best selling Live Lean Way nutrition video course.
This huge sales ends Thursday, November 22 at 11:59pm ET, so go take advantage now by using the extra $100 off coupon code: THXMINDSET.
Thanks for watching and keep Living Lean.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
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