How to Choose a Healthy Cooking Oil

by | Updated: December 3rd, 2016 | Read time: 2 minutes

In recent years, food manufacturers have created some nifty new options for cooking oils. Whether you’re looking for the perfect oil for that stir-fry or the ideal oil for baking, you can find the answer at Vitacost. But do you know which one to choose for which purpose? We’ve got the dish here.

Healthy Cooking Oils

First, it’s helpful to understand the different types of fats and which oils fit into which categories:

  • Monounsaturated fats are healthiest. They’re known to reduce so-called “bad” cholesterol and raise levels of good cholesterol. In addition, they provide you with vitamin E, which is an antioxidant. Canola and olive oils are monounsaturated oils. In addition, avocado oil is more than 50 percent monounsaturated.
  • Polyunsaturated fats also help your body function properly because they contain essential fatty acids. Sunflower oil and rapeseed oil are in this category.

Get the best results with this guide to cooking oils:

Storage Notes:

Fresh is best. And although that pretty bottle of oil might look elegant on the window sill, both light and heat can ruin its contents. Therefore, we recommend keeping oils in a cool, dark cabinet or the refrigerator.