Cooking Oils
There is a lot of information and debate as to what oils should be used when in order to receive the maximum nutritional benefit without damaging the oil. Depending on what you are doing with the oil, a different one should be used. Heating an oil beyond its smoke point physically damages it and can create free radicals, which are the cause of cancer. As a general rule to all of these try to stick to UNREFINED and COLDPRESSED options. While there are other oils than those listed below, these are by far the best. Sticking to these recommendations should give you enough variation for all your cooking needs.
No Heat:
-Flaxseed oil
-Walnut oil
No-Low Heat:
-Extra virgin olive oil: Heating your expensive bottle of this above its low smoke point is very bad both for it, and your health. Just like you wouldn’t cook with expensive wine, the same goes for olive oil as well.
Low-Medium Heat:
-Coconut oil
-Pasture raised butter
-Virgin Olive oil (non extra virgin)
Medium- High Heat
-Palm oil
-Olive Oil (Pomace)
High Heat, or Any Heat:
-Avocado Oil
-Pastured raised clarified butter (ghee)
-Extra Light Olive Oil
-Grassfed tallow
-Pasture raised lard
As nature would have it, it turns out all of these above options are also the healthiest oils to be consuming anyways! For the best health avoid these following common oils, at any temperature:
NO:
-partially hydrogenated oil (Crisco)
-hydrogenated oil
-interesterified oil
-Soybean oil
-Canola oil
-Safflower oil
-Sunflower oil
-Peanut oil
-Grapeseed oil
-Rapeseed oil
-Corn oil