Fats and oils are an important part of a healthy diet and should be incorporated at every meal. Animal protein, avocados, nuts, and seeds are all excellent sources, offering different omega profiles and health benefits, proving that variety is key.

Vegetable oils like canola, soybean, and safflower – which feature heavily in western diets – also make up a large percentage of fat and oil consumption, so it’s important to not only understand what kind of oil you’re consuming, but also how their different properties can impact your health.

So, how can you ensure you’re always getting the right balance of fats in your diet as well as maximizing the flavor of the delicious dishes you’re cooking? The information available to consumers regarding best practices about fat and oil can be incredibly confusing – poly-unsaturated, saturated, refined, cold-pressed, unrefined – it can be a challenge to even know where to begin!

Never fear, these five comprehensive facts will help you master the art of buying and choosing the correct fat or oil once and for all.

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING OIL

1. UNDERSTAND OMEGAS

The first step to making an informed choice about which oil to use is understanding which omega profile it contains. Omega-3 powerhouses include oily fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, and walnuts – not many true oils contain a lot of omega-3s so it’s best to get them from food instead.

Omega-3s are considered essential so it’s important to eat the right foods to ensure you get enough in your daily diet. Oils that contain high amounts of omega-6s include refined vegetable oils like, safflower, soybean, and canola, in addition to foods like mayonnaise, walnuts, almonds, and cashews.

Omega-6s are also considered essential, so getting them from food is important, but there is a major caveat here. Omega-6 stores easily in the body, and since they’re cheap to make, they’ve found their way into a lot of processed foods. So more likely than not, it’s no longer a priority to ensure you’re getting enough.

Cooking oils like almond, avocado, and olive oil are high in omega-9s, as are almonds, walnuts, and cashews. Omega-9s are considered non-essential, which means your body makes its own, so making sure to get enough omega-9s should not be a health priority.

2. GET TO KNOW THE OMEGA 3-6-9 RATIO

All three are important dietary fats, and it’s important to get a variety of each in your diet. It’s the ratio in which you consume omega- 3s, 6s, and, 9s that’s critical to your health and something that’s often overlooked.

Since refined vegetable oils are relatively inexpensive, they are typically found as a primary ingredient in many processed and fried foods. Since omega-3s can only be consumed from food, and omega-9s are already made in abundance within the body, consumption of omega-6s tends to be a lot higher in western diets.

It’s this imbalanced ratio that’s been linked to inflammation and increased risk of heart disease, especially since omega-6s store so easily. The ideal ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s is about 4:1. Unfortunately, due to higher consumption of processed foods, it now ranges on average between 10:1 and 50:1.

3. KNOW THE SMOKE POINT

The right fat and oil can add considerable flavor to your dish, but it’s important to know which oil to use. You definitely want to avoid a rancid oil aroma that can often occur if you use an oil with a low smoke point, like butter or sesame oil, on high heat cooking.

At 300-350 degrees, coconut oil has one of the lowest smoke points followed by olive oil at 365-400 degrees. Olive oil should never be used for high heat cooking and instead should be used as a cold oil dressing or marinade.

Coconut oil can be used in baking but shouldn’t be used to cook on direct heat. Corn, sesame, and canola oil have medium smoke points between 410-435 degrees and can be used on direct heat for short periods of time.

Avocado oil has one of the highest smoke points at 480 degrees and is the best choice for long periods of cooking that involves direct heat, such as grilling.

4. KNOW THE HEALTH BENEFITS

Omega-3s are the health powerhouses of the omega family and pack a number of health benefits including helping to fight inflammation, support brain development, and improve heart health.

To get your optimal omega-3 intake, aim to eat 2 servings of oily fish per week. Omega-6s can be healthy – in the right quantities – but we know most western diets have tipped the scale to make them less than beneficial, given the overproduction of vegetable and seed-based oils.

One advantage they do have over other oils is that they are unsaturated, so if you’re keeping your intake of saturated fats to a minimum, they are an option, provided you limit your intake of other omega-6 oils elsewhere.

5. READ THE LABELS

While vegetable oils are definitely a lower saturated fat option, they are usually genetically modified since they’re created through the agricultural process of cross-breeding.

The steps required to create vegetable oils may be inexpensive, but the end result is a highly processed product that’s already been heated and cooled several times. Despite persuasive marketing, there is no such thing as unrefined vegetable oil.

On the other side of the oil debate, high-quality olive oil and avocado oil do exist in the form of cold-pressed – you’ll see this label on the front of the container which guarantees the oil has not been heated during the production process. Despite their less-processed nature, these oils are higher in saturated fat and may not be a good fit for everyone, especially those conscious of their heart health.

THE TAKEAWAY

Choosing the right oil can be confusing, especially if you’re trying to achieve several things at once like cook a delicious, flavorful meal, while also maintaining healthy parameters, while also being conscious about the quality and origin of your ingredients.

Even if you make an effort to cut back on vegetable oils while cooking, it’s important to also assess other potential sources of omega-6 intake, like processed or fried food, if you really want to decrease your excess omega-6 related health risks.

The bottom line is that fats and oils are an important part of your diet and should be enjoyed for the flavor profiles they offer! By exercising moderation, prioritizing quality over quantity, and adopting a less is more mentality, you can enjoy oils offering all omega-profiles – just be sure to always balance your intake with ensuring you get enough omega-3s from oily fish, too!