How good or bad is vegetable oil? What about other oils?

I wish someone had replied to this.

If you're going to use olive oil, use extra virgin. It's got the highest concentration of polyphenols (antioxidants), is rich in Omega 3's, high in Vitamin E & K (good for the reproductive tract and heart health), and has anti-inflammatory effects on soft tissue in the body. I've used it in a pinch when I was out of flaxseed oil, but I'm not much on the taste.

-R

I'm curious about corn, safflower, etc.. I read in "New Rules of Lifting" that they have inflammatory properties and some sort of imbalance of omega 6 to omega 3 or something.. Schuler puts corn and soybean oil on his list of "garbage" foods. I was wondering because I had one ounce of corn chips with my taco salad tonight, which I normally don't do.

If you're going to use olive oil, use extra virgin.
Unless your cooking with it, (especially at high heat) then use just plain old olive oil.

Unless your cooking with it, (especially at high heat) then use just plain old olive oil.

Yep. Regular has a higher smoke point (so the oil doesn't burn) and also generally is more neutral in flavor.

Although I have usually cooked with extra virgin and just made sure not to use it for higher temp cooking. If I cook at higher temperature, I generally will use peanut or sesame oil. Canola would be another reasonably healthy option.

I'm curious about corn, safflower, etc.. I read in "New Rules of Lifting" that they have inflammatory properties and some sort of imbalance of omega 6 to omega 3 or something.. Schuler puts corn and soybean oil on his list of "garbage" foods. I was wondering because I had one ounce of corn chips with my taco salad tonight, which I normally don't do.It doesn't make sense to look at an imbalance of omega 6 to 3 in a single product. What's important is to balance this in our overall diet.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are necessary fats that humans cannot synthesize, and must be obtained through diet. EFAs are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from linolenic, linoleic, and oleic acids. There are two families of EFAs: Omega-3 and Omega-6. Omega-9 is necessary yet "non-essential" because the body can manufacture a modest amount on its own, provided essential EFAs are present.

EFA deficiency is common in the United States, particularly Omega-3 deficiency. An ideal intake ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids is between 1:1 and 4:1, with most Americans only obtaining a ratio between 10:1 and 25:1. (http://goodfats.pamrotella.com/)

Most americans get 10 times too much omega 6, so it doesn't make sense to search out any sources of it, whether they're properly "balanced" with other fats or not. Omega 9 is not an essential fatty acid, so you don't need to search out sources of that either. I generally try to keep to a minimum any fats that aren't a good source of omega-3, so even olive oil, I use only sparingly. I choose canola oil when I can because it has the highest omega-3 ratio of all the popular commercial oils. Other people choose to supplement with flaxseed oil to boost their ratio of omega 3 to 6, but I don't use it because you can't cook with it. I sprinkle my foods with ground flaxseeds for the extra bonus of lignans or soluble fibre, and try to increase my consumption of fatty fish.

Approximate percent fatty acid composition (http://www.qualitycounts.com/fpfats.htm)

Saturated Fat Omega-6 Omega-3 ** Omega-9
Canola oil 8% 20% 10% 62%
Sunola oil 10% 6% 0% 84%
Safflower oil 9% 77% 0% 14%
Sunflower oil 11% 63% trace 26%
Olive oil 14% 10% trace 76%
Corn oil 14% 52% 2% 32%
Soyabean oil 15% 54% 8% 23%
Peanut oil 19% 34% 2% 45%
Cottonseed oil 27% 55% 0% 18%
Palm oil 51% 10% trace 39%
Coconut oil 91% 2% 0% 7%
Tallow oil 50% 2% 1% 47%
Butterfat 64% 2% 1% 33%

Whoa! This post got bumbed over 3 years after I posted it...wow...

On olive oil:

BTW olive are not a vegetable.

The idea of getting fat out of a vegetable seems somehow 'wrong' to me. But in any case I know many people think they are healthy. Personally I don't. The amount of processing that goes into extracting the oil is pretty insane IMO.

I am somewhat biased though, because since I've started to eat clean (well over time) I have developed a major stomach distress with any significant amounts of vegetable oil.

Is so painful I can easily tell if I eat something with vegetable oil in it. If it is partially hydrogenated, that just increases the pain.

I usually check, but sometime I just get given something, say on a plane and decide that I fancy eating it, only to realize later that it must have been made with a decent amount of vegetable oil.

Olive oil, butter, peanut oil or anything that is basically limited in processing is absolutely fine. I think it might be the residual chemicals in the oil or something, since I can certainly eat unprocessed sunflower seeds and corn etc..

Unless your cooking with it, (especially at high heat) then use just plain old olive oil.


It has to be pretty high heat to worry about it (like deep frying).

A quick google brings up some useful info.

e.g.:

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedInfo/OilSmokePoints.htm

I absolutely hate using oil mainly b/c it seems like a waste of 100-200 calories for something that doesn't do anything for me appetite wise.

I would much rather use flavored PAM oils for cooking, and get my fats from ANPB or Avacado's, nuts, etc