The healthiest oils to cook with and the ones to avoid

Whether you use olive or coconut oil, butter or ghee, our experts assess the healthiness of the versatile kitchen staple. Oil is the ultimate kitchen staple, used for everything from sautéing and deep frying to roasting and pouring into salad dressings. Extra virgin olive oil is renowned for its health benefits – but is it the right choice for every culinary task? The answer is complicated.

When you’re frying or heating oil to a high temperature (usually around 180C), it breaks down in a process known as oxidation. Fat molecules react with oxygen in the air to form substances called aldehydes and epoxides, types of lipid oxidation products (LOPs). Both are toxic and can be transferred to food.



‘’LOPs have been linked to a range of health concerns including cancer, heart disease, birth defects, raised blood pressure and inflammation,’’ says Prof Martin Grootveld, a bioanalytical chemist at De Montfort University who has studied cooking oils for 30 years..