EATING WELL – A variety of oils—soybean, peanut and rapeseed included—are being shamed for the same reason, says Elizabeth Shaw, M.S., RDN, CPT, a San Diego-based registered dietitian and author of the Air Fryer Cookbook for Dummies.
While none of these seem to offer the level of heart-health benefits omega-3 fats do—such as olive oil—they can all be part of a healthy diet.
“Every oil in food production has a purpose, with some purposes having higher nutritional value and more supportive health benefits than others,” explains Shaw.
“While some oils, like extra-virgin olive oil, have more supportive health qualities than others and should be included more abundantly in the diet, it does not mean canola, peanut, soybean or rapeseed oils do not have a place in a healthy, balanced diet for healthy individuals.”
Canola oil and other seed oils can be better cooking choices than options that are higher in saturated fats, like butter or coconut oil, especially if you’re concerned about your blood cholesterol levels.
Swapping out saturated fat and industrially created trans fats in favor of polyunsaturated fat seed oils decreases both cholesterol and heart disease risk, adds Caspero.
Because the FDA found that trans fats were so detrimental to human health, they started the process of removing them from the U.S. food supply in 2018, with companies having to be in final compliance by January 1, 2021. For this reason, you’d be hard-pressed to find a product containing trans fat in the U.S.
“Funny enough, most of the people I’ve seen bashing seed oils are very pro-saturated fat,” says Caspero. “Again, this is the opposite of what the American Heart Association recommends for heart health and is a big red flag for not understanding the data.”
Canola oil has a low saturated fat content …
