Is cooking oil vegan, and which is the healthiest plant-based oil to have in your kitchen – olive, avocado, coconut or rice bran?
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, smoking point, vitamin E content, phytoceuticals, carbon footprint – knowing which one to use on your salad or to fry with is literally an oilfield
A kitchen is never complete without cooking oil – we all use it for frying, baking, and as a salad dressing, to name a few. Thankfully for ethical and environmentally minded eaters, all mainstream oils are plant-derived products and completely vegan. So whether you’re a vegan or not, it’s sure important to know which animal-free cooking oil works best. Here is a rundown of the pros and cons of the healthiest vegan oils in the market.
Extra virgin olive oil
If you want to buy olive oil, it has to be the extra virgin version. Extra virgin means that it is the oil that comes out from the first extraction and is thus unrefined.
It is high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, both of which are deemed as healthy. Its superior flavour is impaired by heat and is not recommended for deep frying because it has a low smoke point.
It also has to be kept away from sunlight and should be in a dark bottle. It’s ideal for baking and dressing. You get 119 calories from consuming 1 tablespoon of it. Its global scale production carbon footprint can also offset the greenhouse gas emissions of a city the size of Hong Kong.
Avocado oil
The surprising thing is that avocado oil gives you almost the same amount of calories as extra virgin olive oil, 120 calories from 1 tablespoon. But it has a high smoke point and it has almost no flavour, both properties make it ideal for frying and cooking.