How to Choose the Right Oil for Cooking and their Health Benefits

cooking oil

We continue with our tips on the ingredients used for cooking. Today, we discuss the types of oils to choose when cooking, their health benefits, their storage and waste disposal.I know you may have encountered some challenges as to the kind of oil to choose in cooking due to the emerging issues on cholesterol and cardiovascular (heart disease) diseases.Well,worry no more;this post is intended to ease your frustrations and erase your fears.Join me let’s learn.

• All you need to know about cholesterol

Let talk briefly about cholesterol. Cholesterol is very important to the body especially the cells, but the increase in the cholesterol level is what leads to blockage of the arteries and finally to cardiovascular diseases. This is why we have ‘good cholesterol’ (High Density Lipoprotein) and ‘bad cholesterol’ (Low Density Lipoprotein). We say LDL is bad cholesterol because it builds up in the arteries or the blood vessels leading to heart problems whereas HDL cholesterol protects against heart disease by cleaning up all LDL cholesterol in the blood. So the more HDL you have in your blood the lower your risk of having cardiovascular diseases. I also want to mention that your total cholesterol comprises of your HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (other fats in the body).

• Types of Good And Bad Oils

Now let’s continue with our choice of fats or oil for cooking. The good fat contains monounsaturated and poly unsaturated fats whereas the bad fat contains saturated and trans fat. These are few examples of the ideal oils to purchase for cooking. 

Some examples of Good Oils:

•  Canola oil 
•   Flax seed oil 
•  Olive oil 
• Non-hydrogenated soft margarine 
•   Safflower oil 
•  Sunflower oil 

Here are also some bad fat which should be avoid in cooking to reduce your risk of having cardiovascular disease.
Some examples of Bad oils 

•  Vegetable shortening
•   Hard margarine 
•   Butter
• Palm oil
• Palm kennel oil 
•   Coconut oil

Hmmm, i guess we have started off right? Let's continue with our discussions on cooking oil on my next post.Please send me your comments and contributions i love to read from you