Barefoot Healthy Hippie

When choosing oil to cook with there are three things to think of. One is the types of fat it contains, and another is the smoking point of the oil. Both are vitally important to your health for different reasons. Oils with too much saturated fat cause increased cholesterol and clogged arteries, while oils with a low smoke point become carcinogenic and can aid in causing cancer. The last thing to look for is if your oil is semi refined or unrefined, this makes a big difference in smoke points.

If you are too impatient or don’t care about the research, skip to the bottom to see the healthiest oil to cook and bake with!

Types of fats in oils:

Polyunsaturated fat tends to lower blood cholesterol levels. It is found mostly in plant sources.

Monounsaturated fat tends to lower LDL, bad cholesterol, levels. It is found in both plant and animal products.

Saturated fat increases cholesterol levels, these are the artery clogging fats. Most saturated fats are solid at room temperature.

These calculations are all in percent content of the oil. These are not grams of fat or percent daily content.

Oils with the highest percent polyunsaturated fat:

78 Safflower
77 Grapeseed
69 Sunfower
59 Corn
58 Soybean


Oils with the highest percent monounsaturated fat:

74 Olive
70 Avocado oil
58 Canola
49 Rice bran oil
47 Peanut


Oils with the highest percent total unsaturated fat:

93 Canola
91 Safflower
91 Grapeseed
88 Canola
86 Sunflower

Oils with the highest percent saturated fat:

86 Coconut
81 Palm Kernal
49 Palm
26 Cotton Seed
18 Peanut


The smoke point of an oil is the temperature at which it starts to smoke, or burn. It is dangerous to have a smoking oil because it’s only seconds away from its flash point, which means it’s about to start a fire, and also because once it begins to smoke it becomes carcinogenic which means it becomes a cancer causing agent.

Smoke point of oils in degrees Fahrenheit:

520 Refined (read expensive) Avocado oil
490 Rice bran oil
485 Grapeseed
480 Avocado oil
450 Peanut
450 Safflower
450 Soy
450 Sunflower
420 Extra Virgin Olive
410 Sesame
400 Canola

The unrefined or semi refined versions of these oils range from smoking at just over 212 to 350. They are only safe for boiling and in some cases low heat baking. They become carcinogenic either over water’s boiling point or baking at over 350.

The higher the smoke point the better chance you have of being able to fry something safely. Keep in mind that if you fry something until it’s black, your food becomes a carcinogen whether or not the oil is too hot.

If you are baking something that contains oil pick your oil carefully. If you have to bake your meal at 450 and you use Canola oil it will reach its smoke point if baked long enough. I don’t know how long you have to wait but I wouldn’t take the gamble. There are enough carcinogens in our everyday lives for me to be creating them on my own.

So here is the breakdown of the healthiest oils when you combine everything I have written. Due to a glitch in this blogging platform I can't make it a clear chart. The numbers mean, from left to right; Polyunsaturated fat%, Monounsaturated fat%, Saturated fat% and the Smoke Point in degrees Fahrenheit.


Avocado: 13, 70, 11, 520*

Rice bran: 33, 49, 20, 490*

Grapeseed: 77, 14, 9, 485*

Safflower: 78, 13, 9, 450*

Sunflower: 69, 20, 11, 450*

EV Olive: 12, 74, 14, 420*

What to do with this information?

Deep fry , pan fry or stir fry with Avocado, Rice Bran and Grapeseed oil and do everything else with the other oils. I always err on the side of caution and wouldn’t fry with the other oils because of their lower temperatures. Safflower and Grapeseed oil are the healthiest fats so I guess the number 1 prize goes to Grapeseed oil since it’s in both catagories.

Grapeseed is the winner!