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Cooking oil is an essential staple in every kitchen for nearly any recipe involving the stovetop or oven (i.e. most recipes). Depending on the variety of oil you choose, this ingredient can act as a great source of healthy fat which can promote weight loss and even lower your risk of stroke and heart disease. In particular, olive and avocado oil are some of the best for improving your overall well being while boosting the quality of your cooking.
However, it’s not surprising if you were fooled into believing that vegetable oil was the best choice to stock in your kitchen as suggested by the use of ‘vegetable’ in the name. We spoke with ASYSTEM’s registered nutritionist, Jay Cowin, NNCP, RNT, RNC, CHN, CSNA and registered dietitian Jill Mongene about the pitfalls of cooking with vegetable oil and how this unassuming ingredient may be stalling your weight loss progress–and this is what they had to say.
Although vegetable oil does technically come from plants, that does not necessarily mean it's intrinsically good for you, as plant-based products often are. The term ‘vegetable oil’ is rather vague and can therefore indicate that your oil is coming from a number of sources, but the most common one is soybeans. After undergoing a process called hydrolysis, soybeans are broken down into the vegetable oil that we know.
Conversely, vegetable oil could also be derived from a blend of a number of other sources, which can muddle the overall health value. “What we are now learning is that many of these labeled vegetable oils may have hidden trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils (chemically altered products) hidden under the ingredients label as "proprietary blend" or "vegetable oil blend." Trans Fats and hydrogenated oils have been known to cause cardiac dysfunction like high cholesterol and eventual blocked arteries,” warns Mongene.
Regardless of what your vegetable oil is made from, across the board it is not recommended for cooking as it can subject your body to a slew of negative health implications. “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that it is not recommended to use vegetable oil for cooking because it does increase LDL cholesterol and is not as heart-healthy as olive or canola oil,” says Cowin.
“The University of California says that it is not healthy to use vegetable oil because it is 80% fat and 20% protein, which means it's mostly made of saturated fatty acids (bad). It also contains only trace amounts of nutrients, meaning cooking with this oil doesn't provide much benefit to your body or diet compared to other oils that are higher in unsaturated fats like olive oil,” Cowin adds.
If you’re looking for a lower-fat alternative to vegetable oil, Mongene suggests cooking with a small amount of vegetable broth instead, which can still be used to saute your foods without the fat content. That being said, healthy fats are essential for any diet, even those working towards weight loss, so an avocado or olive oil are also great additions to any meal--in moderation, of course.
Oils can be higher in calories than other fatty foods such as avocado, nuts, and seeds, so keep that in mind when choosing which variation to include in your meal, especially as you work to achieve a sustainable calorie deficit. Ultimately in order to create a healthy diet that you’ll be able to stick to, making small swaps from vegetable oil to another variation are going to make all the difference so that eating healthy becomes a lifestyle and not simply a diet.
