healthiest cooking oil 345

well, one would have to define 'best'. IMHO best for salads-mayo -- olive oil, best for frying-curries --rapeseed oil.

I'm not sure smoke point and 'decompose' are the same thing, I think maybe the smoke point is determined by what else is in the oil as well as its composition.

Absolutely. Linseed oil has the most omega3 and 6 fatty acid esters, and is the most susceptible to auto-oxidation and free radical production. 73% (mostly times two told). 3

No, the beneficial effects are due to the composition of the fatty acid esters, significantly the C18:2 and C18:3. These are not synthesised by the body, but are essential to its function, so a bit like essential amino acids. So rapeseed oil is far more beneficial than olive oil, which is much better than other oils. IMHO, if one used only olive oil and rapeseed oil in cooking, one could not go far wrong, health-wise. HDL-cholesterol olive in

According to McCance and Widdowson's 'The composition of food' *** , olive oil contains (on average) 11% C18:2 ( an omega6 ) but only 0.7% C18:3 (an omega3) , whereas rapeseed oil contains about 23% C18:2 and 11% C18:3. If you do the calculation, for a suggested ratio of 3:1 for omega 6:3, a mix of 50?50 olive oil ? rapeseed oil is 'best' from a health point of view, buttuming the ratio is correct. contain the

This suggests to me the whole area is not sufficiently well characterised, ie we don't know everything that affects the effect of oils on diet.

see above discussion about real difference.

commmon sense approach to chemistry, a double bond in one fatty acid is like another double bond in another fatty acid, especially if separated by at least two single bonds, as here.

well, see above.

well I think there is a difference, from a health point of view, and a culinary one, EV olive oil has an obvious flavour, rapeseed oil (IMHO) does not. Olive oil does not go well in non-European cuisine, IMHO, but rso is fine.

*** published by HMSO, ISBN HMSO 0 11 40036 3