Have you ever wondered which is the best oil for dressing your salad, marinating, or sizzling your stir-fry? Well, wonder no more with this nutritional head-to-head battle…
Trying to decide on the healthiest oil to use when baking, roasting and frying? Recent research studies have shown that the often-popular vegetable oils that have been used in the kitchen for years are now a no-go based on their negative ability to release harmful toxins.
At the top of the healthy oil food chain lie extra-virgin coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil. Both oils are heart-healthy choices and both come with comparing and contrasting health benefits.
We put the two head-to-head in our oil showdown to finally determine which oil you should be grabbing off the shelves to earn that healthy body, both inside and out.
Coconut oil
To say coconut oil has taken the health world by storm would be an understatement. Packed full of nutrients that have been scientifically proven to prevent serious disease and ultimately extend life expectancy, it’s a matter of time before the coconut oil health hype takes over households.
Coconut oil’s immense cooking versatility simply sits above the rest, with Cocan Coconut Oil identifying some of the key reasons to cook with the oil being its ability to:
- Help with weight loss
- Support immunity & fight disease
- Prevent sugar craving
- Act as a natural, instant source of energy.
Packed full of antioxidants & healthy fats
Virgin coconut oil is antioxidant-rich, namely with high levels of polyphenols and flavonoids. A 2009 study on elderly people showed those with high polyphenols count in their diet had significantly reduced blood pressure levels than those without.
Heart attacks often occur when blood vessels and the heart are exposed to what’s known as oxidative stress. Cooking with, and eating coconut oil, relaxes the blood vessels, lowers inflammation and can help prevent heart failure from occuring. Studies discovered the antioxidant polyphenol, found in coconut oil, plays a vital role in preventing the early stages in high blood pressure development.
Promotes weight loss
If preventing serious heart conditions isn’t enough to convince you to turn to the coconut side, coconut oil has also earned the label of being ‘thermogenic’. This means that once consumed, the body’s fat burning process reacts more effectively than it would after consuming any other cooking oil.
Virgin coconut oil’s weight loss benefits can strongly be attributed to their combination of medium chain fatty acids, which significantly speeds up metabolism and calorie burning, leaving you with a slimmer waistline.
The weight loss wonders don’t end there
Sugar cravings play a big part in obesity. Adding coconut oil to your diet helps eliminate these sugar cravings from happening. Your body registers the healthy fats found in the oil as more satiating than the long list of simple-carbohydrates.
Cooking uses
Coconut oil is an unsung hero for vegan bakers across the globe. Acting as a far healthier alternative to butter, coconut oils saturated fat content replicates that of butter, so you can use it as you would butter when baking your favourite dishes.
Fancy adding a burst of ‘coconutiness’ to your steaks or stir fry? Look no further. Because it can withstand temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius, adding a few tablespoons of coconut oil to your stir fry is ideal whether you’re going for sweet or spicy.
Cooking with the oils versatility goes as far as it being a healthy glaze on sweet and savouries. Banana bread, carrots, sweet potatoes fries– coconut oil, quite literally, has it all covered.
Olive oil
Dubbed the ‘super healthy fat of cooking’, virgin olive oil has a whole heap of benefits as to why you should add it to your diet. Despite the health benefits associated with olive oil, it should be noted that heating it too much could negatively impact its flavour.
Stamping its mark on supermarket shelves across the world spanning decades, thousands of research studies have been carried out to unearth some of olive oil’s most astonishing health benefits.
Olive oil has been proven to:
- Reduce the development of cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol) according to the Journal of Pharmacological Research.
- Fight against oxidative stress, based on its significantly high count of Vitamin E and essential antioxidants.
- Reduce levels of obesity.
- Improve bone mineralization, based on its effective calcium absorption.
- Aid in digestion.
Obesity control
The International Olive Council found that those who have olive oil-rich diets experience longer-lasting and greater weight loss compared to those who only live on a low-fat diet.
Further studies have proven that incorporating a higher count of monounsaturated fat (particularly olive oil) into your diet promotes weight loss, without the need for extreme physical activity or food restrictions.
Promotes digestion
M Carmen Ramirez Tortosa – author of ‘Olive and Health’, states that the consumption of olive oil promotes a healthy digestive system. This is because of its ability to create peptides, which trigger healthy digestion and assist in the body’s nutrient absorption.
Frequently consuming olive oil assists your digestive system by eliminating unnecessary elements in your waste, and keeping what it needs to maintain good and lasting health.
Cooking uses
Popularly used in a range of nutritious salads, olive oil is rightfully the healthy salad oil. Thinking about adding tomatoes, wine and onions into your daily salad? Olive oil assists in balancing the acidity in these highly-acidic foods, stopping the salads nutrition from being compromised.
Drizzle it over a salad, marinade it over your favourite meat, or even use it as a healthier alternative to butter to dip your bread into – olive oil has it covered.
Olive oil’s smoking point sits just below 200 degrees celcius, however, it must be noted that olive oil loses its flavour as it’s heated at a high temperature. So for its maximum flavour benefits, it’s recommended to add the oil to uncooked meals.
And the results are in…
We’ve looked at both healthy oils and it’s clear that both are effective against battling some of the most serious diseases/conditions of the modern era.
With olive oil being around the circuit longer, a greater number of research studies have been carried out to back up its ground-breaking claims.
On the other hand, coconut oil is taking the health and beauty world by storm. Coconut oil’s sheer versatility and 100 natural properties mean it just about edges the win over olive oil.
For more information, visit www.cocan.co