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What is really in your cooking oil?
Every oil has about the same calories. What differs is the kind of fat, and that is what moves LDL cholesterol and decides how well an oil copes with a hot pan. Pick the oils in your kitchen and compare them a tablespoon at a time.
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1 tablespoon = 15 ml. Four to six teaspoons (1⅓ to 2 tablespoons) of added fat a day is plenty for most adults.
- Extra virgin olive oil119 kcal · 1.9 g saturated
- Rapeseed / canola oil124 kcal · 1.0 g saturated
- Ghee115 kcal · 7.9 g saturated
| In 1 tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil | Rapeseed / canola oil | Ghee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 119 kcal | 124 kcal | 115 kcal |
| Saturated | 1.9 g | 1.0 g | 7.9 g |
| Monounsaturated | 9.9 g | 8.9 g | 3.7 g |
| Polyunsaturated | 1.4 g | 3.9 g | 0.5 g |
| of which omega-3 (ALA) | 0.1 g | 1.3 g | 0.1 g |
| Frying | OK | OK | OK |
| Roasting, sautéing | Good | Good | OK |
| Salads, drizzling | Good | Good | OK |
Lowest in saturated fat: Rapeseed / canola oil (1.0 g). Highest: Ghee (7.9 g). Most plant omega-3: Rapeseed / canola oil (1.3 g).
- Extra virgin olive oil: The PREDIMED oil. Stable for pan-frying and roasting despite its modest smoke point; best flavour raw.
- Rapeseed / canola oil: Lowest in saturated fat and one of the richest in plant omega-3. A good everyday default.
- Ghee: Stable when heated, but about 60% saturated, so it raises LDL. Best as a flavour, by the teaspoon.
High LDL, or a kitchen where everything is fried in the same oil?
Dr. Triveni builds heart health plans around the food you actually cook. Background first? Read what the trials compared.
Book a consultationWhere the numbers come from
Fat values are from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per 100 g, scaled to the weight of a 15 ml tablespoon of each fat (about 13.5 to 14 g for oils, 12.8 g for ghee and 14.2 g for butter, which is about a fifth water). Omega-3 here is ALA, the plant kind, and is part of the polyunsaturated figure. The fats don't add up to the full weight because each oil also has small amounts of other fatty acids and, in butter, water and milk solids. Brands and varieties differ a little.
Saturated fat limits: under 10% of energy a day (US Dietary Guidelines, WHO), about 22 g on 2,000 kcal, and 6% (about 13 g) from the American Heart Association for people with high LDL. The frying, roasting and salad ratings are for home cooking and weigh how stable each fat is when heated against its taste and smoke; reused frying oil is a bigger problem than which oil you start with. The trials behind it: Cooking oils: olive, seed oils, ghee and coconut, and what the trials actually compared
General information, not medical advice. If you have high cholesterol or heart disease, talk to your doctor or dietitian about your diet, and don't stop prescribed medicines because of a change in cooking oil.