Do you stand in the oil oile wondering which is the best type of oil to cook with? Does coconut oil really have a safe smoke point? Then extra virgin olive oil or it's olive oil as good as extraversion olive oil. Today on the Nutrition Couch we review three
popular types of oil and their health benefits. Hi, I'm Susie Burrow and I'm Lean Wood, and as two of Australia's leading dietitians who specialize in evidence based nutrition, we bring you the Nutrition Couch Product Review, a weekly chat on new products and old favorites you can find in the supermarket. So to get us started todayly Am, I wanted to know what your favorite type of oil is because if I'm honest with you, I don't cook with
a huge amount of oil overall. I'm very lucky to often have a range of extra virgin olive oil from Cobbram and we've been very transparent that we do have a relationship with them as a great Australian brand who really supports dietitians in your TTRITIONNIS in general in Australia to make sure they have access to loads of really good quality Australia at extra virgin olive oil. But if I have got a beautiful fresh oil, I'll more likely
use it to dress my salads. And I cook quite a lot on baking paper if I'm cooking fish or things like that, just also for ease. I don't like to have a lot of miss but definitely if I'm sort of sautaining something, I will absolutely just reach for an extra virgin olive oil. But I know because your background, and this is really important for our listeners, because of course people from different cultural backgrounds may be using different
types of oil traditionally in their cultural cooking. Because of course, your mum is Malaysian, so I'm interested what oils did you grow up with at home? With your mum cooking.
Absolutely extraversion olive oil. Mum was very healthy. She was like all over that, research all over the health properties of that. But she also does when she's doing a beautiful stir fright and her walk, she you know, gets a walk on the high heat over the flames, and she actually puts in She starts with her bass, she goes ginji car like onion, throws some fresh chili in there and some sesame oil is what she generally uses. In stir fries if she wants to add a little
bit of taste in flavor. But I think generally she starts off with to sort of you know, brown up the onion and the garlic and the ginger. She uses the extra version olive oil, and then I actually think she adds in I'll have to check with Mum the sesame oil towards the end when she adds in the other little bit of like soy sauce or oyster sauce into a stir fry, So she uses more the sesame
oil as just a bit of flavor. And also she's making like a nice quality, you know, chicken and corn soup, which is one of her specialties.
SUSI.
She always just make that woman sick. It was delicious. She'll sort of put a few drops of sesame oil at the end of it as she's serving it as almost like a little sort of looks nice. She'll put a few little sprigs of parsley on top with a few little drops of sesame oil as well. It's more of a flavor sort of thing, and that was how she served it. But I think the base of when she starts the meal was always, you know, that extra version olive oil.
More interesting that you go to his way ahead of her time now when he became a T Titian. Absolutely, all right, well there's three. We're gonna look at three different oils today. Now, let's be honestly, and there's a billion. There's sunflower, there's saffour, there's rice brand, there's conal, like, there's just so many different ones, Like, it's no wonder consumers are confused. I'm often confused. You're not alone. But we've chosen three that we thought would resonate with our listeners.
So we're going to look at the Cobram Australian extravasion olive oil. We're going to look at coconut oil because of course there is definitely a group of people who are using it frequently. They're big fans of it. They talk about why it's so good for our health. So we're going to look at that one closely. And we're going to also do canola oil because I think sometimes
there's a real belief that canola oil is particularly healthy. Now, we could have chosen vegetable oil because that is generally a blended oil and has a heavy palm oil base. But we thought instead, we'd look at canola just because it's a one that we often think is quite healthy, and we're going to have a look at them in terms of how they're produced and how they're made, and as such, what is the impact on their antioxidant and
polyphenol contents. We're going to look at them in terms of vitamin E content, because you can get quite a significant proportion of your vitamin E from a really good quality oil. We're going to compare them in terms of the fatty acids in them, so the mix of saturated, mono ensaturated and poly unsaturated fats, because any fat will be a blend of those different types, and then we
will refer to it in terms of what's dominant. So, for example, extra virgin olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, but also contains some polls and saturates. So it's the ratios that determine how healthy the oil is and also if there's any trans fats in that oil and how stable they are when heated. Now, the Aann's actually going to help us because it's the table we're looking at, and the research around it's really small, and I have said before, my eyes are really not so amazing on
the computer. So she's going to help us with the numbers. So Lean, do you want to what do you want to start with? Why don't you start? Why don't you do coconut oil first? And then we'll work backwards and then go into canola and then extra virgin olive oil. And I'll pipe in when I've got something extremely useful to say.
All right, So our virgin coconut oil is what we're looking at. First, production method of virgin coconut oil. It is mechanically extracted and the oil is extracted from cofa or milk of the coconut using a wet processing method where a manual press is used to actually extract the oil at the end. So when we look at the polyfeenal content, it is less than ten parts per million, so that's actually a very low sort of amount of polyfenols.
If we look at the vitamin E content or the alpha TOKOFFERL content in virgin coconut oil, it's between zero to seventeen milligrams per kilos. That's actially a very low amount of our vitamin e in there as well. And then the breakdown of the fatty acid profile, SUSI virgin coconut oil is ninety one percent saturated fats, so it is predominantly a saturated fat, two percent poly and seven
percent mono unsaturated fat. So although we might not you know, consider you know, saturated fats, we know from the research and they're not healthy from us. There is a little bit of conflicting research when we look at things like coconut oil and the saturated vat in dairy that it's not bad for us as such, but it's more what I would call a neutral fatsooz it's not something that actually offers positive anti inflammatory benefits like our unsaturated some
of our unsaturated fats. I would say it's more of a neutral fat. So I think there's a lot of misconception online. A lot of you know, quote unquote wellness experts toting coconut oil for you know, doing everything, you know, basically saving the world put it that way. But it's not actually positive for our house. So I actually fail to see where a lot of these quote unquote wellness experts are getting their research from. Because there saturated fat
that I see in virgin coconut oil. It doesn't add positive nutrition to us. It gives us some calories and some energy, but it doesn't have any sort of you know, anti inflammatory effects, antioxidant effects. It's really what I would just call a neutral type of fat which sort of provides maybe a little bit of quicker energy and calories, but that's pretty much it. So the fatty acid profile for me isn't superior to another type of oil when I look at virgin coconut oil.
No, and all I'm looking at as well when i'm model diets is what I'm getting out of it, and it's just adding saturated fat. Now, in modeling Australian's diet, if they're having dairy and a meat eaters, they're getting more than enough saturated fat from that, let alone the effect of palm oil coming through in terms of processed foods, So I can't use it. I don't need more saturated fat than anyone's diet, you know, generally, I need far less of that and much more of the long chain
polls and monolansaturates to get my ratios on track. And if you haven't listened already to our last episode on oils, that will give you some more background on how to get those positive fatty acid ratios to help reduce inflammation naturally in the body. So when we look at that antioxidant content, there's literally none in there. It's just what I call sort of sludge. You know, it's not really giving anything. And that's why I've never used it scientifically.
It's nothing to do with whether I like it or the taste or anything. It's more that, you know, nutritionally, from a pure nutritional perspective, I can't do anything with it when I'm modeling diets. So you can see they're that, you know, literally none when it comes to polyphenal content,
and very minimal amounts of vitamin e if any. So you know, if it's your choice of saturated fat, sure, but most of us are getting it more than enough from our meat and dairy and process food without needing to add in another type by choice.
And I'll just make a note here where a lot of maybe some of our listeners a sort of saying, well, why is vitamin E important? So alphatoicofferral or what we know is vitamin E is quite a well known antioxidant which is really important for our body because vitamin E acts as a basically sort of its scavengers the free
radicals out of our body. So when our bodies undergo periods of stress, whether that's sort of environmental stress like you know, perhaps smoking, or you know, excess sun exposure, pollutions, or you know, just high levels of stress in our day to day job, our bodies put out this what we call these free radicals, and antioxidants help to damp down or collect those free radicals and actually help to reduce that, you know, the harmful stress that our body
is sort of producing or being exposed to. So that's basically why what vitame is and why it's important, and so when we're looking at different types of oils, it is a really important part of the antioxidant profile to actually have a little bit of vartami in the oils as well.
One hundred percent, and that's one of the main dietary sources. We'll get some from nuts and seeds. That as a nutrition nutrient, I should say, getting it from our daily
choice of oil is a key way. So again that can go missing if we're not choosing a great quality oil, all right, then canola oil, because canola oil sort of you know, when we went through an anti saturated fat message through the nineties and everything was low fat canola oil got a really big run, you know, it was kind of deemed the healthiest oil, and we had a whole lot of spreads come out that were canola oil based. But when I'm looking how they make it leanne it's pretty processed.
Yeah, absolutely, So if we start with the production measure of canola oil SUSY, it is typically extracted through a screw process, solvent extraction, or a combination of both methods, and then of course it is refined, so we would call conol oil a refined oil. So we look at the polyphenol content again, it's less than ten parts per million, so it's the same as same as virgin coconut oil. It's a very very low low polyphenol content. The vitamin
E content of canola oil is higher. It's between one hundred to three hundred and eighty milligrams per kilo, so it actually does have a good amount of vitamin E in there. But when you look at the fatty acid profile, sixty two percent mono, twenty five percent poly and seven percent saturated, so a lot less saturated fat and a lot more unsaturated fat than when we compare it to our virgin coconut oil. So probably a lot better profile than when we compare it to coconut oil.
It does, and again very very low polyphenal content. It does have slightly more vitamin E than compared to the coconut oil when we look at the ratio, sixty two percent mono unsaturated fat, so not dissimilar to extravegin olive oil,
which I think it's why it's tainted. Perhaps with that idea that it is one of the healthier oils seven percent saturated fat and twenty five percent polyunsaturated fat, so the ratios aren't too bad on it, but because of that processinglyan it does tend to have a bit of trans fat that seeps in. And I guess if we
were summarizing white, it's definitely not our favorite. It's still refined, it's still processed, so it's perhaps better than I would say nutritionally better than yes, coconut oil, but still not offering the large range of health benefits that come from an oil with a really high antioxidant content, basically because it's really processed. And that's a bit like margarine, you know, adding good stuff back in doesn't make it healthy because it's really processed. And indeed canola oil is if I
was summarizing, it's still heavily processed. And even if you.
Look at the stability of the oil when heated susy. So canola oil isn't stable, I think because it is so highly refined. So when you look at the research, canola oil is much less heat stable than extraversion olive oil. It's actually been known canol oil to produce two point six y five times more polar compounds when heated to
a high temperature than something like extraversion olive oil. So in terms of stability with oils, canol oil isn't something we want to be cooking with at high temperatures or on a wock or over the gorilla or anything like that, because it really isn't it really isn't that heat stable.
No, it's good to know because I think for consumers, I understand how people are so confused, like there's so many different types. But I guess in my way of trying to simplify it nutritionally, I just wipe it out as vegetable oil. It's processed, so I just try and simplify it. But certainly it does a little bit though when we're starting to look at all the different types,
whether it's canola, whether it's sunflower, whether it's saflour. To me, they're all kind of pretty similar in the sense they're all pretty processed, and there's nothing really stand out with them other than in the case of perhaps a specific flavor you're looking for, whether it's peanut oil and cooking or sesame, I'd be using that for the flavor at times,
as opposed to any of the health benefits. I sort of brush them all off with nothing huge to offer, and more that if it's a flavor you're looking for rather than a health benefit.
That's the thing with coconut oil as well. It's not like I've never used coconut oil before. If I was making one of those raw desserts where it had to set at room temperature, I might use a little bit of coconut oil. If I was making a curry where I wanted that sort of coconut taste, use a little bit of coconut oil. But it's you know, maybe five percent of the time that I would use that type of oil compared to ninety five percent of the time
where I'd use something like extravergin olive oil. So of course it's Okay to use these types of oils for the flavor or all that sort of thing, but it's not something we want to be doing on a regular basis, like adding it in as part of our salad dressings every day, or the oil we regularly cook with when we cook our protein or we cook our veggies in the pan. We definitely want the top quality oil when we're using it on a regular basis.
And indeed that's what we're talking about it. So those go to and why it's really important to have a strong baseline oil going through the entire Famili's diet for these reasons, which brings us to our final look, which is specifically not just olive oil, but extra virgin olive oil. And again, if you're interested in the difference, you can listen to our previous podcast which is all about oils, and that really summarizes the difference between olive oil and
then extra virgin olive oil. But the reason that we as dieticians particularly like it is it's the highest grade
of oil. Basically, it's produced a time of harvest, which means that the entire olive is used and it retains all of those amazing antioxidant contents, so you can't even compare in these three the amount of antioxidants in canola and cocone oil because basically extravagin olive oil in particular Australian, because we have such high standards of processing here, it's just through the roof in terms of polyphenal content and even vitamin E content, so two really important nutritional factors
which make it really good quality oil. Even though the profile is similar to that of canola oil, if I'm having a look, it can range fifty three to eighty five percent mono and saturated fat, three to twenty three percent pollys and seven to twenty saturates, but it's got all those extra benefits of the vitamin E and the
antioxidants that canola does not have. And the only transfats that are there are very very small amounts of naturally occurring, so none are produce secondary to processing, which when it comes to our health and potential negative health consequences, it's only those process transfats that form as a result of manufacturing we need to be really concerned about when it comes to our health. Try to popular opinion lyan it is very heat stable thanks to that protective effect of
that high antioxidant content. So you would have to be cooking at industrial temperatures, which are impossible in a household kitchen to ever have issues with a good quality Australian extra virgin olive oil. It's just not a factor when it comes to cooking. Nothing you would cook at home would cause the oil to be damaged and have any of those things that people talk about in terms of
you can't cook with extra virgin olive oil. So it's a complete myth as long as you invest in the good quality oil that you know has that very high antioxidant content.
And when we talk about the high quality extraversion olive oil, I think the reason that it's not refined is because it's extracted mechanically straight from the fruit of the olive tree. So there's no you know, refining or chemicals used to do that. We literally take the olives of the tree and press them and that's how we get that top you know Australian extraversion olive oil, you know such as Cobra, which is a wonderful brand, and that's why it is
so high in antioxidants. When we look at our comparison chart, SUSI the poly female content of extraversion olive oil is eighty to one thousand, two hundred parts per million compared with our canola and our virgin coconut oil was less than ten parts per million. So we're getting eight times plus higher amounts of polyphenols and antioxidants in this oil, and that's where all of the protective benefits come from and all of the wonderful health benefits associated with top
quality extraversion olive oil. True.
True, And so we hope that that has made it a little bit clearer when it comes to what we're looking at the oils in general, because indeed, when you go to the supermarket, it's really not that easy to see the labels. But as a very brief summary, what I would say is we group them according to what
they're offering positively into the diet. Coconut oil in this instance doesn't have any of the antioxidants of the vitamin E and heavily saturated vegetable oils across the board, and things like canola oil, even though they may have a more favorable fatty acid profile, again, they don't offer the vitamin E and antioxidant content, and they are heavily processed, so they can have some secondary transfats that come and then if we're looking at olive oil, we want extra
virgin olive oil because that's indicative of time of harvest and hence a higher antioxidant content which is highly protective against the oil. And then you can get all the marvelous health benefits that come with including a couple of serves of extra virgin olive oil in your diet every day for health promotion and natural anti inflammatory effect and disease prevention long term. Absolutely so that brings us to the end of the Nutrition Couch product review for another week.
If you haven't already, please subscribe to have us delivered into your inbox every Wednesday morning when we look at a range of products. We have our social sites running. We love to hear from you. We would love your feedback on this episode and anything that you're not clear on or would like cover it in a future episode about oils and fats in our diet, And we will see you on Sunday morning for our regular weekly chat.
Thanks for listening, catch you guys in the next episode.
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