Choosing oils for cooking: A host of heart-healthy options
For cooking and baking, people should choose a fat that’s liquid instead of solid at room temperature. Heart-healthy choices include olive oil as well as other plant-based oils, such as canola, sunflower, safflower, and soybean. These oils contain mainly unsaturated fats, which includes both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. In 2018, the FDA approved a new qualified health claim for oils containing at least 70% oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fat. The claim cites supportive evidence that eating about 1½ tablespoons of high-oleic acid oils daily may lower coronary disease risk, but only if it replaces fats and oils higher in saturated fat.
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