Healthiest Cooking Oils

The Gene Smart Team40094 Views449 Comments

The healthiest cooking oils are part of an anti-inflammatory diet. The typical Western diet includes far too much Omega-6 and far too little Omega-3, creating an imbalance that is associated with whole body inflammation. Did you know that the top sources of Omega-6 in the American diet are our most popular cooking oils?

What are these High Omega-6 Oils to Avoid?

The leading sources of omega-6 in the American diet are soybean oil, corn oil and cottonseed oil. These products are very high in Omega-6 oils. For example soybean oil contains 51% omega-6. Read more foods and oils with high omega-6 content.

Of course, foods made from high omega-6 oils will also have higher levels of omega-6 oils in the finished products. This includes most fried foods found in fast food restaurants, and other high fat prepared foods like cookies and chips. For an anti-inflammatory diet, your best bet is to minimize or avoid these foods.

What are the Healthiest Cooking Oils?

The healthiest cooking oils for an anti-inflammatory diet, will be those with the lowest levels of omega-6, and the highest amounts of “healthy fats” which include omega-3 and monounsaturated fats.

Our favorite healthy cooking oils are olive oil and canola oil.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is very low in omega-6 fats and saturated fats. We love to use olive oil for no/low heat cooking situations, such as making pasta, sautéing vegetables, salad dressings, and drizzling over steamed vegetables. Olive oil is a source of monounsaturated fats and contains polyphenols, which is another important food in the Gene Smart anti-inflammatory diet plan.

Canola Oil

Because of its high smoke point and neutral flavor, we prefer canola oil as one of the healthiest cooking oils for higher heat situations. Canola oil is a versatile substitute for the leading vegetable oils, which are usually made with omega-6 rich soybean oil. Canola oil contains ALA omega-3 and monounsaturated fats. It can be used for sautéing, roasting, baking and making salad dressings.

Other Healthy Cooking Oils

In addition to olive oil and canola oil, other healthy cooking oils with relatively low levels of omega-6 include high-oleic sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, avocado oil, and high-oleic safflower oil. Download our free healthy eating guide to learn the specific levels of omega-6 in these cooking oils.

Improving Your Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio

It is not uncommon for people eating a typical Western diet to have an Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio of 15:1 or higher. The Gene Smart Anti-Inflammatory diet plan targets an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 5:1 or less, and ideally 2:1 or even 1:1.

Of course, one way to reduce your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is to consume less omega-6 oils. The other way is to consume more omega-3, especially the omega-3s EPA & DHA found in fish oil.

The best way to increase your omega-3 is by eating fish from our high omega-3 fish list, and taking an omega-3 supplement each day. Our Gene Smart Concentrated Omega-3 fish oil is double strength and contains 1,200 mg of EPA & DHA per serving, which helps you achieve the recommended dose of 1,250 – 1,500mg of EPA + DHA Omega-3 each day with only 2 soft-gels per day.

How Do I Know I’m on Track?

The best way to check whether you are on track is to measure the omega-3 and omega-6 levels that end up on your blood. A few years ago, we introduced the first omega-3 home blood test kit that lets individuals check their omega-6 to omega-3 Ratio and omega-3 Index. Our Gene Smart Omega-3 Test made such a big splash that Dr. Oz did a whole episode on the importance of knowing your omega-6 and omega-3 blood levels, and used our omega-3 testing kit to check the levels of several audience members. Click here to watch a 5 minute segment from the Dr. Oz show. You’ll be glad you did.