7 Best cooking oils for your family

As gatekeepers of your family’s health, you probably think carefully about the kind of nutrition your loved ones get, avoiding anything unhealthy. In this context, fats and oils more often than not get a bad rap.

However, not all fats are bad. Young children actually need a certain amount of saturated fat and cholesterol to maintain healthy tissues and cell membranes. In fact, doctors recommend not holding back on the fats until your child is two years old.

When it comes to the health of your loved ones, health advocates say that the replacement of "bad fats", like trans fats, with "good fats" such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, can actually be good for health.

The question now is: how do you choose the best cooking oils for your family among the dizzying array of options present in supermarkets? With the help of this guide, of course! Keep clicking next to find out what these oils are.

Olive oil

A staple in Mediterranean cooking, olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, which can help improve blood cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart disease.

Olive is great for the overall health of everyone in your family. For adults, for example, the phytonutrient in olive oil, oleocanthol, can help reduce inflammation. It can help decrease both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and it helps with bone mineralisation, assisting in the prevention of osteoporosis.

Olive oil is also a great cooking oil for your kids – it is rich in antioxidants, especially vitamin E, which can help protect your family from infections.

Tips:

Extra virgin olive oil has the most health benefits because it comes from the first pressing of the fruit. Essentially, it’s raw. Drizzle it over your kid’s steamed veggies or use it as a salad dressing. Pure olive oil doesn’t pack the same antioxidant punch as extra virgin because the heat used in the oil extraction process disperses the antioxidants. It’s still a great source of monounsaturated fats and great to use when grilling meat, fish, and veggies. Try sautéing the veggies for a yummy fried rice for your kids with this oil. Extra light olive oil is only light in colour, not in calories! It has a high smoke point, making it great for high-heat frying. Use it to cook delicious homemade chicken or fish nuggets for your kids.

Where to buy: FairPrice, Sheng Siong, and all other major supermarkets in Singapore. You can also buy it online at redmart.com.

Cost: Approximately $7-9 for 500ml of extra virgin olive oil. The price varies according to store and type and brand of oil. Try the FairPrice brand for competitive prices.

Virgin coconut oil

Over the years, coconut oil has been subsequently loved and hated. But now, research shows that virigin coconut oil (VCO) – which is extracted from the fruit of fresh mature coconuts without using high temperatures or chemicals – can be good for our health.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in the US, virgin coconut oil has potential antioxidant properties due to certain plant nutrients it contains called phenolic compounds.

Studies have also shown that consuming virgin coconut oil can also help prevent heart disease and diabetes; it can also help with weight loss.

And let’s not forget about the benefits of this oil for breastfeeding mums and their babies! For one, VCO is a milk booster. Also, according to research, nursing mums who consume VCO have higher levels of lauric and capric acids in their breast milk. "This increases the milk’s antimicrobial and immune boosting properties, while promoting both brain and bone development in the infant."

Give this scrumptious Lemon Raspberry Zucchini Bars recipe that uses VCO, a try!

Tip: Avoid any packaged or manufactured foods that contain partially hydrogenated coconut oil, which is bad for your health. When cooking, choose only virgin coconut oil.

Where to buy: sg.iherb.com; some FairPrice Finest outlets.

Cost: Approximately $18 for 444ml of organic virgin coconut oil, on iherb. We recommend the Nutiva brand.

Ghee

You might be a bit surprised that ghee has made our list. But according to nutrition experts, ghee can actually be beneficial for your family's health.

Ghee is popularly used in Indian cuisine, and is actually made from butter. However, it is "clarified", meaning the milk solids and impurities have been removed. This means that most people who are lactose or casein intolerant have no issue with ghee.

Ghee also has a high smoke point, meaning that it is idea for high heat cooking as it will not easily break down into free radicals like other oils with a lower heat point. According to experts, this oil is also rich in vitamins A and E, as well as K2 and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) – an antioxidant with anti-viral properties if it is sourced from grass fed cows.

Try making your own ghee by following this link.

Tip: Ghee doesn't spoil easily, so you don't need to refrigerate it (unlike butter).

Where to buy: Most major supermarkets stock ghee.

Cost: Approximately $5-6 for 400g of pure ghee. We recommend Leila Pure Ghee on redmart.com.

Sesame oil

Sesame oil, which is pressed from tiny sesame seeds, is commonly used in Asian cuisine. According to experts, "there are numerous compounds and antioxidants within the sesame seed that are imparted into the oil."

The adults in your family will benefit from this oil’s ability to lower high blood pressure and high sodium levels in the blood. Kids will benefit from its high antioxidant and omega fatty acid levels. It has a pleasant, nutty flavour, but the taste can be quite strong, so use it sparingly in your kids' food if they get overwhelmed by intense flavours.

Tip: Drizzle a little bit of sesame oil over your child’s chicken or fish. You can also use it as a dressing for a delicious Asian salad.

Where to buy: All major supermarkets in Singapore.

Cost: Approximately $3-4 for 150ml of pure sesame oil. We recommend the brands Chee Seng and Woh Hup on redmart.com.

Avocado oil

You may not have heard of the benefits of cooking with avocado oil before... so let us tell you just how good it is for the health of your whole family!

This oil has a superior fatty acid profile, and contains high levels of antioxidants and phytosterols. As you know by now, all of these help battle inflammation in your body.

In fact, you can even replace olive oil with avocado oil as the latter contains nearly triple the carotenoids of olive oil. Carotenoids are potent, lipid-soluble antioxidants that help fight cancer, promote good eye health, and even reduce the physical signs of ageing.

Avocado oil is also very heat stable, which means it is great for frying foods. To top all these benefits, avocado oil is delicious too.

Tip: Avocado oil is best used in high-heat cooking methods, such as stir-frying and deep frying.

Where to buy: qoo10.sg; sg.iherb.com; some FairPrice Finest outlets; selected health stories.

Cost: $16.90 for 250ml of Grove cold pressed avocado oil on qoo10.sg.

Canola oil

Canola oil is extracted from the seeds of the canola plant and is a great source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which you now know are great for the health of your loved ones.

It’s a great oil to cook with for your little ones because of its light and mild flavour. You could use it to replace butter or margarine for cooking and baking. It’s also great for stir-frying and for variety of sautéd dishes. It's always best to buy organic canola oil whenever possible.

Tips

Use canola oil instead of melted butter when you make pancakes, muffins, or bread for your little ones. Canola oil is also good to coat your pots and pans to protect them from scratches and rust.

Where to buy: Any major supermarket in Singapore.

Cost: Approximately $2 for 500ml of canola oil. We recommend the the Sunbeam and FairPrice brands. You could also try Spectrum Naturals Organic canola oil, on sg.iherb.com.

Peanut oil

Unless anyone in your family has a peanut allergy, peanut oil, which is high in monounsaturated "good" fats, is a great way of increasing your kids’ intake of vitamin E. This vitamin acts as an antioxidant that can help protect your child from nasty infections.

According to WebMD, "peanut oil also contains heart-healthy phytosterols, essential plant fats known to lower cholesterol and inhibit cancer".

Because it reaches high temperatures quite fast, it’s a good oil to use for deep frying – home-made fried chicken, anyone? You can also use it for sautéing vegetables, meat, and fish, or as a salad dressing.

Tip: Peanut oil can go rancid quite fast, so it’s best to buy it in small quantities.

Where to buy: Any major supermarket in Singapore, or online at redmart.com.

Cost: Approximately $8-9 for two litres of peanut oil (FairPrice brand). We recommend Crisco pure all natural peanut oil, from redmart.com.

Are there any other oils you think should be on our list? Tell us what they are by leaving a comment below.

Written by

Nalika Unantenne

Nutritionhealthy eatingfamily healthchild healthcooking for kids