Cooking Oil:

Some of us live to eat and some of us eat to live. We all have different eating habits; many of us have hectic lifestyles and we don’t often eat the way we should. Sometimes our nutrition is dubious when we zip past a drive-through window or take out something from the freezer and “nuke” it in the microwave. What has this got to do with cooking oil, you ask?

Yet, there are those times where we want to relax and prepare a home cooked meal for ourselves. The joy of dining not only comes from eating a well-balanced meal. The pleasure of taking out your treasured cookng pots to prepare and something to tantalize the tastebuds can be truly rewarding.

However, those meals don’t just come together. There is a recipe to follow, and ingredients that need to shopped for if the meal is going to happen. Above all you want the meal to taste good - and be good for you.

Therefore, selecting the right cooking oil is of the utmost importance. Three healthy cooking oils are olive oil, canola oil and safflower oil, and these are the three that we're going to focus on here.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is a popular monounsaturated cooking oil. Monounsaturated describes the compound structure of the molecules that comprises this oil. Foods that contain fatty acids, labeled as monounsaturated, may decrease an individual’s LDL cholesterol level. As the name implies, olive oil is obtained from olives that have naturally ripened on olive trees and are processed through a pressing procedure.

Additionally, olive oil has a high smoke point. A high smoke point is an indicator of the quality of the cooking oil. A smoke point is the temperature reached in which the oil starts to breakdown. For olive oil the smoke point is different based on the degree of processing accomplished to produce the oil. The lowest smoke point of olive oil is the unrefined product and the highest smoke point is found in the extra-light processed olive oil.

Canola Oil

Canola oil is another popular cooking oil. This oil is derived from the seeds of a plant that belongs to the turnip family. This light, amber colored oil can also be used on salads as the flavor and aroma is fairly placid in nature.

The benefit of this cooking oil is that it is the lowest in saturated fat and has a high smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The combinations of these two benefits make it an excellent oil for everyday use.

Safflower Oil

Safflower oil is a cooking oil that is made from the seeds of safflowers. This particular oil is a favorite for salad lovers for when it is drizzled onto salads it maintains its liquid form and does not coagulate even when subject to colder temperatures.

This clear cooking oil has a slight flavor and is pale yellow in color. In addition this oil is also low in monounsaturated fat and has a smoking point of 450 degrees Fahrenheit.