Vegetable Oils Summary

Cooking Oils

Vegetable Oils Summary - Cooking Oils

The following list summarizes selected common edible vegetable oils. Eating cooking oils high in mono-unsaturated oils and poly-unsaturated oils can reduce cholesterol.

The oils are listed by melting point, on both Farenheit and Centigrade scales. Rule of thumb: The lower the melting point, the healthier the oil. Those individuals who want to reduce their cholesterol should try to eat cooking oils high on the list, and avoid those fats at the bottom of the list.

Vegetable Oils - Summary Table of Characteristics
		Sat.	Mono	Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids
	Sum of Total Fat %	Saturated Fat %	Mono Unsaturated Oleic Acid (Omega-9) %	Total Poly Unsaturated %	Alpha Linolenic (Omega-3) (LNA) %	Linoleic (Omega-6) (LA) %	Ratio LA/LNA (ideal=3:1)	Melting Point ºF . . . . . ºC
COOKING OILS (liquid at room temperature)
Flaxseed Oil	100	8	21	71	57	14	0.2	-11ºF	-24ºC
Fish Oil	99	25	24	50	30	20	0.7	-	-
Cottonseed Oil	100	28	18	54	7	47	7	-55ºF	-48ºC
Walnut Oil	100	8	22	70	12	58	5	-	-
Hempseed Oil	85	9	13	63	5	58	10	18ºF	-8ºC
Almond Oil	100	8	73	19	-	-	-	-	-
Olive Oil	98	11	79	8	1	7	7	-42ºF	-41ºC
Grapeseed Oil	100	14	57	29	0	29	100 to 1	14ºF	10ºC
Canola Oil	100	7	58	35	14*	21	1.5	14ºF	10ºC
Safflower Oil	100	8	14	78	0	78	100 to 1	2ºF	-17ºC
Sunflower Oil	100	11	20	69	0	69	100 to 1	2ºF	-17ºC
Soybean Oil	100	15	24	61	7*	54	8	-5ºF	-21ºC
Corn Oil	100	14	25	61	1	60	60	12ºF	-11ºC
Peanut Oil	100	18	48	34	0	34	100 to 1	28ºF	-2ºC
COOKING FATS (solid at room temperature)
Lard	100	41	47	12	1	11	11	92ºF	33ºC
Butter fat	100	66	30	4	2	2	1	95ºF	35ºC
Coconut Oil	100	92	6	2	0	2	100 to 1	75ºF	25ºC
Palm Oil	100	52	38	10
Palm Kernal Oil	100	86	12	2	0	2	100 to 1	75ºF	24ºC
	Human Body Temperature Fats above this melting point remain SOLID within the body.							98.6ºF	37ºC
Frying fat	100	50	45	5	0	5	100 to 1	105ºF	41°C
Shortening (fully hydrogenated)	100				0	0		115ºF	46°C
		Avoid as much as possible	Monos reduce LDL		Don't get enough *destroyed in processing	Already get too much from soy

Do NOT eat foods containing "Trans-Fatty Acids" (TFAs).
Do NOT eat foods containing "Partially-Hydrogenated" oils.
Do NOT eat foods containing "Hydrogenated" Oils.

Food Summaries
Amino Acid Summary	Magnesium Foods Summary	Vegetable Oils Summary
Fish Oil Supplement Summary	Potassium Foods Summary	Vitamin and Mineral Chart
Herbal Actions Summary

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This Vaughns 1-Pagers Vegetable Cooking Oil Summary web page was updated on 2007-02-01.