The Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, say fat should not constitute more than 35 percent of the calories you consume in a day, cites MayoClinic.com. The type of fat, such as unsaturated, saturated or trans fat, also makes a difference in relation to health. Because cooking oils are a type of fat, pay attention to the type you are using and to the quantity.
Types
Depending on the type, a cooking oil can encompass polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated or trans fat. Monounsaturated fats include oils of peanut, canola and olive. Sunflower, soy, safflower, corn and cottonseed are all types of polyunsaturated fats. Although natural, tropical oils such as coconut and palm oils are saturated fats. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils fall under the trans-fat category.
Features
The difference between the various types of fat is found in their molecular structure, according to the Family Education website. Monounsaturated fat has one double carbon bond, and polyunsaturated fat has a number of these double carbon bonds. Saturated fat is comprised of single carbon bonds. Trans fat is the only type of fat that is man-made, from hydrogenating unsaturated fat to create a firmer consistency.
Benefits
Unsaturated fats can reduce your total cholesterol and LDL, or bad, cholesterol numbers, according to MayoClinic.com. In this way, this type of fat can reduce your chances of developing heart disease. Use these fats instead of saturated and trans fats, not in addition to them. Unsaturated fats should be part of an overall low-fat diet to have these health benefits.
Negatives
All cooking oils are high in fat and calories. Unsaturated and saturated oils have approximately the same number of fat grams and calories, according to the Calorielab website. Olive, safflower, corn, cottonseed, canola, sunflower seed, soy, palm and coconut oils all contain about 13.5 g of fat and 120 calories per tablespoon. Mayoclinic.com notes that the key to oils is to watch how much you use. The difference is in the type of fat they contain. Saturated and trans fats tend to raise your LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels as well as your total cholesterol, thus raising the possibility you will develop heart disease. The HHS and USDA recommend not including more than 10 percent of saturated fat in your diet per day. They do not have a suggestion on the amount of trans fat to include, although they suggest keeping it low.
Theories/Speculation
A buzz in the health community is that poly and monounsaturated fats do not cook well. These oils generally have a lower "smoking point" than saturated and trans fats, which is thought to cause the oils to lose their nutritional value and to develop cancer-causing properties by creating oxygen radicals. However, dietitian Karen Collins says there is not sufficient evidence of this, at least in reference to olive oil. She notes that the oils do not break down much in cooking and that these results may only happen when the oil is continually reheated, such as in a restaurant.
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