Is Olive Oil Better than Vegetable Oil: Which One You Should Choose

It’s no secret that olive oil vs. vegetable oil is an intensely heated discussion. However, with so many differing viewpoints on the topic, it can be easy to get caught up in the heat. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of both types of oils.

Olive oil is primarily used for cooking because it offers a rich taste that is difficult to match in any other cooking medium. Vegetable oils, on the other hand, are made from plants such as corn, soybeans, or cottonseed oil. This means that they contain higher levels of fat than regular vegetable oil. However, this fat is often removed, resulting in a lower percentage of saturated fat.

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Olive Oil

Prons:

In addition, olive oil has more health benefits compared to other types of oils. In fact, it is considered to be a better source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the healthy kind of fat found in fish, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains. Olive oil also contains essential vitamins A, E, D, K, and Z, as well as the minerals potassium, phosphorous, calcium, manganese, iron, magnesium, selenium, thiamine, niacin, and several other nutrients and elements that promote good health.

Olive oil also contains more antioxidants compared to other vegetable oils. As a result, it has been found to be more effective against several types of cancer. The antioxidant content of this type of fat is much higher compared to vegetable oils. It also contains more monounsaturated fats than other oils, meaning it doesn’t have a negative effect on blood cholesterol levels as other types do. Polyunsaturated fats like those in olive oil are believed to reduce LDL cholesterol levels.

Learn more about Polyunsaturated fats and other types of good fats

olive oil provides an anti-inflammatory effect that may help prevent many of the common types of inflammatory diseases including arthritis (unlike what the internet says about olive oil containing saturated fats that can be harmful to your arthritis which is completely the opposite with olive oil), heart disease, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, cancer, and other health conditions. 

Cons:

While olive oil is very healthy and has lots of benefits, sometimes it can cause some side effects when consumed in large quantity. Some of these side effects are nausea, diarrhea if consumed on an empty stomach (which makes it good for relieving constipation!). From my own experience with olive oil, I never faced any bad effects from it, except nausea sometimes when I take it during my breakfast

Vegetable oil:

Vegetable oil is any oil that is extracted from seeds like sesame seeds or some fruits like apricot or avocados. 

Prons:

Not all vegetable oil types are bad or unhealthy as everyone says, there are a lot of healthy vegetable oils such as sesame oil, coconut oil etc.. They contain a good type of fats and it’s healthy to cook with them. 

Notice: Vegetable oils that you can cook with are the ones extracted from a seed or a fruit that originally has oil (like olives or coconuts). Sesame seeds contain oils too so it’s safe to cook with sesame oil. Unlike other types like avocado oil, grape oil … the fruit doesn’t originally have oil so it’s not healthy to use it during cooking. However, you can still use both in a salad or in other dishes that don’t necessarily need cooking.

Cons:

A lot of vegetable oil types are considered bad because they can cause inflammation and damage your arthritis, such as palm oil, canola oil, safflower oil etc…

Hydrogenated oils are not vegetable oils so don’t get confused with the word “oil”. This is the worst type of all types of oils and you should stay away from it as possible as you can.

Learn more about Hydrogenated oils and trans fats

 

Which one you should choose?

In my opinion, both are great, BUT you need to choose the one depending on how are you going to use it. If it’s for cooking go with olive oil, if it’s for your salad go for avocado oil or sesame oil. Coconut oil can be great for both uses so you can choose it if you like the way it tastes.

If you want to take olive oil on an empty stomach remember to stick t 1 teaspoon, and always stay away from Hydrogenated oils.

Before choosing an oil to use in your cooking or baking, it’s best to research it to make sure it’s a safe product. While there may not be a clear-cut winner between regular vegetable oil and olive oil, you should always choose the one that will provide you with all of the health benefits that you need.

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