This Type of Fat is Best for Cooking-Do You Agree?

Dr. Bruce Fife: Well, actually, those fats that have the most saturated fats in them are better for cooking because they're more stable under heating.  So, saturated fats, the animal fats, are very good for cookings.  Monounsaturated fats, like olive oil, are ok for cooking, and polyunsaturated fats are really not good for cooking because they break down too easily and they form free radicals which are damaging to the health.

Raena Morgan: And the polyunsaturated oils would be like canola oil?

Fife:  Canola oils, soybean oil, um, corn oil, safflower oil, the typical oil that's sold in the grocery store.

Morgan: Vegetable oil, they just say vegetable oil on the bottle.

Fife: Vegetable oil, yeah.  But you know, coconut oil is also a vegetable oil, but its a stable, high in saturated fat but a good saturated fat, so it's a good cooking, healthy cooking oil.

Morgan: To stir fry in, for example.

Fife: You can stir fry in it, yes, excellent for stir frying.

Morgan: Thai food uses a lot of coconut oil doesn't it?

Fife: Yes, yes, excellent for stir frying, deep frying, any type of frying any tpye of cooking, even baking.

Morgan: OK, so you don't have to have... when you say that animal fat does not break down and it's good for frying, it just made me think of bacon and eggs and frying the eggs in the bacon grease and it was like...

Fife:  Fry your eggs in coconut oil.

Morgan:  OK, thank you.