TAZA DAILYWhich Cooking Oil Is Healthiest? A Straight Answer (Including the Seed Oil Question)
If you want the short version: extra virgin olive oil, for most cooking, most of the time. It has the strongest body of evidence behind it of any culinary fat, and the common objection — that it’s unsuitable for heat — is largely a myth.
The longer version is more interesting, because the way people rank oils is usually based on the wrong criteria.
The comparison
| Oil | Saturated | Monounsaturated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra virgin olive | ~14% | ~73% | Best-evidenced. Polyphenols. Good for most cooking |
| Canola / rapeseed | ~7% | ~63% | Low saturated, some omega-3. Cheap, neutral |
| Avocado | ~12% | ~71% | High smoke point — but frequently adulterated |
| Sunflower | ~10% | ~20% | High omega-6, high linoleic. Very common in Egypt |
| Corn | ~13% | ~28% | Similar to sunflower |
| Sesame | ~14% | ~40% | Strong flavour, good for finishing |
| Ghee / samna | ~62% | ~29% | High smoke point, traditional, high in saturated fat |
| Butter | ~65% | ~26% | Flavour. Low smoke point |
| Coconut | ~90% | ~6% | Highest saturated of any common oil |
| Palm | ~50% | ~37% | See the palm oil question |
The smoke point myth
The standard advice is: don’t cook with olive oil, its smoke point is too low.
This turns out to be mostly wrong, for two reasons.
First, smoke point isn’t the right measure. What actually matters is oxidative stability — how readily an oil forms harmful compounds when heated. Extra virgin olive oil is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols that protect it during heating, and studies comparing oils under real frying conditions have repeatedly found it performs well — often better than oils with much higher smoke points.
Second, home cooking rarely gets that hot. Pan-frying typically runs 120–180°C. Extra virgin olive oil smokes somewhere around 190–200°C. You have more headroom than you think.
Where you genuinely want a higher smoke point is deep frying or very high-heat searing. There, a refined oil — or ghee, traditional in Egyptian kitchens — makes sense.
The seed oil question, honestly
There’s a large and loud online movement claiming seed oils — sunflower, corn, soybean, canola — are driving chronic disease, and that we should return to butter, tallow and coconut oil.
We’re going to give you the boring answer, because it’s the accurate one: the weight of scientific evidence does not support the claim that seed oils are toxic.
The mainstream position, backed by large reviews and long-running trials, is that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat modestly reduces cardiovascular risk. That’s the opposite of what the seed oil panic argues.
The reasonable kernel inside the argument is this: seed oils are overwhelmingly consumed as part of ultra-processed and deep-fried food. Someone eating a lot of seed oil is usually eating a lot of fried snacks and packaged products — and that is a real problem. But the fat is a marker, not necessarily the cause.
There’s also a legitimate, narrower point about omega-6 to omega-3 balance. Modern diets are heavy in omega-6 and light in omega-3, and improving that ratio — more oily fish, walnuts, flaxseed — is sensible. That’s a case for adding omega-3, not for fearing sunflower oil.
Our honest position: if you’d rather cook with olive oil, do — it’s the better-evidenced choice and it tastes better. But if you’re deep-frying in sunflower oil occasionally, that is not the thing damaging your health. What you’re frying matters far more than what you’re frying it in.
This is general food information, not medical advice.
A note on avocado oil
Avocado oil is marketed hard on its high smoke point. It’s a decent oil — but independent testing has repeatedly found a large share of commercial “avocado oil” products to be adulterated with cheaper oils or already rancid by the time they’re sold. It’s an expensive category with poor quality control. Buy from a source you trust, or don’t bother.
Egyptian kitchens specifically
Sunflower and corn oil dominate here on price. They’re fine for everyday cooking — see the section above.
Olive oil is expensive in Egypt, which is a real constraint. A workable compromise: cheaper oil for cooking, and good extra virgin olive oil kept for finishing, salads and drizzling raw. Most of olive oil’s polyphenol benefit survives best when it isn’t heated anyway, so this is genuinely efficient rather than a cop-out.
Ghee (samna) is traditional, has a high smoke point, and is high in saturated fat. Excellent for high-heat cooking, best used in moderation.
What actually matters, ranked
- How much fried and ultra-processed food you eat. Bigger than every other item on this list combined.
- Whether you’re getting enough omega-3 — oily fish, walnuts, flaxseed.
- Not reusing frying oil repeatedly. Reheated oil degrades and forms harmful compounds. This matters more than which oil you started with.
- Storing oil away from light and heat. Rancid oil is genuinely worse for you. Buy smaller bottles.
- Which specific oil you choose. Real, but last.
Most people spend all their attention on item 5 and none on items 1 to 4.
The one-line answer
Extra virgin olive oil for most things, ghee for high heat, and stop worrying about the rest. Then look at how much fried food is in your week — that’s where the actual answer lives.
Where this touches us
We’re a drinks company, so we don’t cook with oil — but the same principle runs through everything we make. The fats in Taza come from peanut butter, tahini, almonds and flaxseed: whole foods, unrefined, doing a job in the recipe.
That’s the honest version of “healthy fats” — not a label, just food that hasn’t been stripped down.
Whole food, blended fresh. See the range →
This article is general information about food and nutrition, not medical advice. Taza Daily products are food, not a treatment for any condition. For health concerns, consult a qualified professional.