"Replacing butter with monounsaturated oils, such as olive oil, can reduce bad cholesterol in the body and is associated with better heart health outcomes," she says. Butter isn't always the best choice for the style of cooking, either.
Bottom line: Olive, canola and safflower oils are healthier choices overall than butter and most margarines. Use them as replacements for butter and margarine in most of your cooking, but watch the amounts – those fat calories can add up fast.
It couldn't be easier to substitute butter for oil using a 1:1 ratio. This should work with olive, canola, vegetable, and coconut oils. Simply melt and cool the butter to room temperature, then continue with your recipe (if the recipe calls for ½ cup oil, use ½ cup melted and cooled butter).
The spongy texture and moist flavor that oil creates can be a boon to certain recipes. Not to mention oil is cheaper and easier to work with. Butter will always provide superior flavor and that melt-in-your-mouth texture. In many recipes, combining the two gives the best of both worlds.
02/4Butter
These fats are heart healthy fats in comparison to poly-unsaturated fats in oils, which are unwanted fats. While butter has 20% water which evaporates while cooking, oil is pure fat which gets absorbed as it is by the vegetables you are cooking.
Butter certainly works for fried eggs, but oil is the fat of choice for cooks who want a runny yolk with a satisfying crispy white. Extra-virgin olive oil is most popular, and yields a satisfyingly crunchy bottom that will soak up luscious flavor.
For one thing, butter is made up of 63% saturated fat, whereas olive oil only has 14%. Olive oil also contains heart-healthy monounsaturated good fats and antioxidants. Butter's high saturated fat content, on the other hand, is shown in studies to lead to heart disease and other health issues.
The oils which should be avoided for cooking are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have unstable fats and will decimate the nutritional properties of your food.
Canola oil:
Considered to be one of the best cooking oil for heart and diabetes, canola oil has zero cholesterol and is rich in vitamin E and K. It also has a higher smoke point and can be used at higher temperatures.
Nuttelex is virtually free from trans fats at 0.4% or lower. Nuttelex also contains 65% or less saturated fat than butter. In addition, Nuttelex is made with vegetable oils. Vegetable oils contain higher content of the good fats (monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) and are lower in saturated fat.
Olive oil has a lower smoke point-the point at which an oil literally begins to smoke (olive oil's is between 365° and 420°F)-than some other oils. When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form.
Some types of fat are healthier for your heart than others. Butter and other animal fats and solid margarine may not be the best choices. Alternatives to consider are liquid vegetable oil, such as olive oil.
"Cooking eggs with minimal fat or using unsaturated fats like olive oil or avocado oil are healthier alternatives. Hard-boiling or poaching eggs are ways to prepare eggs without any need for additional fat!" says Tomaino.
If you add a tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil to the pan, you may also be adding some extra health benefits to your eggs. Both of these oils are considered “healthy fats” which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Olive oil is also considered an antioxidant that may help fight inflammation.
Celebrity chefs have relied upon extra virgin olive oil for centuries in the pursuit of preparing perfect dishes. With its varied and flavourful palette, extra virgin olive oil has become a favourite among many celebrity chefs because of the layers of flavour it can provide to both simple and complex recipes.
The Rich, Nutty Flavor
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is chefs' favorite for its intense flavor and aroma. Similarly, cooking with it tastes great. The rich flavor of extra virgin olive oil can enhance any dish's flavor without adding unhealthy saturated fats or artificial ingredients.
Is Canola Oil Better than Olive Oil? No. Canola oil is high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, making it technically a heart-healthy option. Olive oil, on the other hand, is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, making it a better choice for reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
Other times, you can decrease calories and fat, improve the nutrition profile, or build a recipe to suit your dietary needs by replacing butter with avocado, applesauce, yogurt, or even pureed beans.
Light butter has half the calories, saturated fat and cholesterol of butter. This blend of light butter and oil has heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (MUFAs and PUFAs). Yogurt butter is a blend of nonfat yogurt, vegetable oils (soybean, palm, palm kernel and canola) and water.
A few small swaps can make a big difference to your cholesterol level. Many people say they don't notice the difference. Try: swapping butter to vegetable oil spreads like sunflower, olive or rapeseed oil spreads.
Olive oil contains monosaturated fats and antioxidant polyphenols that help to protect against the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, keeping it from hardening your arteries. Plus, it helps to support healthy blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.