Should we cook with oil? Opinions differ wildly on that topic within the plant-based community, and there are many people out there who avoid all oils as much as they can. As a result, as a professional meal planner, I often get asked by prospective clients whether my vegan recipes contain oil. The short answer is: “It’s up to you.” Here’s what I mean, and why.
Based on the most authoritative sources I have been able to access, it makes no doubt in my mind that the healthiest diet consists mainly of whole plant foods including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. By “mainly” I mean over 90% or even 95% of calories coming from whole plant foods. The evidence for this is incontrovertible and keeps on growing.
The 5-10% margin is where things get fuzzy.
As an ethical vegan, based on evidence of animal sentience, I personally reject the idea of using animals as a source of food. However, from a strictly nutritional standpoint, whether an otherwise healthy person would be critically injured by the consumption of less than 400 g of lean animal products per week does not seem supported by large-scale nutrition studies.
There seems to be similar wiggle room when it comes to oil… to a point. My commitment to eating solely whole plants – and thus avoiding refined products such as oils – is far less rigid than my commitment to not eating animal products.
Do the culinary benefits of cooking with oil outweigh the health risks?
There are culinary benefits to using oil. It chemically amplifies flavors and many traditions value how it contributes to the gustatory experience. However, if deleterious health effects are involved, old habits could be changed.
Indeed, the health benefits of even the best of oils, such as extra virgin olive oil, may not be on par with their caloric load. In other words, if we take into consideration a daily “budget” of approximately 2000 calories, dedicating 200 of those to 30 mL (2 tablespoons) of olive oil seems like a missed opportunity. Many other foods that are more nutritious, tastier, and satisfying could have been eaten instead. Yes, premium EVOOs may contain powerful compounds such as oleocanthal but within the same caloric budget one could consume about 500 g of berries packed with powerful antioxidants. Personally, I’ll choose the berries.
Thus, even before one considers the possibly damaging effects of oils on the cardiovascular system, the nutritional bargain does not seem worth it.
In addition, three other problems arise with oil consumption:
- Mislabeled, counterfeit, and adulterated food products are abundant on the shelves of grocery stores. A New York Times infographic published in 2014 summarizes the widespread corruption observed along the olive oil supply chain. Unless one presses their own olives, whether or not they are getting the (possibly) highly nutritious product they think they are purchasing is uncertain.
- Extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of 350o to 400o F. Many culinary uses will expose the oil to higher temperatures, destroying whatever beneficial compounds it may have contained.
- We humans tend to overestimate our virtues and underestimate our indulgences. Unless one measures their consumption rigorously, they are bound to use more than they think, at which point the caloric density of oil and its likely cardiovascular downsides may accumulate and cause chronic disease, especially if the caloric expenditure of the subject does not match their intake. People who struggle to be content with “just a little” – and that’s perhaps most of us – may be better swearing off oil altogether.
So… should we cook with oil?
If a person suffers from chronic disease, they need to urgently reduce inflammation and improve cardiovascular function. Thus, they may benefit from getting as many nutrients as possible from the least controversial known sources. That would be whole plant foods, not oil.
However, if someone does not suffer from disease, enjoys the taste and texture of foods prepared with olive oil, and is able to limit their consumption to tiny amounts, they may choose to continue using it as an enhancer.
And that’s why I only share with my clients recipes containing 5 to 10 mL of oil (for 4-6 portions of food), while encouraging those who have health concerns to use vegetable broth or water instead. In addition, I never suggest any sort of deep frying.
If you’d like to see what that looks like in practice, you can start with the free one-week meal plan Planned & Plant-based.
I have not been using any oil in my kitchen for a very long time as I was healing from an autoimmune disease. Being plant based, oil free and sugar free did a magic for me.
No oil on oven baked chips is something you can get used to but my visit red probably would. not agree.
Thanks for sharing your experience Lucie! There are definitely benefits to going oil-free.
Hi Brigette,
Nice balanced review and I tend to fully agree. But one thing I have come to realize that none of us are really free of “disease’. What we normally think of disease is really clinically manifest disease. Everyone suffers from some degree of subclinical disease from a very early age. Autopsies on North American 10 year olds so fatty streaks in their coronary arteries. So even most children from and early age are slowly building up subclinical disease. It does not seem good advice or practice to recommend that we ignore such things until we begin to “suffer”from actual disease symptoms when we know that added oils/fats, added sugars, added salt, or any alcohol or tobacco are all known to actively promote “disease”. And I realize that this may be aiming too high or for “perfection” but guidelines that pander to what someone or some group think people might accept now seems patronizing or self-serving to me but in retrospect I now see where I actually did this a lot in my 40 years of clinical practice. Personally I will occasionally consume a little oil when out at a restaurant or social occasion to go with the flow but every single time I say to myself “ I’m taking thi shit for the team”. :))
Thanks for dropping by Allen, I really appreciate and respect your viewpoint on this. Coming at this as a sociologist, I don’t see it as patronizing to acknowledge that most of us have greater capacity to make radical changes in times of crisis (like in the wake of a cancer diagnosis or heart attack…) while, in “normal” times, we are more inclined and successful at making incremental changes; also in a context where there is an imperfectly resolved scientific controversy on the deleterious effects of oil, leading to analysis-paralysis in many. As of 2021, there is still a broad swat of medical doctors (not just quacks) still advocating a low-carb high-fat diet to treat diabetes. Personally I find it irresponsible, but I can imagine it being quite confusing for many non-professionals to be confronted with this when searching for the “right” way to eat.
From a pragmatic standpoint, I suggest that (so-believed to be) “healthy” people should only continue to cook with oil (if they so desire) if they are able to restrict their consumption to minute amounts in an otherwise low-fat WFPB diet. This enables them to preserve some cultural appeal and familiarity to their meals while dramatically improving their health prospects (compared to a oil- and fat-heavy diet of fried animal products). This being said, as a former researcher, I find the field to be severely lacking in qualitative studies to better understand the processes of dietary change… maybe an opportunity for my next life!