Canola oil ot butter... which one is healthier?

Question

I used to cook everything with canola oil but recently a friend came over and we where cooking together and told me she uses butter to fry everything cause it's supposed to be healthier. Anyone here knows or has some preference?

Answer 1

Canola oil is healthier because it has good fats in it:  mono-unsaturated oils.  It is lower in cholesterol.

They also have a Pam spray Olive Oil which is also very healthy.

Answer 2

Canola oil.

Answer 3

It depends on which source of information you want to believe as to which is healthier.  Conventional wisdom today says that oil is healthier because it's lower in saturated fat (all fat, even oil, has the same amount of calories per gram), and that oils high in monosaturated fats (e.g. olive oil) are best.

On the other side are those who say that this is rubbish and point to what's known as the French Paradox: that the French eat real butter and cream, drink wine with meals, and yet have a far lower incidence of heart-related problems and obesity than Americans (or Brits).  They say it's all a matter of how you eat (e.g. no snacking between meals, enjoying food more, taking more time at meals) and in what amounts.  They also say that butter is more natural...most canola (called rapeseed in the UK) oil is *highly* processed, whereas butter is naturally occurring ('real food') and humans have been eating it for millennia.  In the case for olive oil, that is also used a lot in Mediterranean cooking and is also not highly processed if it's virgin or extra-virgin (first pressing).

I tend to side with the 'real food' people, although I do use some pure vegetable oil to fry (and I mean sautee/shallow fry here, not deep fry) foods that require a higher level of heat (butter burns very easily) and when I don't want the flavour of olive oil (e.g. Chinese food) or I don't want a butter flavour.

Answer 4

Canoooooola oil. Use as little as possible if you want to be really healthy.