What kind of oil do you use?

I can't keep up with the hype. We used to use plain old vegetable oil for everything (mostly baking and sauteeing) and then we switched to oilve oil when that was being praised as "healthier". Lately we have been using canola oil .. but now I'm hearing that is bad for you too. What kind of oil do you all use? And is it the same for everything or do you have specific oils for different purposes?

I know all oil is similar calorically, I am not looking to cut calories but rather for something that is heart healthy.

ETA: I know a lot of clean eating recipes use coconut oil for the flavor, but it's not really good for you at all. It's almost entirely saturated fat..more so than just about any other oil. (That said, I still have it in my kitchen and use it in moderation)

I respectfully disagree. Coconut oil is fine to use.

I didn't say it wasn't fine to use at all.. I use it too, *in moderation*.

From WebMD:
"The evidence that coconut oil is super-healthful is not convincing and these claims appear to be more testimonials than clinical evidence."
"Pure virgin coconut oil, containing no hydrogenation (the process of adding hydrogen to make a liquid fat hard), contains 92% saturated fat -- the highest amount of saturated fat of any fat."
"But even though coconut oil is cholesterol-free, it is still a saturated fat that needs to be limited in the diet and if you are looking for real health benefits, switch from saturated fats to unsaturated fats by using vegetable oils like soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil," says Kris-Etherton, a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines advisory committee and Institute of Medicine's panel on dietary reference intakes for macronutrients (which include fats)."
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health

Hydrogenated oils like soy bean oil and canola oil are bad for you. They are some of the worst offenders today when it come to crap eating. Not only because they are hydrogenated but because most of them if not all are made from GMO crops. I stick with Healthy oils like evvo, coconut oil, butter, ghee, lard, tallow, and avocado oil to name a few. The person that thinks saturated fat is bad for us is just going off of what the government has put into our heads. It's not true. If you want proof do some research. Please don't get me started on margarine... It's pure evil.

ETA: I know a lot of clean eating recipes use coconut oil for the flavor, but it's not really good for you at all . It's almost entirely saturated fat..more so than just about any other oil. (That said, I still have it in my kitchen and use it in moderation)

I respectfully disagree. Coconut oil is fine to use.

I didn't say it wasn't fine to use at all.. I use it too, *in moderation*.

From WebMD:
"The evidence that coconut oil is super-healthful is not convincing and these claims appear to be more testimonials than clinical evidence."
"Pure virgin coconut oil, containing no hydrogenation (the process of adding hydrogen to make a liquid fat hard), contains 92% saturated fat -- the highest amount of saturated fat of any fat."
"But even though coconut oil is cholesterol-free, it is still a saturated fat that needs to be limited in the diet and if you are looking for real health benefits, switch from saturated fats to unsaturated fats by using vegetable oils like soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil," says Kris-Etherton, a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines advisory committee and Institute of Medicine's panel on dietary reference intakes for macronutrients (which include fats)."
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health

Well, but wait there's this too (from Wikipedia because this person writes better than I do):

Coconut oil contains a large proportion of lauric acid—a saturated fat that raises blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amount of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Most of the increase is HDL cholesterol, hence the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is decreased.[30] A decreased ratio indicates reduced risk for heart disease.[31]

So the jury is still out on whether coconut oil is good for you or bad for you from a heart perspective. You wrote that it isn't good for you -- and I am respectfully disagreeing with your statement.

ETA: I know a lot of clean eating recipes use coconut oil for the flavor, but it's not really good for you at all . It's almost entirely saturated fat..more so than just about any other oil. (That said, I still have it in my kitchen and use it in moderation)

I respectfully disagree. Coconut oil is fine to use.

I didn't say it wasn't fine to use at all.. I use it too, *in moderation*.

From WebMD:
"The evidence that coconut oil is super-healthful is not convincing and these claims appear to be more testimonials than clinical evidence."
"Pure virgin coconut oil, containing no hydrogenation (the process of adding hydrogen to make a liquid fat hard), contains 92% saturated fat -- the highest amount of saturated fat of any fat."
"But even though coconut oil is cholesterol-free, it is still a saturated fat that needs to be limited in the diet and if you are looking for real health benefits, switch from saturated fats to unsaturated fats by using vegetable oils like soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil," says Kris-Etherton, a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines advisory committee and Institute of Medicine's panel on dietary reference intakes for macronutrients (which include fats)."
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health

Well, but wait there's this too (from Wikipedia because this person writes better than I do):

Coconut oil contains a large proportion of lauric acid—a saturated fat that raises blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amount of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Most of the increase is HDL cholesterol, hence the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is decreased.[30] A decreased ratio indicates reduced risk for heart disease.[31]

So the jury is still out on whether coconut oil is good for you or bad for you from a heart perspective. You wrote that it isn't good for you -- and I am respectfully disagreeing with your statement.

That's strange, because the article I cited has the opposite to say about lauric acid (and a response to the HDL/LDL studies cited in Wikipedia):
"Coconut oil has some heart-friendly fatty acids (myristic) but more heart-unfriendly fatty acids (lauric), says Roger Clemens, DrPH, spokesman and incoming president of Institute of Food Technologists and member of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines committee.
A meta-analysis of 60 studies evaluated the effects of individual fats on risk of coronary artery disease. A few studies looked at coconut oil and found the combination of fatty acids improved the ratio of total cholesterol: HDL (good) cholesterol but they also raised LDL (bad) cholesterol.
"Saturated fats can increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and even though a few studies showed it may improve the ratio of cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, they also showed an increase in LDL cholesterol and bottom line, any food that increases LDL cholesterol should be limited because LDL cholesterol is the main treatment target for heart disease," Kris Etherton says."

There does still seem to be a lot of debate (especially interesting because both Etherton's and Clemens' recommendations were made well after the meta-analysis was published), so I'm going to do some more reading in the primary lit just for my own information. I'm actually glad that you shared your disagreement - I love grey areas like this. Thanks!

(Also, your nails! )

The problem is in the belief that LDL is bad cholesterol, that is a simplistic view and totally fictional. The body produces LDL to deliver cholesterol to all cells in the body and without LDL cholesterol we wouldn't be here. Try researching particle size of LDL and it's influence of CVD and the foods that are associated with these subfractions.