Many people are concerned if cooking oil is bad for high blood pressure. We were concerned too until we carried out cooking oil tests to check which one is bad for you.
The leading cause of blood pressure is an unhealthy diet, a diet rich in salt, cholesterol, and fat. If you don’t take the necessary precautions, it can prove to be fatal.
Around 45% is US adults are suffering from high blood pressure. Now that’s a massive number of people. Doctors recommend high blood pressure patients eliminate high saturated fats, high sodium foods, and salt from their diet.
Let’s dive deeper into the impacts of cooking oil to check if it is bad for high blood pressure.
Table of Contents
Causes and Symptoms of High Blood Pressure
Most of the time, the actual cause of blood pressure is unknown, but several factors increase its risk. Below are these factors:
- Eating high saturated fat foods.
- Obesity.
- Eating more salty food.
- Smoking.
- Not eating fruits and vegetables.
- Smoking.
- Not exercising enough.
The symptoms of high blood pressure include:
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Visual changes
If you notice any of the symptoms above, contact a physician immediately.
What Makes People think that Cooking Oil is Harmful?
Generally, people believe that cooking oils as a whole are unhealthy. They are not right. The trans fats and unhealthy saturated fats present within a cooking oil make it unhealthy.
Trans fats have two forms – artificial and natural. Artificial trans fats are the worst type. They may leave negative impacts on your body, such as clogging your arteries, increasing the risk of blood pressure, cancer, and heart diseases.
To avoid them, carefully read the label of each food you buy. For the food labels that mention trans-fat-free, they are healthy to eat.
On the other hand, unhealthy saturated fats can cause cholesterol to clog your bloodstreams, raise bad cholesterol (LDL) levels, and may result in increased blood pressure, stroke, or other heart diseases.
Also, read our guide: “Is cooking oil a fossil fuel?”
What are the Best Cooking Oils for High Blood Pressure?
If you plan to control your diet and eat healthy, switching to healthy cooking oils should be your first step. We have compiled the eight best cooking oils you should use. Let’s Go!
Olive Oil
Olive oil compiles 73% monounsaturated fat making it the most healthy oil on earth. Use an extra virgin (EVOO) which has more vitamin E than versions.
Olive oil is known to have many antioxidants and inflammatory properties and reduces obesity, blood clots, heart diseases, high blood pressure, and stroke. Also, it improves the overall health of blood vessels and is suitable for the skin.
As it has a high smoking point, you can use it for frying. However, we do not recommend eating anything deep fried if you are a high blood pressure patient.
Avocado Oil
Loaded with oleic acid, a very healthy fat, avocado oil is known to reduce cholesterol, improve heart health, help eyesight, and calms arthritis. Apart from this, it helps fight inflammation and prevents gum diseases.
It is an excellent choice for heating as it has a smoking point of 270°C. You can also use it as salad dressing, in dips and sauces, or drizzle it over salads.
Almond Oil
Almond oil has a different and nutty taste than other cooking oils, making it ideal for eating. The good news is that it has low saturated fat and low trans fats, which reduces blood pressure, cardiac arrest, and other heart diseases.
Besides, it is rich in vitamin E, highly monounsaturated, helps you maintain healthy weight, skin, hair, and controls blood-sugar levels efficiently.
You can use refined almond oil for high heat cooking, frying, and baking as it has a smoking point of 221℃.
Canola Oil
Canola oil contains only 7% saturated fat and high levels (63%) of monounsaturated fat. This makes it ideal for blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart diseases.
Alongside, it is rich in omega-3, omega-6 fatty acid, and Vitamin E and K, making it ideal for cooking.
With a smoking point of 204℃, it is ideal for high-heat cooking.
Sunflower Oil
Extracted from sunflower seeds, this oil has high levels of vitamin E and monounsaturated acids. These fats help normalize blood pressure, protect against heart diseases and manage hormones.
It has a smoking point of 232℃ which makes it suitable for high-heat cooking.
Soybean Oil
It has around 64% polyunsaturated and 24% of monounsaturated fat, making it ideal for people with high blood pressure and heart diseases. Besides, it is a great food source to help skin and bone health.
With a smoking point of 234℃, it is suitable for high heat cooking, adding flavor to food, and as a salad dressing.
Note: I prefer using liquid soybean oil as solid may contain trans fats.
Flaxseed Oil
Flaxseed oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and contains alpha-linolenic acid. These qualities make it suitable for heart diseases, lowers your blood pressure, and help reduce cancer cell growth. Besides, it is also known to relieve constipation, diarrhea, skin health, and inflammation.
Flaxseed oil has a shallow smoking point – 107°C, which does not make it ideal for high heat cooking. However, you can drizzle it on salads and use it in dips and smoothies.
Walnut Oil
Like almond oil, walnut oil has a distinctive and nutty flavor that makes it tasty to use in foods. It is rich in alpha-linolenic acid, which makes it a good fat.
With all these properties, it may reduce your chances of developing heart disease by 10%. Also, it helps lower blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels, and has reduced the risk of developing cancer.
Apart from this, it will help improve your memory, boost skin health and decrease inflammation. Walnut oil has a smoking point of 204°C which makes it suitable for frying and high-heat cooking. You can also drizzle it over salad and use it in sauces.
Which Cooking Oils You should Avoid?
Now when you know which oils are good for you, avoid the oils mentioned below.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has 90% of saturated fat, which is unhealthy as it may raise your LDL cholesterol levels. LDL cholesterol then increases the chances of high blood pressure, heart diseases, and stroke.
Cottonseed Oil
When fully hydrogenated, cottonseed oil has 94% of saturated fat, which may increase your risk of blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Also, it may cause inflammation, reduces immunity, and can result in obesity and cholesterol.
Unrefined cottonseed oil has traces of pesticides which may harm your liver and increase infertility.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is accountable for 8% of the world’s deforestation between 1990 to 2008. It is high in saturated fats, thus increasing harmful cholesterol levels and may also cause Atherosclerosis.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Any partially hydrogenated oil contains unhealthy trans fats. Trans fats are a big problem for your heart health because it lowers good cholesterol and increases bad cholesterol.
Are you wondering if cooking oil is good for your dog? Read our guide here.
How Can You Use Cooking Oil?
For oils with low smoking points, you can use them for salad dressings, sauces, dips to drizzle over foods, or to season foods.
For oils with a high smoking point, you can use it for deep-frying, baking, grilling, sauteing, roasting, or coating cooking and baking pans along with drizzling it over foods and sauces.
Tips to Use Cooking Oil
Below are the tips that will help you in keeping and using cooking oil.
- If oil smokes, throw it right away. Make sure you throw it after letting it soak in sawdust or donate it for reuse.
Is cooking oil a renewable resource? Read our guide here.
- Don’t use more than three tablespoons of oil daily.
- Avoid deep-fried foods.
- If oil smells, throw it right away (cooking oil oxidizes if you keep it for too long, and then it smells)
- Keep it in a cool and dry place.
- Prefer cold-pressed oils over refined oils.
- Try using all the healthy oils mentioned above to ensure balanced benefits.
Follow these tips for a healthy lifestyle.
FAQs – Is Cooking Oil Bad for High Blood Pressure?
These frequently asked questions will help you dive deeper into cooking oil’s impacts on high blood pressure patients.
What is the Best Cooking Oil for High Cholesterol
Olive oil is the best cooking oil for cholesterol. It helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and increases good cholesterol (HDL) in your body.
Apart from olive oil, soybean, canola, and sunflower oils are good for cholesterol too.
How Much Cooking Oil Should I Use Everyday
You should use 1-2 tablespoons of oil every day. These oils will help you gain your daily nutrition limit. For a balanced diet, we recommend you use all safe oils.
Read more about foods rich in foods here.
What is the Best Cooking Oil for Weight Loss
Canola Oil is the best cooking oil for weight loss. It has a low amount of saturated fat and is a healthy alternative to your typical cooking oils. However, we recommend you use all oils for a balanced diet and nutrition.
Final Words – Is Cooking Oil Bad for High Blood Pressure?
Is cooking oil suitable for high blood pressure? Yes, some of them are, while the others aren’t. High blood pressure can lead to severe diseases such as thick arteries, heart attack, cardiac arrest, and other conditions. If not taken care of, it can be fatal.
Before you conclude anything about cooking oils, make sure to read our guide. Read cooking oil labels every time you buy them to check if they have trans-fats or high saturated fats. If they do, do not buy that oil.
You can use these oils for high-heat cooking, baking, roasting, in sauces and dips, and to drizzle over your salads. Make sure to make healthy choices to protect your health from fatal diseases.
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