Olive Oil versus Sunflower Oil, Coconut Oil, and Rapeseed Oil

• Fats, antioxidants, vitamins, the Dutch dietary guidelines & health score
• Saturated fats
• Monounsaturated fats
• Polyunsaturated fats
• Trans fats
• Antioxidants
• Vitamins
• The Dutch dietary guidelines & health score
• Olive oil or coconut oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil
• Olive oil
• Olive oil versus coconut oil
  • Conclusion olive oil or coconut oil
• Olive oil versus sunflower oil
  • Conclusion olive oil or sunflower oil
• Olive oil versus rapeseed oil
  • Conclusion olive oil or rapeseed oil
• The final verdict: olive oil versus rapeseed oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil
• Sources
• Extra virgin olive oil from the Gkazas family

We are all focused on our health. Therefore, it is always good to know how healthy a product is. Today, we dive into how healthy olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, and rapeseed oil (also known as canola oil) are. We do this by turning it into a healthy competition: olive oil versus sunflower oil, olive oil versus coconut oil, and olive oil versus rapeseed oil. We measure health using these essential factors: fats, antioxidants, vitamins, the “schijf van 5,” and the health score from the nutrition label.

Before we explain which oils are healthier for which reasons or recommended for specific purposes, let’s start with a bit of background. Of course, we want to know which fats and nutrients you can find in these oils and whether these substances are healthy or unhealthy. We will explain them one by one.

Watch out for saturated fats if you want to keep your blood vessels healthy. They increase LDL cholesterol, and that cholesterol isn’t very healthy. Scientific research shows¹ that you have a higher risk of a heart attack or stroke when your LDL cholesterol is too high. The American Heart Association recommends replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats based on the total body of scientific evidence, as there is strong proof that it lowers bad LDL cholesterol, which is good for heart health.²

“To reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, the Dutch Health Council advises replacing saturated fats as much as possible with unsaturated fats. This can be done, for example, by replacing butter with oil.”

Unsaturated fats are on the healthy side of fats. They come in single and multiple forms. Omega 9 is, for example, a monounsaturated fat.

It is the most important fatty acid. Your body can basically produce it itself, so it’s not strictly essential. However, you can easily supplement it through foods containing omega 9. These include nuts (oil), rice oil, olive oil, and peanut oil.³

Polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3 and omega-6 are immediately essential for good health because the body cannot produce them on its own. You have omega-3 and omega-6 in both animal and plant forms. The plant-based variants are the most important. These are called alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) and linoleic acid (omega-6). Omega-3 is found in fatty fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel, as well as in plant oils such as flaxseed oil and canola oil. Omega-6 is common in plant oils like olive oil and sunflower oil.

It is extremely important for your health that the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is balanced. In the past, this balance was about 1 to 1, but it is now recommended to have a ratio of 5 omega-6 to 1 omega-3. However, especially in the Western world, we generally get enough omega-6 but far too little omega-3, which disturbs this balance (15 to 1). Eating fatty fish twice a week is a good solution. If you are vegetarian, we recommend using supplements.⁴

“The Health Council advises adults to consume 200 milligrams of omega-3 from fish daily. Eating a portion of fatty fish twice a week is also sufficient. There are also fish oil capsules and margarine enriched with fish oil. Regarding omega-6 (linoleic acid) intake, the Health Council recommends a percentage of 2% of your daily calories. You get enough linoleic acid by using healthy oils when preparing food or spreading bread. Be careful, though, because too much omega-6 is unhealthy and is linked to an increased risk of mortality and heart diseases.”

Trans fats are mainly found in animal products or industrially processed foods. Unfortunately, there isn’t much positive to say about these fats. Due to their chemical structure, trans fats fall under the category of unhealthy fats. This is because trans fats are not flexible, making it difficult for the body to process this type of fat. They are even more unhealthy than saturated fats. These fats increase the harmful LDL cholesterol and lower the good HDL cholesterol, which raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Because trans fats are unhealthy for this reason, it is advised to limit their consumption as much as possible.

“The Health Council advises that no more than 1% of your daily calorie intake should come from trans fats. With an average intake of 2000 calories, this means no more than about 2 grams of trans fats per day.”

Antioxidants is a collective term for vitamins E and C, beta-carotene, the body’s own glutathione, the trace elements selenium and zinc, and bioactive substances such as flavonoids from vegetables and fruits.

It is important to get enough antioxidants because they protect tissues and DNA against radicals. Free radicals are formed during normal metabolism, so there is always a small presence. However, your body produces more due to factors like smoking, sun exposure, or inflammatory reactions. This can create an excess of free radicals. This excess can lead to oxidative stress—a metabolic condition where more than a normal physiological amount of reactive oxygen species is formed or present in the cell. It has been proven that, over time, this increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer and can cause damage to the nervous system. There is also evidence that it accelerates the aging process. Want fewer wrinkles? Then bring on those antioxidants!⁶

Free radicals don’t always have to be negative. They can also be produced by the body to kill unwanted bacteria. In short: it is important that some free radicals are present in your body, as long as they are balanced. This is where a varied diet comes in. It helps stimulate a good balance of free radicals. You don’t actually need to take supplements for this, as was thought in the past. Some studies even found negative effects from taking radical supplements, which is of course not the intention. In summary, it is important to make sure you consume natural foods containing antioxidants in your diet—that is sufficient.

We grew up with this: vitamins are good for you. Besides being important for your health, they are necessary for normal growth and development. The body cannot produce vitamins, or not in sufficient amounts. That’s why they are known as essential (indispensable) nutrients. Vitamins are present in small amounts in food and drink. You can find vitamin E in oils, and some oils have vitamin K added to them.⁸

Soon we will discuss each oil one by one. But first, we’ll look at how they score according to the Dutch “Schijf van Vijf” (the official healthy eating guideline) and the nutritional value table. This table is based on a representative and quantitative market study conducted among twelve hundred consumers. It expresses with a report grade how healthy Dutch consumers consider a product to be. In relation to healthy eating, consumers indicate that getting enough essential nutrients and maintaining a healthy weight are the most important pillars. The table is based on consumers’ knowledge of the product’s ingredients: the amount of sugars, (saturated) fat, salt, calories, artificial flavorings, colorings and additives, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

• Olive oil: is part of the Schijf van Vijf and receives a score of 8.3 from consumers
• Coconut oil: is not part of the Schijf van Vijf and receives a score of 5.6 from consumers
• Sunflower oil: is part of the Schijf van Vijf and receives a score of 7.2 from consumers
• Rapeseed oil (Canola oil): is part of the Schijf van Vijf and receives a score of 6.9¹⁰

It is now time to discuss the different oils one by one. We list the biggest advantages and disadvantages and end with a conclusion:

1. When to use it and when not to?
2. Is it healthy?

• The health benefits of extra virgin olive oil are numerous. Extra virgin olive oil consists of 75% monounsaturated fats and 10% polyunsaturated fats. These fats are very stable when heated, which means you can heat olive oil up to 207 degrees Celsius!¹¹ Extra virgin olive oil also contains polyunsaturated fats such as omega 3 & 6 (ratio approximately 1:11). As mentioned, these are important nutrients for your body. Extra virgin olive oil is also very healthy because it contains little unhealthy saturated and trans fats. Other health benefits include its high vitamin E content ¹² and the antioxidants like polyphenols present in it. By consuming these, your body has the building blocks to defend itself against free radicals.¹
• Possible health drawbacks can occur if chemicals are used during the production of the olive oil or if soil erosion takes place.

Did you know…
Gkazas Olive Oil is 100% organic. This means no pesticides are used. The soil is fertilized by freely grazing goats and sheep. The olive trees receive water only from natural rainfall. Gkazas removes only the minimal amount of natural vegetation to prevent soil erosion. Nowadays, production is often mechanized, but this is not the case with Gkazas Olive Oil. We handpick and press the olives in a local factory.

Conclusion

Extra virgin olive oil can be used anytime and anywhere. It is delicious with cold dishes, but you can also use it for frying, baking, and roasting up to 207 degrees Celsius. As mentioned, it offers many health benefits. This is also reflected by the fact that olive oil is included in the Dutch “Schijf van Vijf” (the healthy eating guideline) and has the highest health rating.

• In the debate between olive oil versus coconut oil, there are no strongly scientifically supported articles stating that coconut oil has health benefits. However, one source¹⁴ is very positive about coconut oil. It is said to kill bacteria, support your immune system, and it is claimed to help with weight loss. Interesting information, but we still put a question mark behind it. A big plus is that coconut oil contains no trans fats. The oil also contains medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which the liver uses as an energy source.¹⁵
• Refined coconut oil contains a lot of saturated fats. These fats remain quite stable when heated, allowing you to heat the oil to higher temperatures.¹⁶
• Coconut oil unfortunately also has some disadvantages. It contains hardly any vitamins E and K and, as mentioned, a lot of saturated fat (85%), which makes coconut oil considered one of the least healthy oils.¹⁷ The biggest downside is especially that coconut plantations may cause large-scale deforestation, extensive pesticide use, and require a lot of water.¹⁸

When it comes to olive oil or coconut oil, science does not recommend replacing olive oil with coconut oil. Unfortunately, we cannot make a definitive statement about whether coconut oil is truly healthy. This is simply because some studies contradict each other. For example, some research states that the high saturated fat content is unhealthy, while others claim it is not. Our advice is to ensure you eat a balanced diet. So occasionally cooking or frying with coconut oil is not harmful. The presence of a lot of saturated fat has one advantage: because saturated fat is stable, you can heat the oil to high temperatures and fry with it well. However, the difference between coconut oil and olive oil here is not large, so this doesn’t make much difference in the olive oil versus coconut oil debate.

• We have now arrived at sunflower oil, which has relatively many advantages. Sunflower oil consists of about 85% unsaturated fats, of which 22% are monounsaturated and 63% are polyunsaturated fats.¹⁹ Normally, the product contains no trans fats and little saturated fat and is rich in vitamin E.²⁰ This makes sunflower oil healthy. Sunflower oil has a high smoke point of no less than 232 degrees Celsius, but that applies to the unrefined variant.¹⁵
• Besides the advantages, there are also quite a few disadvantages to sunflower oil to be aware of. For example, the oil can still contain trans fats after hydrogenation. This is a chemical process in which an unsaturated bond is converted into a saturated bond by adding and using hydrogen gas.²¹ Omega 6 is also present in large amounts in sunflower oil, and excessive intake stimulates the formation of inflammation. Therefore, frequent use of sunflower oil is not necessarily recommended.²²²³ Sunflower oil healthy? Maybe a bit less than we initially thought… This is not the only reason, because to produce this oil sunflower seeds have to be heavily processed. This involves machines, high temperatures, solvents, and bleaching agents. Not exactly healthy additions for humans and the environment. Regarding frying and cooking: heating sunflower oil is fine up to a high temperature, but be careful not to exceed it. Once it starts to smoke, toxic substances are quickly released. Heating polyunsaturated sunflower oil is especially a bad idea because it is unstable.²⁴ So pay close attention to which variant you have in your hands.

Replacing olive oil with sunflower oil is often recommended because sunflower oil has a neutral taste, making it easy to use in many dishes. When it comes to frying with sunflower oil or olive oil, sunflower oil can certainly be an option, but we tend to advise against it. This is due to the potential toxic substances that can be released during heating.

When consuming sunflower oil, make sure to balance it with other foods. Such a balance is important. You don’t want to consume too much omega-6 without a proper ratio of omega-3. Due to the missing balance between omega-3 and -6, the (chemical) agents that may be present from the production process, and the risks when heating, we cannot say sunflower oil is the healthiest alternative. However, within a balanced diet, this oil can be a decent addition. So, occasionally frying with sunflower oil or adding it to your salad is fine, but keep it limited.

So, which is healthier, sunflower oil or olive oil? In the battle between olive oil and sunflower oil, olive oil comes out on top. Therefore, we do not recommend replacing olive oil with sunflower oil.

• The advantages of rapeseed oil start with its healthy fats.²⁵ 60% of it is monounsaturated fat, 27% polyunsaturated fat, and only 11% saturated fat. It also contains high levels of vitamins E and K²⁶ and antioxidants.²⁷ The most remarkable feature is the oil’s high smoke point: rapeseed oil can be heated up to 240 degrees Celsius. So, cooking with rapeseed oil is no problem. That makes the debate between olive oil and rapeseed oil all the more interesting!
• Rapeseed oil does come with one major disadvantage: it is often extracted through a chemical process involving high temperatures. This process uses hexane, a flammable, irritating, and harmful substance for both the environment and your health.²⁸ As a result of industrial processing, rapeseed oil often contains traces of trans fats as well as toxins that are naturally present in the plant itself.²⁹

The battle between olive oil and rapeseed oil is not easily settled. On the one hand, rapeseed oil contains less saturated fat and has a higher smoke point. On the other hand, the way it’s produced is questionable for both the environment and your health, and residues may remain in the oil. So should you replace rapeseed oil with a healthier alternative after all? Olive oil or rapeseed oil…

Olive oil or rapeseed oil, that is the question. Cooking with rapeseed oil (or canola oil) is fine due to its high smoke point. It is also relatively inexpensive. If you want to cook with rapeseed oil, it is recommended to only buy and use 100% organic, unrefined oil. That way you can be sure the production process is not (too) chemical. Still, the question of whether rapeseed oil is healthy remains difficult to answer. Additionally, rapeseed oil has a very distinct natural flavor, making it less suitable for cooking or as a flavor enhancer in your cold dishes. So we can conclude that in the battle between olive oil versus rapeseed oil, olive oil comes out as the winner.

We have summarized the ratios between the different oils in the table below. To recap the article, you know that saturated and trans fats are bad for you, while antioxidants and unsaturated fats are good and essential. As you can see in the table, none of the oils contain a significant amount of trans fats. These can, however, be present in oils that have been processed during production, such as sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.

To summarize again based on the table:

1. Olive oil performs best in our research. Olive oil, like rapeseed oil, has a good balance of unsaturated and saturated fats. What makes olive oil even healthier is the fact that extra virgin olive oil contains a higher amount of healthy antioxidants.
2. Rapeseed oil contains a large amount of unsaturated fats and antioxidants. This makes it a very healthy oil. The only downside is that rapeseed oil undergoes a chemical process, which can leave traces of trans fats and plant toxins.
3. Sunflower oil scores slightly higher in the nutritional table compared to rapeseed oil, but our conclusion is different. This is due to the high presence of omega-6, which in an imbalanced ratio with omega-3 can cause health disadvantages, and because sunflower seeds are heavily processed during production. This increases the chance of trans fats and toxins being present.
4. Coconut oil is the least healthy of the four. This is due to the amount of saturated fats present and the minimal amount of good unsaturated fats.

We can conclude that every product has its health benefits, but a balanced diet is the most important factor for your health. If you have to make a choice, (Gkazas) Olive oil is the best option. 😉

It’s clear: extra virgin olive oil is the winner of this battle of giants. So what are you waiting for? Time to get that 5 liter tin of olive oil. Our organic olive oil comes from Crete and is 100% Greek olive oil. You can choose between olive oil bottles and olive oil tins. Not sure which one to pick? Then check out the article 5 tips for Buying Olive Oil. Already know what you want? Head straight to our olive oil webshop!