Are Cooking Oils Really Harmful? Myths, Science, and the Right Way to Use Oils

January 13, 2026

Over the last few years, cooking oils have gained a bad reputation. Social media trends promote “zero-oil diets,” headlines blame fats for heart disease, and many people feel guilty adding even a spoon of oil to their food.

But this fear comes from half-truths.

Oil itself is not the problem.
Wrong oil, wrong processing, wrong heating, and wrong reuse are.

Both Ayurveda and modern science agree on one fundamental point:
the human body needs oil, but it must be extracted correctly and used intelligently.

This article clears the confusion—calmly, scientifically, and practically.

1. Why Do People Believe Oils Are Harmful?

The fear around oils mainly comes from:

Rising lifestyle diseases
Overuse of refined and reheated oils
Industrial trans fats
Oversimplified health advice like “fat causes heart disease”

Over time, all oils were placed in the same category, ignoring quality, processing, and usage. This led to the false belief that removing oil entirely equals health.

2. Scientific Truth: Why the Human Body Needs Oil

From a biological perspective, fats are essential nutrients, not optional calories.

Oils are required for:

Hormone production (including stress and reproductive hormones)
Brain and nervous system function (the brain is ~60% fat)
Cell membrane integrity
Absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K
Energy storage and metabolic stability

When dietary fats are removed or drastically reduced, the body often responds with:

Hormonal imbalance
Dry skin and joints
Low energy
Impaired nutrient absorption

Science does not say “avoid oil.”
It says avoid damaged and misused oil.

3. Ayurveda’s View: Oil Is Nourishment, Not an Enemy

Ayurveda refers to oils and fats as Sneha, meaning substances that:

Lubricate
Nourish
Strengthen
Stabilize the body and mind

According to Ayurveda:

Oil supports Agni (digestive fire)
Prevents excessive dryness (Rukshata)
Maintains tissue strength (Dhatu Poshana)
Builds vitality (Ojas)

Completely avoiding oil—especially in active, dry, or stressed individuals—can aggravate Vata dosha, leading to weakness, anxiety, digestive issues, and joint problems.

Ayurveda never warned against oil itself.
It warned against overheating, overprocessing, and misuse.

4. When Oils Actually Become Harmful (This Is the Key)

Oils turn harmful not because they are fats, but because they are damaged.

Oils become unhealthy when:

Reused multiple times (common in frying)
Heated beyond their tolerance repeatedly
Already overheated during industrial extraction and then reheated again at home
Oxidized due to poor storage (light, air, heat)
Converted into trans fats through partial hydrogenation

This damage leads to:

Oxidative stress
Inflammation
Cellular irritation
Increased cardiovascular risk

In simple terms:

Oil heated once carefully ≠ oil heated violently multiple times.

5. The Double-Heating Problem (Often Ignored)

Many refined oils are:

Heated once during extraction and deodorization
Heated again during cooking
Sometimes reheated repeatedly

This double or triple heat exposure increases lipid oxidation.

Cold-pressed or wood-pressed oils, when used correctly, avoid this problem because:

They are extracted at low temperatures
They retain natural antioxidants that slow oxidation

6. What Kind of Oils Should Be Consumed for Health? (Principles, Not Names)

There is no single oil that suits every body, every climate, and every cooking method.
Both Ayurveda and modern nutrition emphasize choosing oils based on quality, processing, and usage, not marketing labels or trends.

The key principles for selecting edible oils are:

1. Minimal processing
Oils should be extracted gently, without chemical solvents and extreme heat. The fewer the processing steps, the closer the oil remains to its natural structure and nutrients.

2. Freshness over shelf life
Freshly extracted oils behave very differently in the body than oils stored for long periods. Shorter shelf life often indicates less processing—not lower quality.

3. Compatibility with cooking method
Different oils tolerate heat differently. An oil suitable for raw or low-heat use may not be ideal for prolonged high-heat cooking. Matching oil to cooking intensity is essential.

4. Natural antioxidant presence
Oils that retain their native antioxidants resist oxidation better and place less inflammatory stress on the body when heated moderately.

5. Variety instead of dependence on one oil
Using a rotation of oils reduces nutritional imbalance and mirrors traditional dietary wisdom. No single oil was ever meant to dominate the diet.

6. Clean ingredient profile
Avoid oils with additives, artificial antioxidants, or partially hydrogenated components. Simpler composition is safer for long-term use.

In essence, an oil is beneficial not because of its name, but because of how it is extracted, stored, and used.