The vegetable oils you can find most often in grocery stores have been processed with a solvent. Petroleum by-products, like octane, heptanes and hexane are mixed with mashed seeds, beans or nuts. The only reason for this is to speed the extraction process and to obtain a greater quantity of oil. Although the oils and solvents are then separated (because solvents are toxic), the oils will still contain some solvent residue. For obvious reasons, these kinds of oils are not recommended for a healthy diet (vegan or not). Although they are cheap and commonly found, I would suggest eliminating these oils from your diet completely.

The two types of oils that I would recommend are cold-pressed and expeller-pressed (expeller-pressed being the healthiest choice, and certainly the most expensive). Both of these processes use no heat or solvents; therefore less oil is extracted from the beans, nuts or seeds, and the product becomes more expensive. Often in these oil only organic nuts or seeds are used, thus eliminating the pesticide residue that can be found in most commercial oils.

Expeller-pressed oils retain most of their nutrients, including valuable Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids. They also have a very strong flavour. They should never be heated. The inclusion of these oils in a vegan diet is very important. You can buy expeller-pressed oils in natural food stores and use them in salad dressing, or just pour over other foods (like porridge and other cereals, rice, etc.). Another option is to grind up raw flax seeds and sprinkle them over foods. All essential oils should be kept refrigerated in light- and oxygen-proof bottles.

For heating, the best oil is extra-virgin olive oil. It retains most of it’s vital nutrients because it is the first pressing of the olives.

For lighter tasting oils, use cold-pressed organic canola, sunflower or safflower. These are good as substitutes for butter or margarine in most recipes.

Keep all natural oils refrigerated. Discard oils after 3-6 months of storage.