If you’ve been doing some reading on proper nutrition lately, you may have come across two different types of oils that come highly recommended.

Coconut oil and olive oil. Which is best to use?

The answer, in part, depends on your health goals.

Let’s look at what you need to consider.

High Heat Cooking

The first thing to consider is the temperature that you’ll be cooking your dish at. Coconut oil has a higher smoke point compared to olive oil, meaning it can better tolerate being used for high-temperature cooking.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is typically better used when preparing cold foods, such as used in a salad dressing or drizzled over cold pasta salad.

Immune Boosting Benefits

Want to strengthen your immune system? If so, coconut oil is the route to go. This healthy oil has immune boosting properties, so adding it to your diet plan can help to accelerate recovery between workout sessions and may also help you overcome injuries faster while fending off the common cold.

Heart Health

As far as heart health goes, while both oils will provide some benefit, olive oil tends to be the superior option here. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat well known for its heart health boosting properties.

Those who consume olive oil in their diet on a regular basis tend to experience fewer cardiac related events and also maintain a more optimal cholesterol profile.

Do keep in mind though that using too much of any oil will lead to weight gain and that can have negative impacts on your heart health.

Balance is key here.

Antioxidant Support

Looking to improve your intake of antioxidants? If so, olive oil is the clear winner here. It’s a much stronger source of antioxidants, which can help combat free radical damage that eventually leads to oxidation.

While coconut oil does provide some antioxidants, the level simply does not match that of olive oil.

Energy Enhancing Effects

If it’s energy that you’re looking for, coconut oil comes out ahead in this face off. The interesting thing about coconut oil is that it contains plenty of medium chain triglycerides, which are a type of fat that is utilizing more like a carbohydrate in the body.

When you consume most types of fats in the diet (such as the unsaturated varieties found in olive oil), they can provide a good long-term source of energy. They do take a while to digest, however, so you won’t realize that energy right away.

With medium chain triglycerides, however, the energy is available almost immediately. So for those who are doing a lower carb diet for instance and are looking to maintain higher energy levels for a workout ahead, coconut oil can provide this. Olive oil will not.

Even better, unlike eating carbohydrates, you won’t get the blood glucose spike and crash from coconut oil, so this can keep that energy more stabilized.

So there you have a few pros and cons of each oil. As you can see, there is no clear better oil here, but rather, it comes down to what you want to get out of that oil.