evidence: Cooking oils are a kitchen staple. But there's a lot of conflicting information regarding how healthy each of them are. With so many on the shelves – from coconut to olive, vegetable to canola, avocado to sesame oil – how do we know which ones to use, and if we should be avoiding any altogether? [...] Most randomised controlled trials show that coconut oil increases levels of harmful cholesterol low, density lipoprotein (LDL), which is linked with heart disease and stroke, but it also raises beneficial cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), which carries LDL away from the bloodstream. [...] The evidence supports using olive oil and other vegetable oils instead of saturated fats, but to limit our intake of oil in general.