THESE DAYS it’s no longer as simple as choosing between vegetable, sunflower or olive oil. Check out the cooking-oil aisle in the supermarket and, alongside the more familiar varieties, you’ll find the likes of coconut, almond, hazelnut, flaxseed, avocado and rice bran oils… The list goes on.
In terms of calories and total fat, there’s little difference between one type and the next. Just 1tbsp of any type of oil has 99 calories and 11g fat – that’s around 5% of the calories and 16% of the maximum amount of fat that’s recommended per day.