Can oils be purely saturated or unsaturated?

Oils are always a mixture of fat types. There is no such thing as an oil that is purely
saturated, purely monounsaturated, or purely polyunsaturated. There is saturated fat in
the very best cooking oil you will ever buy! But in most cases, there is not more than
2!, and most plant oils will contain at least "#! unsaturated fat. The only common
exceptions $ know to this rule are coconut oil and palm oil, which contain about "#! and
#! saturated fat, respectively.
Once you get into the unsaturated contents of a cooking oil, you %nd very di&erent
balances of monunsaturates and polyunsaturates. Olive oil 'about ""!
monounsaturated(, avocado oil 'about )*! monounsaturated( and canola oil 'about )!
monounsaturated( are unusual in their high level of monounsaturates. +or plant oils, they
are relatively low in polyunsaturates and less susceptible to heat and oxygen damage for
this reason. ,espite its very high monounsaturate content, $ still don-t like cooking with
olive oil because its phytonutrient contents 'for example, its polyphenols( are .ust too
delicate.
/t the other end of the spectrum, you-ll %nd oils like sun0ower, sa1ower, corn, and soy to
contain at least )! polyunsaturates. This high polyunsaturate content makes these oils
especially susceptible to heat and oxygen damage. $f you insist on cooking with these
oils, $ recommend that you select the high2oleic versions of these oils to gain a little more
protection from heat damage.