BBC's Trust Me, I'm A Doctor says it's healthier to cook with LARD than sunflower oil

When it comes to choosing an oil or fat for cooking, we have never been so spoiled for choice. Take a trip to your local supermarket and the aisles are packed with everything you could desire, from the traditional - good old lard and butter - to the fashionably new - rapeseed, sesame and the latest fad, coconut oil.

The bewildering range of olive oils is enough to make the brain ache.

But which of them really is best to cook with? The benefits and harm each delivers has been debated for years, and most consumers are thoroughly confused. No wonder, when we are bombarded with conflicting information and advice that differs depending on the oil.

We are told, for example, that olive oil has brilliant health benefits - but only when you use it cold.

So when the team on Trust Me, I'm A Doctor (the BBC programme I present) turned its spotlight on the issue, I was delighted to investigate - and was shocked by our findings.

For the research we conducted, unveiled here for the first time, has revealed that what we thought we knew about cooking oils is just plain wrong. We began our research by finding out what real people are cooking with in their kitchens and how the advice is faring. Not surprisingly, modern oils, such as sunflower and olive, are far more popular than the traditional lard and butter.

'I know olive oil is really good for health, but the rest of them are not,' said one man, while another said: 'Sunflower oil - I don't know, man, it's got the word "sun" in, and the "flower". That's good!'

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