Canola Oil Health

Is Canola Oil A Healthy Cooking Oil?

To benefit from canola oil health we answer, "What is canola oil?," and then find out, "Is canola oil healthy?"

The health of canola oil is based on canola oil, a relatively new product. It was created in the 70's from rapeseed.

Rapeseed was easy to grow and in wide use. Yet the erucic acid content made it potentially toxic to humans.

The rapeseed plant was bred to be low erucic acid and then given a new name. The name is coined from "Canadian oil, low acid", after it's Canadian roots. The new name was more sale-able than rapeseed and also distinguished it from the erucic acid stigma.

The Canola Council of Canada claims it "is the healthiest of all commonly used cooking oils." Please note that they qualify the claim with "commonly used."

The oil is low in saturated fat and high in mono-unsaturated fat, and also has a high omega-3 fatty acid content.

All sounds very healthy. But, there are issues...

1. Your body needs saturated fat. In fact, every body system requires it. Eliminating all saturated fats from your diet will lead to long term health effects including heart disease and premature aging. So to replace all your fat sources with this product will just not provide the canola oil health of eating healthy food.

Even though this oil is generally regarded as safe, it is not permitted in infant formulas because it stunts growth. FDA

2. As much as 82% of the crop is now genetically modified to be resistant to herbicide. It is claimed that since it is the plant that is altered, the oil is not effected. But, doesn't the oil come from the plant?

Yes. So, I prefer to ere on the side of caution. I suggest that in looking for canola oil health, only buy organic cold pressed canola oil and then only in limited use. An alternative in your cooking would be safflower oil or even oil oil for low temperature cooking.

3. The third issue is with the production methods. High temperatures used to extract the oil causes the heat sensitive omega-3 fatty acids to go rancid. To handle this, deodorizers are used and you then end up with trans fat and a loss of omega-3 fats benefits. Cold pressing is the traditional method of extracting oils from seeds. Therefore, choose cold pressed oils.

4. Another problem is that these oils are often hydrogenated. It takes to the process easily. Yet hydrogenated oils and fats cause health problems.

What you can do

Use only organic cold pressed canola oil as your source of this oil.

Limit your processed foods; a major source of oil and fats from GE plants and hydrogenated fats.

Consult your doctor before making any changes in your diet that would eliminate all sources of natural saturated fats from your diet.

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