Canola oil

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Is canola oil a good oil? It contains a lot of mono-unsaturated oil and some omega3 as well. It is also very cheap.

2

I use it when I don’t want all the flavor of olive oil. It seems to be a good source of fat.

3

Flax seed, Fish and Olive Oil are better options!

4

unfortunately because omega 3 fatty acids become rancid and foul smelling when exposed to oxygen and high temperatures(which is how commercial oils are processed) the canola oil must be deodorized. The standard deodorization process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them into TRANS FATTY ACIDS. Researchers of the university of Florida found TFA levels in commercial liquid oils as high as 4.6% Not too good eh?

5

http://www.strong-research.com/emagazine/canola1.php

I wrote the following for another website. It should answer your question quite well.

Cass

Canola Oil Confusion
Why Canola oil is Good for You
by Cassandra Forsythe

Oil. It?s one of those words that people equate to full body massages and McDonald?s French Fries (those are some damn good fries too!). But oil is actually an important component of our daily dietary intake. Oils that you commonly find in the supermarket are ones like canola oil, olive oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil. These oils are very misunderstood and many people think that they should only use these oils in small amounts for cooking and baking. Many consumers believe these oils will increase their risk of heart disease and make them fat (or fatter?). The reason why people think this is because they don?t really understand what these oils are all about. I oftentimes here people say, ?Canola oil is a crappy oil. It?s full of bad fats and it?s processed and unnatural. I?m only going to buy olive oil because it has monounsaturated fat, which I hear is better for my heart.? However, in truth, canola oil is also very high in monounsaturated fat, and the processing that it is subjected to, is something that ALL oils go through.

So to enlighten you on some facts about canola oil specifically, I?m going to address four negative health claims made against it, and tell you why they don?t hold a candle to the positive aspects of this popular product. These comments here are ones that were obtained from a particular website.

Negative health claim #1:

??because canola oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which easily become rancid and foul-smelling when subjected to oxygen and high temperatures, it must be deodorized. The standard deodorization process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them into trans fatty acids.?

Yes, that?s right folks; Canola oil is a good source of your essential omega-3 fatty acids (EFA?S) (1, 2). These are the fats that have been receiving a lot of publicity lately because they are shown to reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease, help us lose body fat, and improve our memory (3). The omega-3 EFA found in canola oil is one called alpha-linolenic acid or ALA. ALA is essential in our diets because our bodies cannot manufacture it. ALA is also the same omega-3 EFA that is found in flaxseed oil. In fact, one tablespoon of canola oil contains 1 gram of ALA. This means that 11% of the fat found in canola oil is this essential fat ALA which makes canola oil the vegetable oil highest in this essential fat. Canola oil actually offers you the best mix of fats- it has a moderate amount of polyunsaturated fat, including the essential n-6 and n-3?s and it is second to olive oil as a rich source of monounsaturated fat.

Now to confront the topic of trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat. These fats have also been receiving a lot of attention lately because they are believed to be worse than saturated fat for increasing our risk of heart disease and cancer (4). They are formed during commercial processing of liquid vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fat into solid fats (5). This process, called partial hydrogenation, produces fats like hydrogenated margarines and shortenings that are solid at room temperature. Food manufacturers prefer hydrogenated fats because they are less prone to rancidity and are easy to work with for many food applications. For example, solid fats are essential to making a good fluffy pastry and tender moist cakes.

Trans fats can also be created during the normal extrusion process of obtaining liquid oil from a seed (5). One of the steps in obtaining liquid canola oil from the canola plant involves a step called deodorization. Deodorization is a process of thermal stress where oils are heated to high temperatures >200C for 1 hour (6). This process removes undesirable compounds in the crude oils that affect final taste and smell. Indeed, omega-3 fatty acids are a part of these compounds which have the potential to become rancid, and that is why some of them are removed or altered. And, as stated in the above paragraph, during this process, the omega-3?s may be converted to trans omega-3?s. In recent publications (5, 6, 7) investigators found that after deodorization, at maximum, 30% of the total ALA could be converted into trans fatty acids, while the omega-6 conversion is very low, at only 0.2%. But, this conversion is dependant on the time and temperature of the deodorization process (6). So, in 1 tablespoon of bottled canola oil, which is 15ml of fat, there could be 0.45ml of trans n-3 fatty acids. Now in the grand scheme of our total dietary intake, this is a very small amount of trans fat. And I highly doubt this has any harmful effects (4). As mentioned, the most significant sources of trans fatty acids, is baked products and fried foods with hydrogenated oils. For a person to worry about this amount of trans fatty acid in canola oil, the stress would cause them more harm than the actual amount of trans fat! What an individual should consider though is that they are receiving an excellent source of monounsaturated fat and a good source of omega 3 ALA.

Since scientists understand that any level of trans fatty acids should not be acceptable because of the negative health effects, they have sought out to determine new methods of processing canola oil to reduce the trans fatty acid formation. They have identified that in order to prevent this transformation, it?s as simple as reducing the temperature and time of the deodorization process which will still allow the removal of the other undesirable compounds (6,7). In fact this new processing procedure is now being used so we can all be happier that our canola oil today is much safer.

Negative health claim #2:

?Modern oil processing is a different thing entirely. The oil is removed by a combination of high temperature mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. Traces of the solvent (usually hexane) remain in the oil, even after considerable refining. Like all modern vegetable oils, canola oil goes through the process of caustic refining, bleaching and degumming all of which involve high temperatures or chemicals of questionable safety?

This quote is claiming that the hexane used in vegetable oil extraction is dangerous to our health. Well, this is incorrect. During the process of solvent extraction, the hexane that is applied to the crude oil is thoroughly distilled off after it has completed its job. Also, the hexane used in vegetable oil extraction is not the type of hexane that has been associated with neurotoxicological effects (8, 9, 10). The hexane isomer used for producing vegetable oil is known as isohexane and it has been extensively studied for its safety (8). N-hexane on the other hand, is the isomer of hexane used in many industrial plants and crude oil facilities, and is a causative agent in neuropathy, Parkinsonism, and toxicity (9, 10, 11, 12). However, like I said, this is NOT the hexane used to make edible oils. Even if there was a trace amount of isohexane left in the final product as the above quote claims, it is not of questionable safety. There have been no findings in the biomedical literature that isohexane causes toxicity, cancer, birth defects, or that it affects reproduction (8, 9).

Negative health claim #3:

?In a 1998 paper, a research group reported that piglets fed canola oil suffered from a decrease in platelet count and an increase in platelet size. Bleeding time was longer in piglets fed both canola oil and rapeseed oil. (13)These changes were mitigated by the addition of saturated fatty acids from either cocoa butter or coconut oil to the piglets diet. These results were confirmed in another study a year later. Canola oil was found to suppress the normal developmental increase in platelet count. (14)?

Now the first study mentioned was conducted to determine the effects of a formula made with 100% canola oil versus other fat blends on platelet characteristics, blood lipids and growth in exclusively formula-fed piglets. The results showed that formula fat composition influenced the developing hematological system and that canola oil suppressed the normal developmental increase in platelet count in piglets (13).

Now to interpret this study correctly, there are a few things we need to realize.

First, this study was conducted in growing infants, which does not translate into the health of grown adults. Growing infants have completely different nutrient requirements than adults. The milk from mothers breast is actually very high in the short and long chain saturated fatty acids, essential fatty acids, and cholesterol (13). In short, mother?s milk is the perfect food for a developing baby. So, if you change the fatty acid profile of the food fed to an infant you will create many, many problems. This study concluded that 100% canola oil was the problem, but that is because the fatty acid profile of canola is completely different than breast milk. The addition of saturated fatty acids, made the formula more similar to human milk, which then helped to prevent these observations.

Also, this study used a canola oil that was high in erucic acid (22:1), which is a dangerous fatty acid not normally found in the canola oil we buy on the shelf. The canola oil we buy every day is called low erucic acid rapeseed oil (LEAR) because it has been bred to have a very low erucic acid content. Also, more recently, these same researchers confirmed that LEAR oil is not associated with any negative hematological outcomes as seen in this paper: Low erucic acid canola oil does not induce heart triglyceride accumulation in neonatal pigs fed formula. (15)

Second, decreased platelet aggregation and increased bleeding time are actually favorable outcomes in the prevention of heart disease (16). Of course they are not good for a new infant, but these factors are important to decrease the incidence of atherosclerosis. In fact, the Greenland Eskimos, which we all know have the lowest incidence of coronary plaque build up, have low platelet aggregability and prolonged bleeding times. Further studies with canola oil have shown these benefits in adults as well. The reason that increased bleeding time and decreased aggregation are anti-atherogenic is because it helps avoid the first step in plaque build up. This first step is the accumulation of platelets to a injured arterial wall in response to a stress of mechanical, oxidative, or chemical nature. The conclusive research with LEAR canola oil shows that it elicits these anti-atherogenic effects via the ALA and the oleic acid content (16).

So, in conclusion, LEAR canola oil will not negatively affect our hematological system. And more importantly, you can now see that canola oil improves our health by reducing our risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Negative health claim #4:

?Canola oil will turn rancid very quickly and rancid fats will increase the risk of developing cancer?

This is not true. Canola oil shelf life stored at room temperature is roughly one year. The shelf life of other vegetable oils stored at room temperature is similar. Rancidity, which occurs via auto-oxidation, is a chemical reaction where oxygen (which is found in the air we breath every day?) reacts with the unpaired electrons at sites of unsaturation in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs). This chemical reaction occurs with ALL fats that contain polyunsaturated fats, including flax seed oil and salmon oil whenever they are exposed to air, a small amount of heat, and light (2). It?s much more likely that your flaxseed oil will go rancid before your canola oil will because it contains so MUCH more polyunsaturated fat. In order to prevent any edible oil from becoming rancid, Vitamin E, which is an antioxidant, is added to the oils to prevent this oxidation process. If you are concerned that your oil might become rancid, you should store your oils in a cool dark place, away from direct light, and discard your oil after you have owned it for more than one year.

In regards to the cancer-causing properties of rancid fats, this is true. Since the oxidation products of PUFAs have been reported to have cytotoxic and mutagenic effects, the consumption of rancid oils and fats represents a possible health hazard for the population. As mentioned, in order to prevent this from happening, store your oils properly, and throw them away after the expiry date.

Use your Canola Oil!

In summary, canola oil is a great part of our daily dietary intake, and it?s not as crappy as some people think. Fat is one of the macronutrients we need to take in every day to help us metabolize important fat soluble vitamins which are necessary to prevent disease. And as we all know now, canola oil provides certain types of fat that will prolong our life and prevent the development of disease.

Reference List

  1. Hunter JE. N-3 fatty acids from vegetable oils. Am.J.Clin.Nutr. 1990;51:809-814.

  2. Micheal I.Gurr. Lipids in Health and Human Nutrition. Bridgwater England: PJ Barnes & Associates, 1999.

  3. Leaf A. Dietary prevention of coronary heart disease: The Lyon Diet Heart Study (editorial). Circulation. 1999;99:733-735.

  4. Jean Michel Chardigny LBJ-LS. New insights in health effects of trans -linolenic acid isomers in humans. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 2003;103:478-82.

  5. Denecke P. About the formation of trans fatty acids during deodorization of rapeseed oil. Eur.J.Med.Res. 1995;1:109-14.

  6. Georges H?non PYVBSJC. Rapeseed oil deodorization study using the response surface methodology. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 2001;103:466-77.

  7. Lambelet P, Grandgirard A, Gregoire S, Juaneda P, Sebedio JL, Bertoli C. Formation of modified fatty acids and oxyphytosterols during refining of low erucic acid rapeseed oil. J.Agric.Food Chem. 2003;51:4284-90.

  8. Galvin JB, Bond G. 2-Methylpentane (isohexane). CAS# 107-83-5. J.Toxicol.Environ.Health A 1999;58:81-92.

  9. Ono Y, Takeuchi Y, Hisanaga N. A comparative study on the toxicity of n-hexane and its isomers on the peripheral nerve. Int.Arch.Occup.Environ.Health 1981;48:289-94.

  10. Goel SK, Rao GS, Pandya KP. Toxicity of n-hexane and n-heptane: some biochemical changes in liver and serum. Toxicol.Lett. 1982;14:169-74.

  11. Pezzoli G, Ricciardi S, Masotto C, Mariani CB, Carenzi A. n-hexane induces parkinsonism in rodents. Brain Res. 1990;531:355-7.

  12. Ruff RL, Petito CK, Acheson LS. Neuropathy associated with chronic low level exposure to n-hexane. Clin.Toxicol. 1981;18:515-9.

  13. JK Kramer et al. Hematological and lipid changes in newborn piglets fed milk-replacer diets containing erucic acid. Lipids, January 1998;33(1):1-10

  14. Innis SM, Dyer RA. Dietary canola oil alters hematological indices and blood lipids in neonatal