Untold Truth Of Canola Oil

CANOLA OIL IS BAD FOR BRAIN HEALTH

• Canola oil is the third most widely used vegetable oil in the world.
• Fast food, restaurant food, and processed foods of all kinds can be found in mainstream supermarkets and health food stores alike.
• Despite canola oil's reputation as healthy, natural oil, there is compelling evidence that it's not the health food you think it is.

THE ORIGIN OF CANOLA OIL:

• Have you ever wondered where canola oil comes from? After all, there is no such plant as canola!
• Canola stands for "Canadian oil low acid" and the oil comes from rapeseed (Brassica napus), a relative of mustard.
• Rapeseed is a member of the same family as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
• The name change from rapeseed to canola was a public relations scheme to deflect negative connotations that rapeseed carried.
• So, at least here in the US, it's called canola oil, but in much of the world it’s still known as rapeseed oil or rape oil.

CANOLA OIL’S UNNATURAL PRODUCTION PROCESS:

• It used to be impossible to make edible oil from rapeseed, so its oil was only used to lubricate machinery.
• Rapeseed oil was banned for human consumption in the 1950s due to its high level of two toxic compounds, erucic acid and glucosinolate.
• Especially dangerous for children is erucic acid, which has been linked to heart disease.
• Canola oil contains compounds called glucosinolate that make it bitter and reduce animal growth rates.
• A Canadian scientist developed a method of removing these chemicals from rapeseed in 1973, so that it could be used as livestock feed.
• In 1978, the term "canola" was coined after they figured out how to make it a food suitable for humans.
• Rapeseed that has been genetically modified to be tolerant to the controversial herbicide Roundup has been developed using traditional plant breeding methods, but 80-90% of rapeseed now grown in the US is genetically modified.
• Genetically modified canola oil is banned by the European Union.
• The process of getting rapeseed oil from seed to bottle is not simple.
• As per the Canola Council of Canada, seeds are heated repeatedly to 95-115°C (203-239°F) after they have been sorted and cleaned.
• The oil is then degummed with citric, malic, phosphoric acid, or sodium hydroxide (also known as lye or caustic soda).
• Next, this degummed oil is washed with more sodium hydroxide, then filtered, bleached, and deodorized.
• These steps are necessary to make a product that looks, smells, and tastes like anything consumers would consider eating.
• Compare this to cold-pressed oils which is obtained by natural way only and canola oil doesn’t seem all that “natural” anymore.
• The top four vegetable oils in the US — soybean, canola, palm, and corn oil — are processed this way. They are referred to as RBD oils since they’ve been refined, bleached, and deodorized.

 WHY CANOLA OIL IS THOUGHT TO BE HEALTHY:

• Before we take a look at what’s wrong with canola oil, let’s take a look at why it is purported to be healthy.
• Canola oil is considered a healthy oil because it’s low in saturated fat, high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and contains compounds called phytosterols that reduce the absorption of cholesterol into the body.
• However, some research indicates that consuming phytosterols can actually increase your risk of heart disease.
• And, once you dig a little deeper, most of canola’s supposed health benefits are not what they appear to be.

REASONS WHY CANOLA OIL IS UNHEALTHY:

• CANOLA OIL IS A SOURCE OF UNHEALTHY TRANS FATS :

• Due to the high heat and chemicals used during processing, canola oil contains unhealthy trans fats even when the label states “0g trans fats” per serving.

• CANOLA OIL FUELS DAMAGING CHRONIC INFLAMMATION :

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids, like the kind found in fish oil, are widely recognized as extremely healthy.
• A big reason for this is that they are anti-inflammatory. This is mainly due to the widespread use of canola oil and other vegetable oils in the food supply.
• Note that some inflammation is a necessary health process; it’s your body’s first line of defense against infection and injury.
• But this process can get stuck “on” and become chronic, especially when your body is overloaded with omega-6 fatty acids.

• CANOLA OIL CAUSES HARMFUL OXIDATIVE DAMAGE:

• Canola’s high polyunsaturated fat content is one of its selling points, yet polyunsaturated fats are the least stable fats for cooking.
• The polyunsaturated fats found in canola oil are highly unstable when exposed to heat, light, solvents, or pressure.
  When a fat is unstable, it becomes rancid and creates free radicals.
• Free radicals are unattached oxygen molecules that attack your cells in much the same way that oxygen attacks metal, causing it to rust. Free radicals cause cellular damage, premature aging, and even cell death. Since brain cells are high oxygen users, they are particularly susceptible to free radical damage.
• If you buy any vegetable oil, don’t buy it in a clear glass or plastic bottle since light exposure causes oxidation.

• CANOLA OIL LACKS FATS ESSENTIAL FOR A HEALTHY BRAIN:

• Your brain is largely made of fat, 60% by weight, and the quality of your brain cells largely depends on the quality of the fats you eat.
• Of all the essential fatty acids, the omega-3s are the most abundant in the brain where they are the preferred building blocks of brain cell membranes and nerve cells.
• One omega-3 fatty acid in particular, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), accounts for 97% of the omega-3 fatty acids in the brain.
• While there are some omega-3s in canola oil, they occur as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an inferior form. Less than 0.5% of ALA gets converted to DHA, the form the brain prefers.

• CANOLA OIL CONTAINS HEXANE, A KNOWN NEUROTOXIN:

• During canola oil’s manufacturing process, the rapeseed is washed in pure hexane.
• Hexanes are a group of compounds that are a chief component of gasoline.
• Both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), consider hexane a neurotoxin.
• Besides being used as a solvent to extract oil from seeds, hexane is also used as a solvent for rubber cement, adhesives, varnishes, and inks.
• Granted, the main way most of us are exposed to hexane is from inhaling gas fumes, and only trace amounts are found in canola oil.
• But with the long list of hexane’s side effects, do you really want to be eating any?
• Acute exposure to hexane causes dizziness, giddiness, nausea, headache, dermatitis, and irritation of the eyes and throat.
• Chronic exposure can result in numbness in the extremities, muscular weakness, blurred vision, headache, and fatigue.
• It’s possible to avoid hexane in canola oil by buying trusted traditional wooden cold-pressed oil which cannot use solvents for extraction.

• CANOLA OIL INCREASES THE RISK OF MENTAL DISORDERS:

• John Stein, a University of Oxford Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, contends that the displacement of omega-3 fatty acids in the brain by omega-6s is having profound, unforeseen consequences for our brains and is contributing to the meteoric increase in mental health disorders.
• Some of the latest research supports this.
• Replacing seed-based vegetable oils with olive oil can significantly reduce the risk of depression.
• An unhealthy omega-6 to omega-3 ratio also increases the risk of depression.
• There’s even a correlation between vegetable oil consumption and homicide rates.

• CANOLA OIL MAY BE BAD FOR MEMORY

• While there haven’t been human studies on the effects of canola oil on memory, there have been animal studies.
• One recent study found that supplementing the diet of mice with canola oil had some notable negative effects.
• Researchers conducted two similar experiments. They found that enriching the diet of mice with extra virgin olive oil reduced their brain levels of amyloid plaques and tau proteins, both of which are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. The mice also showed signs of memory improvement.
• In the second experiment, mice were fed a diet enriched with canola oil.  These mice showed an increase in both amyloid plaques and tau proteins. The canola-fed mice also exhibited impairments in memory and ability to learn.

• USING CANOLA OIL IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR EATING BRAIN-HEALTHY FATS

• One of the worst things about using canola oil is the missed opportunity cost of adding some very healthy fats to your diet instead.
• Every time you pour canola-based dressing on your salad, you are not using cold pressed cooking oils (Sesame oil, Coconut Oil, Groundnut Oil) — an essential ingredient in the Mediterranean style of eating.
• Every time you cook with canola oil, you are missing out on the chance to consume more brain-boosting coconut oil.
• Both Cold Pressed Sesame Oil and Cold Pressed coconut oil, Cold Pressed Peanut Oil unlike canola oil, contain significant anti-inflammatory properties.
• And unlike canola oil which causes free radical damage, Cold Pressed Cooking  oil is loaded with at least 30 polyphenols that are potent antioxidants and free radical scavengers.
• Cold Pressed Coconut oil is one of the top brain foods due to its unique composition of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) and lauric acid.
• Cold Pressed Coconut oil’s MCTs act as a backup source of energy for your brain when blood glucose is low.
• It’s this property that makes Cold Pressed Coconut oil a promising treatment for dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurological disorders.
• Lauric acid, a compound also found in human breast milk, is an antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and immune-boosting compound responsible for many of Cold Pressed Coconut oil’s beneficial properties.

TIPS FOR AVOIDING CANOLA OIL

• It’s not easy to avoid canola oil.
• It’s ubiquitous in restaurant food, fast food, and processed foods of all kinds.
• The first tip for avoiding canola oil is to get in the habit of reading food labels.
• It’s particularly discouraging that canola oil is the oil of choice in so many snacks and prepared foods marketed as “healthy” and found in every health food store.
• So if you really want to limit your intake of canola oil, you’ll have to say goodbye to many processed foods and stick with “real” food that does not come pre-packaged in a box, bag, carton, bottle, or other container.
• While eating mainly unprocessed foods can be hard because processed foods are so prevalent, in the long run it is one of the best dietary changes you can make.
• Almost everything that’s bad about canola oil can also be said about other seed-based vegetable oils such as soy, sunflower, and safflower oil. Don’t make the mistake of switching to these oils instead.
• Wooden Cold - Pressed Coconut Oil: It is a very brain-healthy fat that was previously vilified for containing saturated fat, but that’s what makes it so stable for cooking. You can bake, saute, roast, and fry with coconut oil as you would other oils. Additionally, you can add it to soups, smoothies, rice, or hot cereal.
• Wooden Cold - Pressed Sesame Oil: Wood pressed sesame oil is a better choice amidst edible oils as they have no additives or preservatives that can harm your health and retain the natural taste of the sesame seeds. 

• Wooden Cold - Pressed Groundnut Oil: High in monounsaturated fat, omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin E, and a good source of antioxidants. It contains monounsaturated fatty acids and is rich in omega-9 and phytosterols that help maintain your health. Consuming it in a moderate amount daily helps in muscle building and strengthening our body.

"Food is Medicine is Medicine, so do the business with care, responsibility and ethics"

Reference : https://bebrainfit.com