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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Canola Comments

This update comes via my "Southern Comrade" and fellow health nut. I was throwing words around in my brain about a title for one of his posts. It had to be cleaver because we have this on-upsmanship thing going on.

I thought about a fellow I used to work with 30 years ago who is now a PhD and head of his village corporation in Alaska. He and I share another acquaintance who is an amazing artist and Puffin fan.

Not that any of this makes sense, it all comes back to play on words, so here is a link to more on fat, and 'Puffin PUFAS'.
Canola oil is a too commonly used ingredient in food, especially now that "plant sterols" are plugged into all kinds of things like margarine, vitamins, even aspirin. You'll find it in dog food and even in an ever increasing number of items in the natural food market place.

My suggestion is that you read this following definition of canola oil, understand it is toxic to the liver, it is a trans fat as a result of processing, and consider keeping out of your diet.
"Canola Oil contains 5% saturated fat, 57% oleic acid, 23% omega-6 and 10%-15% omega-3.

This oil was developed from the rape seed, a member of the mustard family. Rape seed is unsuited to human consumption because it contains a very-long-chain fatty acid called erucic acid, which under some circumstances is associated with fibrotic heart lesions. Canola oil was bred to contain little if any erucic acid and has drawn the attention of nutritionists because of its high oleic acid content.

But there are some indications that canola oil presents dangers of its own. It has a high sulphur content and goes rancid easily. Baked goods made with canola oil develop mold very quickly. During the deodorizing process, the omega-3 fatty acids of processed canola oil are transformed into trans fatty acids, similar to those in margarine and possibly more dangerous.

A recent study indicates that "heart healthy" canola oil actually creates a deficiency of vitamin E, a vitamin required for a healthy cardiovascular system. Other studies indicate that even low-erucic-acid canola oil causes heart lesions, particularly when the diet is low in saturated fat."

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