Canola Oil for Optimal Health or Ultimate Hoax?

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the once called healthy canola oil recently. Canola oil was always believed to contain a healthy amount of monounsaturated fat and large amounts of omega 3s. There has been talk on the internet about canola oil not living up to it's healthy background and that the whole notion that canola oil is really good for you is coming from money hungry manufacturers. Has the public been duped into believing that canola oil is one of the best and healthiest oils? Let's explore the possibilities to see if canola oil is in fact essential for optimal health or if it's just an ultimate hoax by the oil manufacturers.

Here is a little history about what and where canola oil came from. Canola oil is derived from the rapeseed which is a member of the mustard family. Asian countries have been using rapeseed for centuries without any health problem backlash. The main reason for this is because of the rape seed being less processed compared to the United States where everything is highly processed for mass consumption. Canola oil was created by a Canadian scientist in the 1960s, 1970s(hence "Canola" oil). The problem with canola oil is it is used as a high temperature cooking oil here is the United States and since canola oil has omega 3s, at a high temperate (120 degrees) those omega 3s turn into trans fatty acids. The large amounts of omega 3s actually deodorize and transform into trans fat. The amount of trans fat is very high at 4.5%, which is even more than margarine! In some forms of canola oil, the temperature can comfortably reach a smoke point of 520 degrees, now that's trans fat city! (http://www.diabetesincontrol.com)

After the refining process of the canola oil, the next step in the process is called hydrogenation. That word might sound familiar to partially hydrogenated oils and "having a longer shelf life" might come to mind. This process of hydrogenation actually increases even more trans fats to occur within the food being cooked. The reason why supermarkets and food manufacturers are using canola oil within their products isn't because of the high amounts of omega 3s or monounsaturated (good) fats, it's because canola oil actually hydrogenates better than corn or soy oil. It is also cheap and good for shelf life, but not good for your health or mine. (http://www.diabetesincontrol.com)

According to Jonny Bowden, Ph. D, C.N.S. and author of the fantastic and informative book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, canola oil wasn't even close to making his list of healthy foods. This came as a surprise to me and probably to many others because for years we've been told that canola oil was filled with monounsaturated fats and large amounts of omega 3s. The more research and history behind the story of how canola oil originated and how it's being processed within the United States shows the ugly (and deodorized) truth behind canola oil. The fact that food manuafacturers are placing a cloak over the ugly truth behind canola oil is a disgrace. Telling people that your products contain canola oil and suggesting that it's a healthier product because of it is down right wrong. It's simply cheaper and hydrogenates really well, but when there is hydrogenation (like partially hydrogenated oils), there is a huge increase in trans fats.