[Indian Summer]

Are canola oil and/or rapeseed oil toxic / unhealthy? I used rapeseed oil quite a lot (on salads) before I came to the US, but over here it's nowhere to be found. It might have to do with the negative association of the name (rape). I believe canola oil is made from a plant in the same family.

I found this article on canola oil on snopes:
http://www.snopes.co...http://www.snopes.com/toxins/canola.htm

But it seems you don't have to do much googling to find articles saying it is dangerous/unhealthy/toxic etc.

[MollyGoat]

I don't think it's any more dangerous than most vegetable oils. But it has a poor omega-6 to omega-3 ratio so I avoid it for the most part. I prefer to use extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil for daily use.

[Thalia]

Rapeseed oil is canola oil. The article mentions high cooking temperatures making it harmful. Generally, the higher the heat, the more likley most oils can become unhealthy. This is actually more true of the high omega-3 oils because they are less stable molecularly. Canola is not toxic, and it is lower in saturated and higher in monounsaturated fats than most. Which is good.

http://www.cookingfo...http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article.php?id=50
http://www.hsph.harv...http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html

[IamJen]

Thalia..are rapeseed and canola *exactly* the same thing. I tried doing some research on this on the 'net about a week ago. One site (all seemingly good ones) would say that canola oil = rapeseed oil. Another would say that they're from related plants. Still another would that they are from the same plant, different parts. Then, while there were a number of "down with canola" citations, there were just as many saying that it's perfectly fine. :wall:

[Indian Summer]

MollyGoat said:

But it has a poor omega-6 to omega-3 ratio so I avoid it for the most part.

Are you sure? I've been using rapeseed oil for the opposite reason - it supposedly has a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. The ideal ratio is about 4 to 5:1 in favour of omega-6. Canola oil has a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of 2:1, which is the second best(*) in the table in this article on VRG:
http://www.vrg.org/j...http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001sep/2001sepomega3.htm

* Since our diets usually contain more than enough omega-6, it is important to try and balance this with using oils with a ratio that is more skewed towards omega-3. Thus all oils with a ratio lower than the ideal ratio will be beneficial.

[rainbow_clouds]

As far as I understand canola is a kind of rapeseed.

[MollyGoat]

Indian Summer said:

Are you sure? I've been using rapeseed oil for the opposite reason - it supposedly has a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. The ideal ratio is about 4 to 5:1 in favour of omega-6.

Well, that's up for debate. Many say 3:1, 2:1 or even 1:1.

I guess I misspoke. I try to consume as little omega-6s from oil as possible--I prefer to get my omega-6s from whole foods, like nuts and avocados. So I tend to choose oils that have few polyunsaturated fats (other than flaxseed and evening primrose oils.)

[brighterhorizon]

Canola is a genetically engineered, (usually DNA spliced and cross pollinated), cross species of rapeseed, (a cross between Brassica rapa and Brassica napus and possibly many others). It is known to be highly toxic (despite what you have been told) and is used as biofuel, lubricants, the shiny film on color printed books and magazines etc. Canola is NOT found in nature and is totally manmade.

[kpickell]

Quote

Are you sure? I've been using rapeseed oil for the opposite reason - it supposedly has a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. The ideal ratio is about 4 to 5:1 in favour of omega-6. Canola oil has a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of 2:1, which is the second best(*) in the table in this article on VRG:
http://www.vrg.org/j...http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001sep/2001sepomega3.htm

* Since our diets usually contain more than enough omega-6, it is important to try and balance this with using oils with a ratio that is more skewed towards omega-3. Thus all oils with a ratio lower than the ideal ratio will be beneficial.

Yep, that's why I use canola oil also.

[monkey086]

I can remember one of the speakers at vegetarian summerfest just this past summer saying to avoid using some oils, particularly canola, in favor of other because the ratio of omega 3's to omega 6's was not optimal. He said that we get far too many omega 6's from our diet alone and something about that interfering with the limited omega 3's that we do consume.

I'll have to see if I can find the paper he handed out on which were best, that is, in terms of their omega ratio's.