Re: soy oil and canola oil

SEARCH VEGSOURCE:

Reply To This Post Return to Posts Index VegSource Home

From: Bryanna (NewVeggies.vegsource.com)
Subject: Re: soy oil and canola oil
Date: July 6, 2008 at 3:05 pm PST

In Reply to: soy oil and canola oil posted by lin on June 26, 2008 at 6:33 pm:

These are old urban myths-- I hope they aren't making the rounds again!

I use mostly olive oil, but occasionally use canola oil or (expeller-pressed) peanut oil for stir-frying, etc. I don't use soy oil, but not because it is bad in itself. Unfortunately, though, most soy oil is extracted with chemicals.

Here are some notes I collected on canola when a friend sent me a horrendously misinformed letter (one of these email "urban myth" letters) about the dangers of canola. Now, you may only choose to use the organic kind (not genetically modified). I had the chance to use some expeller-pressed, locally grown organic canola oil for a workshop I was giving in Calgary. It was golden and nutty-tasting-- delicious! But about $6 a cup! We usually don't have that available to us! Anyway, as I told my friend, if you aren't going to use it, at least do so for the right reasons (if you prefer organic, non-gmo, but can't find it, or it's too expensive, for instance) and not because of some ill-informed hysteria.

(By the way, canola was not “genetically modified” years ago from rapeseed—it was hybridized. More recently, a lot of canola has been genetically modified to make it resist pests and chemicals. Organic canola is not genetically modified. )

Dear Sue,
Thanks for sending that article, but I'm afraid that
it's full of misinformation. If you aren't going to
use canola oil, it should be for the right reasons,
not because of hysteria and confusion. I don't have
alot of time to write just now, but the following
information might help people make more informed
choices. Could you email this to everyone you know
who received that other article or one of the other
similar ones circulating currently? Thanks! You have
to be really careful about this stuff these days.

Ciao, Bryanna

*************************************************

From:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?id=16307

CANOLA OIL: LATEST INTERNET HOAX VICTIM
The latest from the Internet hoax mill - dire
warnings about canola oil. All unsubstantiated and
completely ridiculous. Add this one to the Internet Hoax Watch collection at
http://www.healthcentral.com/Centers/OneCenter.cfm?Center=Internet%5FHoax%5FWatch

September 03, 1999
There are a lot of hoaxes and false health information being spread over the Internet that I’ve been collecting at HealthCentral in the Internet Hoax Watch Center. One of the latest to come to my attention is about canola oil, also known as rape seed oil.

While canola oil has been shown to be beneficial,
there has been a lot of bogus information showing up
that defames the popular unsaturated product.

Here is one example of a "warning" about canola that is false:
"Insects will not eat it; it is deadly poisonous. The oil from the rape seed is a hundred times more toxic than soy oil! Canola is a semi-drying oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and a illuminant for the slick color pages that you see in the magazines."

Another circulated report on canola erroneously connects it to Mad Cow disease:
"Rape (Canola) oil causes emphysema, respiratory
distress, anemia, constipation, irritability and
blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely
used in animal feeds in England and Europe between
1986 and 1991 when it was thrown out. You may remember reading about the cows, pigs and sheep that went blind, lost their minds, attacked people and had to be shot."

Here’s another off-the-wall canola jab:
"My sister spilled Canola oil on a piece of fabric,
after 5 pre-treatings and harsh washings, the oil spot still showed. She stopped using Canola oil, wondering what it did to our insides if it could not be removed from cloth easily."

There are other examples, but I think I’ve made my
point. If you see any of these so-called warnings
about canola oil, don’t believe them.

And remember, consider the source: one e-mail directs you to a Web site selling a guide to surviving the Y2K crisis. Not exactly where I would turn for medical information. And of course, all the claims about canola oil are unattributed.

The bottom line: there’s no scientific evidence that
canola oil is unhealthy or bad for us. So hit the
delete key if this hoax comes your way.

********** PS: here's a funny article re the above: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31594-2001Feb6?language=printer

From:
http://wholefoodsmarket.com/issues/canola.html

CANOLA OIL
There appears to be much confusion concerning the
safety of canola oil. Most of this controversy stems
from information written in an article, Blindness, Mad Cow Disease, and Canola Oil, which appeared in the March/April 1996 issue of Perceptions magazine. The following information presents our beliefs concerning the issues Mr. Thomas brought up implicating canola oil and soy.

Canola's Long History
For over 3000 years, rapeseed was the preeminent
culinary fat for the Indians, Western Asians, and
China. It has been cultivated in Western Europe since the 13th century and recently canola oil has and has become the most popular culinary oil due to its high oleic and monounsaturated fat "heart-healthy" profile.

Canola Oil and Erucic Acid
Canola oil (it's named derived from Canadian oil) is a specially bred "low erucic acid" variety of rapeseed that was created after studies showed rats fed traditional rapeseed oil containing up to 40% erucic acid developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid.

Subsequent studies, however,
showed that rats had the same type of problems with
other oils that didn't even contain erucic acid,
indicating that the initial conclusions indicting
erucic acid as the culprit were false. As it is, rats don't metabolize fats and oils well in the first place, whether they contain erucic acid or not.

Additionally, human fat metabolism is substantially
different than rat metabolism so correlating what
happened to rats as having the same effect on humans is totally absurd.

In fact, for some individuals, as highlighted in the
movie Lorenzo's Oil, erucic acid is a lifesaver.
Croda, the New Jersey-based lipid research and
specialty oil products firm developed a purified
erucic fatty acid to help the dying child and others
like him. Mr. Thomas incorrectly states in his article that olive oil was what saved the little boy featured in the movie. "Shortly after Lorenzo's Oil was released, my brother saw an 'expert' on a TV talk show claim that Lorenzo's oil was rape oil. This was a lie. Give rape oil to a sick person, and you will seal his or her doom." Erucic acid is a 22 carbon chain fatty acid with a single double bond (C22:1) Although olive oil has many positive attributes, it has no naturally occurring erucic acid and, therefore, could not possibly have been the source of Lorenzo's oil.

Even if there were a problem with erucic acid, that
Mr. Thomas would put canola oil into the old erucic
acid singsong is hard to understand since canola's
erucic acid content has been bred from rapeseed's 40% erucic acid down to less than 0.02 to 0.01%. All
things considered, the consumption of canola for feed or oil content presents no known toxicity in either crude or refined states.

Canola and Glaucoma
Mr. Thomas asserts that glaucoma is not caused by
fluid pressure buildup in the eyes that causes the
optic nerve to deteriorate but instead due to oxygen
starvation that can be caused by blood platelet
aggregation. While it is possible platelet aggregation could be a cause of glaucoma, no scientific study at this time links glaucoma to any lipid toxicity or diet. However, if this were true, canola oil might be helpful since the 10% omega-3 fraction in canola oil as well as its 16% omega-6 fraction of fatty acids tend to reduce platelet aggregation (remember canola's reputation as a "heart-healthy" oil). Therefore, if platelet aggregation were actually found to be the cause of glaucoma, canola oil could be a curative rather than a causative agent.

Cyanide-containing Compounds
Mr. Thomas' asserts that rapeseed contains large
amounts of "isothiocyanates", cyanide-containing
compounds and glycocides that interfere with the
biochemistry of humans and animals. In actuality, most seeds of any type have small amounts of cyanogetic glycosides that, if ingested in concentrated amounts over a number of years, may be detrimental to one's health. For example, eating large quantities of the seeds within apples can become lethal due to the cyanide compounds each seed contains. Rincin, processed from rice, is also a lethal refined material used as a nerve agent. Still, these toxic substances do not make rice, apples, and canola seeds lethal in their natural form. Even so, the heating of seeds destroys these low level natural agents. As seeds are expeller pressed and heated above 120 degrees F., isothiocyates and other compounds are destroyed.

Not Linked to Mad Cow Disease
Mad Cow Disease is a brain disorder (spongiform
encephalopathy) caused by errant protein structures in the brain. Prions, protein structures that cause decay of synapses nerves and cells in the brain, are the suspected cause. Cattle are not fed canola oil as part of their typical diet in England where Mad Cow Disease was a problem nor is there a suspected causative role played by canola seed, meal, or oils in this disease. The transmission of Mad Cow Disease occurs when the rendered animal tissue from sheep and other animals is added to cattle feed. Mr. Thomas' link between canola
oil and Mad Cow Disease is completely unfounded.

Canola is not an Industrial Oil
What about the references to industrial uses of
canola, implying that it is unfit for human
consumption? Canola is, in fact, a culinary oil, not
an industrial oil. While the typical high erucic acid rapeseed oils can be used for industrial purposes, so are many other oils. For example, culinary oils such as walnut, soybean, and flax oils can also be usedindustrially to make paints, plastics, cosmetics, inks, etc. Degrading a plant or food just because of its other applications besides human food use, presents a naive, myopic view which serves to only stir up emotions based solely on ignorance of the facts.

Hybrid or Genetically Engineered?
Canola is a hybrid variety of rapeseed developed in
Canada during the 1970s from traditional pedigree
hybrid propagation techniques based on black mustard, leaf mustard, and turnip rapeseed. It is true however, that some forms of rapeseed are genetically engineered. Canola oil that is certified organic is from non-genetically altered seed. Our own Whole Foods Market 365 Brand of canola oil is from non-genetically altered rapeseed.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. believes canola oil is a safe and wholesome food and, therefore, will continue to sell it in our stores. Accordingly, each individual is free to choose whether or not to buy canola oil or to choose from one of the other many culinary oils we sell.
*********************
NOTE FROM BRYANNA: I kind of hesitate to put in the next one, since it's by a well-known anti-soy, anti-vegetarian person, but it's interesting what she has to say about canola, so take it or leave it!

Dr. Mary Enig is a professor of biochemistry at the
University of Maryland. Here is some of what she
says about canola oil and some of the charges against it:

"Although canola oil is not a favorite oil with me for a number of reasons (none of which were listed in the article), the statement suggesting that because it is used as an industrial oil it is therefore not edible is not valid. Flax oil is also used as an industrial oil for paint and linoleum, etc. But when it is prepared as a food it is edible. Most oils have been used at one time or another as industrial products.

One of the most edible of oils, coconut oil, is used
for many industrial products, especially for soaps andcosmetics.

Olive oil apparently has been used to make soap for as long as it has been used as a food oil.

Perhaps the most blatant error and comparison made by Mr. Lynn, though, is that regarding canola oil and mustard gas, which chemically has absolutely no relationship to mustard oil or any other mustard plant. Mustard gas is 2,2'-dichlorodiethyl sulfide and its preparation using ethylene and sulfur chloride is given in the Merck Index. It received its name because of the yellowish color of the gas and the sulfur odor. Canola and regular rapeseed oils are extracted from the seeds of several of the brassica plants - the same family of plants from which we get vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, andseveral other vegetables.

Of course, there is not much fat in these vegetables; but what fat there is in some of them, e.g., mustard greens, is as much as 29 percent erucic acid. Also, since glycosides (typical are stevioside and other flavonoids) are basically water soluble, I would not expect to find much of them in any oil. Those glucosinolates found in rapeseed meal after the oil has removed from the seeds are the same goiterogens that are found in the brassica vegetables."