Canola oil - good or bad?

[Stuckinthebush]

My wife came to bed last night after browsing the internet and said that she stumbled on vegan sites that declare that canola oil is bad for you. I was incredulous, and we both decided that we would look into it further today. We use canola for things like cookies, and olive oil for most everything else.

I did find some sites that discuss canola being toxic, but I also found this from the Canola Council of Canada

http://www.canola-council.org/about/thetruth.html

Assuming that the Canola Council would be pro Canola anyway, I checked further and found this at Snopes.com

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/canola.htm#add

So, I thought I'd ask my DU friends what they know about this canola issue.

Fact or Fiction?

[LisaLynne]

1. I have heard the same thing.

As you probably read, Canola oil isn't actually from the Canola plant because there IS not canola plant. Who knew? I think basically what I've boiled it down to is that plain old olive oil is the best and actually, canola oil is just as bad as whatever it replaced. Like margarine. Is it a trans-fat? I can't remember. But trans-fats are the latest Thing You've Been Eating that Will Kill You.

[Dob Bole]

2. hmm...not so sure about that...

Several years ago the farmers around me were growing canola. That may not be the actual name of the plant, but it was basically a yellow flowerous plant.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. I believe canola oil is made from rape seed

That may be the yellow plant you saw.

[Goblinmonger]

7. Yes

Canola is made from the rape seed. It is called canola oil because who would want to buy rape seed oil.

[arissa]

4. No, canola oil is extremely healthy

And no, it's not a trans-fat, trans-fats are created by humans in a process called hydrogenization.

Canola oil can be used for purposes that olive oil cannot. Olive oil is not good for high-temperature cooking, such as stir-frying or sauteeing, because it breaks down at high temperatures. Refined canola oil does not, and is wonderful for high-temp cooking.

You should, however, make sure you're getting non-genetically modified and preferably organic canola oil, as rapeseed crops are one of the most widespread genetically modified crops.

[LisaLynne]

5. Some people question how healthy it is. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

6. Canola seems to be a very healthy oil so long as it is not GMO

and organic, like everything else. You don't want a dash of pesticides in your wok.