5 ms·

> The evidence for the harms of canola oil is still in its early days, but continues to grow. Research has linked it to: Memory impairment [1], Alzheimer’s risk

by twanvl 6y ago

> The evidence for the harms of canola oil is still in its early days, but continues to grow. Research has linked it to: Memory impairment [1], Alzheimer’s risk [1], Cardiovascular disease [2], [5], [6], [8], Diabetes [2], Increased all-cause mortality [2], [6], [7], Metabolic syndrome [3], Decreased brain function [4], and Oxidative stress [5], [7]. Most of these references talk about how there is no clear benefit of vegetable oils over animal oils or how "chronic canola oil consumption" results in obesity in transgenic mice. That is not really the same thing as "growing evidence for the harms of canola oil".

lambdaba 6y ago
I'm curious of your actual hunch, are you actually skeptical that canola (and other industrial seed oils) are not harmful?), or just pointing something out about the evidence?
- cinntaile 6y ago
  I read it as twanvl pointing out that there is a lack of evidence to support the article's claims.
vanilla-almond 6y ago
I would be interested to know if these studies refer to low quality vegetable oils using a chemical process to extract oil. For example, in the UK, supermarkets sell cold-pressed rapeseed oil (canola oil in the US). The cold-press process is sold as making rapeseed oil as relatively healthy cooking oil. Does cold-pressing rapeseed/canola seed turn it into a relatively healthy cooking oil (vs the expeller-pressed or chemical extraction process)?
- lambdaba 6y ago
  The problem is the fats in those oils are very susceptible to oxidation and have low smoke points, they are never safe as cooking oils for this reason. For cooking the best options outside of animal fats are olive oil and coconut oil, but of course olive oil is most versatile and better tasting imo.
  - shin_lao 6y ago
    Avocado oil is much better than olive oil, which has a low boiling point.
    - lambdaba 6y ago
      It's probably equivalent but the taste doesn't go with most foods, also it goes bad much easier which again suggests less stability.
      - microcolonel 6y ago
        If you're concerned about the taste of Avocado oil you may have just had poor quality oil. I've had some bad experiences, but the one from Chosen Foods (we have it at Costco in Ontario) is a very neutral oil with a high smoke point.
  - Jolter 6y ago
    I don’t know where you’re getting this from. I use canola oil when pan-frying food and it stands heat better then most olive oils. The cold-pressed variety tastes like shit though (well, actually it tastes like canola which has a kale-like flavor that I find unappealing). The refined canola oil is perfect for frying.
    - Reason077 6y ago
      Right, I think what he's saying is that you shouldn't use cold-pressed oils for cooking/frying. Cheaper refined oils are better for this purpose. Keep the fancy cold-pressed oils for salads, dipping, drizzling, etc. Refined olive oil does have a slightly higher smoke point than refined canola/rapeseed oil, but for most home cooking purposes it's probably within the margin of error. Something like refined sunflower oil or refined avocado oil has a higher smoke point still.
    - lambdaba 6y ago
      Quoting this study https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf (note: I get an error opening the PDF) > Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) yielded low levels of polar compounds and oxidative by-products, in contrast to the high levels of by-products generated for oils such as canola oil. But I formed my position from many other points, the degradation in public health in the USA has tracked perfectly with the switch from animal fats to seed oils for cooking (and other uses but frying is the worse offender)
SiempreViernes 6y ago
For completeness, I checked them all and the score is: * Rat * Rat * actually about cooking _in_ canola oil * about switching _any_ vegetable oil to _less_ olive oil * Rat * actually about a different oil with quite different content of the active acid being trialled * Rat * Rat (Oh, and the article is written by a SEO marketer)
- rattray 6y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24090817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24090817 points out that rats, rather uniquely, cannot process erucic acid (part of canola oil) and the rat studies likely do not apply to most other mammals (including humans).
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- airstrike 6y ago
  At this point, we should all just flag this article til it's gone. It's FUD
war1025 6y ago
> obesity in transgenic mice. I definitely read this as "obesity in transgender mice" the first couple times and was seriously wondering if that was actually a thing.

by twanvl 6y ago

lambdaba 6y ago

I'm curious of your actual hunch, are you actually skeptical that canola (and other industrial seed oils) are not harmful?), or just pointing something out about the evidence?

cinntaile 6y ago
I read it as twanvl pointing out that there is a lack of evidence to support the article's claims.

vanilla-almond 6y ago

I would be interested to know if these studies refer to low quality vegetable oils using a chemical process to extract oil. For example, in the UK, supermarkets sell cold-pressed rapeseed oil (canola oil in the US). The cold-press process is sold as making rapeseed oil as relatively healthy cooking oil. Does cold-pressing rapeseed/canola seed turn it into a relatively healthy cooking oil (vs the expeller-pressed or chemical extraction process)?

lambdaba 6y ago
The problem is the fats in those oils are very susceptible to oxidation and have low smoke points, they are never safe as cooking oils for this reason. For cooking the best options outside of animal fats are olive oil and coconut oil, but of course olive oil is most versatile and better tasting imo.
- shin_lao 6y ago
  Avocado oil is much better than olive oil, which has a low boiling point.
  - lambdaba 6y ago
    It's probably equivalent but the taste doesn't go with most foods, also it goes bad much easier which again suggests less stability.
    - microcolonel 6y ago
      If you're concerned about the taste of Avocado oil you may have just had poor quality oil. I've had some bad experiences, but the one from Chosen Foods (we have it at Costco in Ontario) is a very neutral oil with a high smoke point.
- Jolter 6y ago
  I don’t know where you’re getting this from. I use canola oil when pan-frying food and it stands heat better then most olive oils. The cold-pressed variety tastes like shit though (well, actually it tastes like canola which has a kale-like flavor that I find unappealing). The refined canola oil is perfect for frying.
  - Reason077 6y ago
    Right, I think what he's saying is that you shouldn't use cold-pressed oils for cooking/frying. Cheaper refined oils are better for this purpose. Keep the fancy cold-pressed oils for salads, dipping, drizzling, etc. Refined olive oil does have a slightly higher smoke point than refined canola/rapeseed oil, but for most home cooking purposes it's probably within the margin of error. Something like refined sunflower oil or refined avocado oil has a higher smoke point still.
  - lambdaba 6y ago
    Quoting this study https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf (note: I get an error opening the PDF) > Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) yielded low levels of polar compounds and oxidative by-products, in contrast to the high levels of by-products generated for oils such as canola oil. But I formed my position from many other points, the degradation in public health in the USA has tracked perfectly with the switch from animal fats to seed oils for cooking (and other uses but frying is the worse offender)

SiempreViernes 6y ago

For completeness, I checked them all and the score is: * Rat * Rat * actually about cooking _in_ canola oil * about switching _any_ vegetable oil to _less_ olive oil * Rat * actually about a different oil with quite different content of the active acid being trialled * Rat * Rat (Oh, and the article is written by a SEO marketer)

rattray 6y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24090817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24090817 points out that rats, rather uniquely, cannot process erucic acid (part of canola oil) and the rat studies likely do not apply to most other mammals (including humans).
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
airstrike 6y ago
At this point, we should all just flag this article til it's gone. It's FUD

war1025 6y ago

> obesity in transgenic mice. I definitely read this as "obesity in transgender mice" the first couple times and was seriously wondering if that was actually a thing.