Canola Oil Sucks! -Roger Mason

You've been told that canola oil is healthy and good for you, right? You've surely seen articles that tell you how good canola oil is, and what a fine vegetable oil it is for cooking, baking, and salad dressings. When you go into health food stores you see many products that proudly list canola oil on the label. There are $5 jars of mayonnaise made of canola oil. You see canola oil products in all the health food stores. So, you certainly know this is a right choice when it comes to cooking oils. 
 
Wrong!  Canola oil sucks! Like cottonseed oil, or hydrogenated oils, this was never meant for human consumption. Did you ever ask yourself what a "canola" plant is? Or where you find "canola" seeds? Ain't no such thing. This word comes from the contraction of "Canadian oil", and is purely a promotional, made-up name. It actually comes from the seeds of the rapeseed (Latin for rapa or turnip) plant. Canada is the prime producer of rapeseed, and always has been. It was used industrially for a long time. Canola is not even fit for animal feed because of the high erucic acid level. Erucic acid (aka docosenoic acid) is a very toxic plant compound that comprises about 50% of regular rapeseed and mustard oil. This plant was severely genetically engineered over a long period of time to reduce the erucic acid to less than 2%. To be called "canola oil" it must contain less than 2% erucic acid. You're still eating toxic erucic acid! This was never meant by nature for people or animals, and is purely a commercial production for profit. Like cottonseed oil (which is also unfit for humans), the whole motive here is profit. There is even a Canadian canola oil organization to promote the use of it. 
 
Why has the natural food industry embraced and promoted canola oil so heartily? Because most of the people in the natural food industry are a bunch of whores who will do or say anything to separate you from your money. Most all of them know nothing about natural health, and do not eat natural foods themselves. It is purely a business to them. They eat at fast food joints on their way to the bank while slurping down soft drinks. Don't buy canola oil any more. Don't buy products containing canola oil. Read the labels when you buy foods to see if the product has canola oil in it. Go to your favorite search engine and type in "canola oil". You'll see several factual exposes of the dangers of canola oil and why you should not consume it. 
 
If canola oil sucks, what should you use? First of all, do not eat any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils ever. Read your labels, stay out of fast food joints, and stop buying products with hydrogenated oils as they are THE worst of all. Margarine is worse than butter. Repeat that to yourself: MARGARINE IS WORSE THAN BUTTER. There are a few brands of non-hydrogenated margarines such as Smart Balance you can buy instead (aka Earth Balance) as a transition, or for occasional use. 
 
Corn oil is a good choice since it comes from grain. Safflower oil is a good oil for general use as is sunflower oil. Olive oil is good, but extra virgin is pricey, and has a very distinct taste. Olive oil is NOT, "good for you", no matter what you read. The less oil and fat of any kind you eat, the better off you are. Soy oil tastes awful, unless it is so highly refined as to be nutritionless. Peanut oil comes from one of the top ten allergenic foods, and should be avoided. Yes, peanuts are one of the top ten allergenic foods known, and many people have hidden allergies to peanuts. Sesame oil is expensive, and toasted sesame oil is a flavoring. Walnut, avocado, almond, pumpkin seed, and other gourmet oils are very expensive, and are meant for specialty uses such as salad dressings. Surprisingly, palm and coconut oil are not bad for you in moderation. Moderation, not regular use. Coconut oil is certainly not a health food,  despite the ridiculous ads you see touting it's non-existent benefits. Avoid anything that says "vegetable oil", or "vegetable oil blend", as these could be anything! Non-specific "blends" are a mix of some cheap food grade industrial oils like cottonseed.  
 
Take butter out of your diet. Stop buying butter, as it is pure saturated fat that does nothing but clog your arteries and cause strokes, heart attacks and early death. Hydrogenated margarine is even worse than butter.  
 
A diet of whole grains and vegetables gives you all the fats you need. You only need about 6% fat calories, yet Americans eat an amazing 42% fat calories, most of which are saturated animal fats. We eat eight times the fat we need, and the wrong kind of fats. There are no "good oils" or "good fats". The less fats and oils you eat the better. Learn to cook and flavor your food without fat by reading cookbooks on low fat cooking, especially the various Asian styles. Asians in general are masters at flavoring food creatively without the use of oils. The ideal is 10% fat calories and 20% fat calories is the maximum for good health.