There is the
usual slather of inference here which is unfortunate. The real take home is that our best oils are
processed to death which seriously lowers their value. The only reason olive oil gets a pass is
because it is not processed this way.
Since Canola oil actually matches olive oil in its blend, it follows
that the answer is to start producing high quality canola. This has been done locally with real success.
It all boils down
to marketing fresh crushed oil with a meaningful due date after which rancidity
can be expected to kick in.
Refrigeration can extend canola while olive oil goes semi solid.
It is
reasonable that the asthma effect is caused by the effects of industrial
processing. That needs to be retired.
Study
Shows Processed Oils Including Canola, Soybean and Corn Oil Can Cause Lung
Disease & Asthma
May 23, 2014 |
Natasha Longo,
We now know that an increase in asthma
coincides with a switch from butter to certain oil-based diets. A large new
Northwestern Medicine study ties the increasing consumption of
supposedly healthy vitamin rich oils — canola, soybean and corn — to the rising
incidence of lung inflammation and asthma. All three oils coincidentally
come from genetically modified sources.
The new study shows drastically different
health effects of soybean, corn and canola oils in comparison to olive oil, the latter which can actually improve lung
function.
Asthma is a chronic, lung condition that
narrows the airways, according to the National Heart Lung and
Blood Institute. The disease
causes chest tightening, wheezing and coughing. In the U.S., about 25 million
people suffer from asthma, of which at least 7 million are children.
“Considering the rate of affected people we
found in this study, there could be 4.5 million individuals in the U.S. with
reduced lung function as a result…” said senior author Joan Cook-Mills, an
associate professo of medicine in allergy/immunology at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine.
Cook-Mills presented her research in May at
the Oxidants and Antioxidants in Biology World Congress. It was also published in the journal Respiratory Research.
Rates of asthma in the U.S. have been
climbing in the last 40 years, coinciding with a switch in U.S. diets from lard
and butter to soybean, canola and corn oils, which were thought to be healthier
for the heart. Looking at other countries’ rates of asthma, Cook-Mills said those
with significantly lower rates of asthma have diets high in olive oils.
In the U.S., asthma prevalence (the percentage
of people who have been diagnosed with asthma and still have asthma) was 8.4
percent in 2010, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“People in countries that consume olive and
sunflower oil have the lowest rate of asthma and those that consume soybean,
corn and canola oil have the highest rate of asthma,” Cook-Mills said. “When
people consume alpha-tocopherol, which is rich in olive oil and sunflower oil,
their lung function is better.”
The study examined 4,526 individuals from
the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA).
“A 10 percent reduction in lung function is
like an asthmatic condition,” Cook-Mills said. “People have more trouble
breathing. They take in less air, and it’s harder to expel. Their lungs have
reduced capacity.”
Processing of Canola Is One of The Most
Toxic
Not only are canola, soybean and corn
oil now coming from
genetically modified crops, but their processing is beyond toxic to human
metabolism.
Modern oil processing is a different thing
entirely from the early days of processing more simple oils like olive and
butter.
Modern oils are removed by a combination of
high temperature mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. Traces of the
solvent (usually hexane) remain in the oil, even after considerable refining.
Like all modern vegetable oils, canola oil goes through the process of caustic
refining, bleaching and degumming–all of which involve high temperatures or
chemicals of questionable safety. And because canola oil is high in omega-3
fatty acids, which easily become rancid and foul-smelling when subjected to oxygen
and high temperatures, it must be deodorized. The standard deodorization
process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them
into trans fatty acids. Research at the University of Florida at
Gainesville, found trans levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid
oil. The consumer has no clue about the presence of trans fatty acids
in canola oil because they are not listed on the label.
A large portion of canola oil used in
processed food has been hardened through the hydrogenation process, which
introduces levels of trans fatty acids into the final product as high
as 40 percent. In fact, canola oil hydrogenates beautifully, better than corn
oil or soybean oil, because modern hydrogenation methods hydrogenate omega-3 fatty
acids preferentially and canola oil is very high in omega-3s. Higher levels
oftrans mean longer shelf life for processed foods, a crisper texture in
cookies and crackers–and more dangers of chronic disease for the consumer.
Genetically Modified Canola
The first seed oil to be created through
genetic manipulation, canola is also the focus of a variety of genetic
engineering (GMO) projects in which genetic material from other species is
inserted into the seeds in order to magnify certain traits in the resultant plant.
Herbicide-resistant GMO canola now comprises a large portion of the total
canola crop. Apologists point to endorsement by the FDA and the American
Dietetic Association that GMO canola is nutritionally and environmentally safe
and claim that the GMO variety means less spraying of herbicides, less chemical
runoff and a boon to farmers.
Meanwhile, genetic engineers are involved in
projects to make canola oil what they claim will be “even more nutritious,” by
further reducing the amount of saturates in the fatty acid profile and raising
the levels of monounsaturates. They assert that this will make it possible to
reduce the amount of trans fats in the processed oil, presumably because levels
of omega-3 fatty acids, which need to be deodorized, will also be lowered.
Should the genetic engineers be successful, it might be possible to create a
diet in which the vast majority of fatty acids is monounsaturated, something
that does not exist in any traditional diet anywhere in the world.
About the Author
Natasha Longo has a
master’s degree in nutrition and is a certified fitness and nutritional
counselor. She has consulted on public health policy and procurement in Canada,
Australia, Spain, Ireland, England and Germany.
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