Blog Categories

Popular

Is Canola Oil Bad for You?

Disclaimer

As the debate over seed oils heats up, many people are still scratching their heads about canola oil.

GET RESULTS IN 30 DAYS

Join 90k+ people who are losing weight with Keto Kickstart, our doctor-developed program designed to give you real weight loss results.

Although more and more people are realizing that oils such as soybean oil and corn oil aren’t the healthiest options, canola oil — despite its similarities to these seed oils — often gets a pass because it’s “heart healthy.”

Still, there are many potential health concerns of canola oil that it’s important to be aware of.

What is Canola Oil?

Canola oil, also known as rapeseed oil, is a cooking oil made from the seeds of the rapeseed plant, a flowering plant in the Brassica family.

It’s an extremely popular cooking oil choice in the United States and around the world, thanks to its neutral taste profile, high smoke point (which makes it ideal for frying foods), and low cost.

However, it’s not an easy or straightforward process to extract oil from rapeseed and make it edible.

How is Canola Oil Made?

Canola oil must undergo intensive industrial processing to become a clear, tasteless oil that’s appropriate for cooking.

First, the oil must be extracted from the seed. This can be accomplished through physical pressing of the seed, although this isn’t very efficient. Usually, a chemical process involving hexane is used to help extract the oil (*).

However, the resulting crude oil is cloudy, dark, and strong-smelling. There are still many more steps to make it ready to be bottled and sold. These include (*):

  • Degumming: removes phospholipids and gums
  • Neutralizing: removes other compounds such as chlorophyll, metals, and free fatty acids
  • Washing and drying: removes soaps and water
  • Bleaching: removes pigment-containing compounds to give the oil a uniform, light color
  • Dewaxing/winterization: removes waxes, allowing the oil to remain fluid in cold temperatures
  • Deodorizing: eliminates odor-causing volatile compounds
seed oil processing

Canola Oil Nutrition

One tablespoon of canola oil contains (*):

  • Calories: 124
  • Fat: 14 grams
  • Protein: 0 grams
  • Carbs: 0 grams

This is in line with most other fats and oils, all of which provide roughly 120 calories per tablespoon — all from fat.

Is Canola Oil Bad for You?

Canola oil is probably not the best cooking oil for optimal health.

There are a number of concerns with canola oil and other highly-processed seed oils.

We will dive deeper into these concerns below, but they include the fact that canola oil is highly processed, rich in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats, and unstable — all of which could lead to worse health outcomes.

Is Canola Oil Heart Healthy?

Canola oil has a “heart healthy” reputation because it’s low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat.

However, it’s really important to understand that the idea of saturated fat causing heart disease is an outdated concept.

Research shows that saturated fat, which mostly occurs in natural sources like beef, pork, and coconut, has no link to heart disease (*).

Still, this belief persists among the general public, and even among some healthcare professionals.

GET RESULTS IN 30 DAYS

Join 90k+ people who are losing weight with Keto Kickstart, our doctor-developed program designed to give you real weight loss results.

However, it’s very important to understand that “low in saturated fat” does not equal “heart healthy.”

Additionally, there are other monounsaturated fat-rich oils, like olive oil and avocado oil, that don’t have the same health risks as canola oil and that also offer heart health benefits (*, *).

Canola Oil Health Risks

Here are the major concerns with canola oil and its potential health risks.

Genetically Modified

The vast majority of canola oil is made with genetically modified rapeseed. While there is a lot of ongoing debate about the potential risks of genetic modification itself, one of the major problems with GMO crops is that they’re sprayed with large amounts of pesticides.

Some of these pesticides, like glyphosate, are known toxins and potential cancer-causing agents. These pesticide residues also persist even in refined oils (*, *).

Highly Processed

Additionally, canola oil and other seed oils are highly processed. Highly processed foods in general have been linked to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression, high blood pressure, and several other health conditions (*).

Because there are other, less processed alternatives available, canola oil may not be the best choice due to its degree of processing.

Unstable and Oxidizes Quickly

Canola oil and other seed oils are rich in polyunsaturated fats. Although some research says that polyunsaturated fats can be helpful for heart health, they may not be ideal. Unlike saturated fats, which are fully saturated with hydrogen and therefore very stable, and monounsaturated fats, which are mostly saturated with the exception of one carbon-carbon double bond, polyunsaturated fats contain multiple double bonds — representing multiple points of instability (*, *).

This makes these oils especially fragile, and can lead to the build-up free radicals and other harmful compounds when the oil is heated. When the oil is heated and cooled repeatedly, such as in restaurants that serve fried food, this problem is compounded. Large quantities of these compounds can lead to oxidative stress, which causes damage to the body at a cellular level and could contribute to chronic health problems such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease (*, *, *).

High in Omega-6 Fats

Finally, canola oil and other seed oils are rich in omega-6 fats. We need a specific ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fats for optimal health, but right now — mostly because of these oils — we are consuming larger quantities of omega-6 than ever before (*).

This imbalance promotes inflammation, which is a driver of several chronic health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive decline (*, *).

Canola Oil Alternatives

Fortunately, there are a number of healthier fats and oils for cooking. Some of the best include:

  • Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil doesn’t require the same amount of extensive processing that seed oils do. Additionally, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats that have been linked to better heart and overall health (*, *).
  • Avocado oil: Likewise, avocado oil requires minimal processing compared to other oils. It’s also a rich source of monounsaturated fats (*).
  • Coconut oil: Coconut oil is unique in that it is a plant-based source of saturated fat, making it a very stable oil to use for cooking.
  • Butter and ghee: Butter and ghee (clarified butter) are excellent choices. They are rich in saturated fat from dairy.
  • Animal fats: Finally, animal fats — such as tallow, lard, bacon grease, and duck fat — are some of the best choices for cooking. They are very minimally processed and extremely stable thanks to their high saturated fat content. However, they tend to be the most expensive.

Remember, you can make the switch slowly — you don’t have to remove all canola oil and other seed oils from your diet at one time.

As you run out, you can gradually replace less-healthy cooking oils (or foods made with these less-healthy cooking oils) with healthier alternatives.

The Bottom Line

Canola oil is a highly-refined seed oil, much like corn oil and soybean oil. However, although many people are starting to understand the downsides of many of these seed oils, canola oil is still considered healthy by many.

This is because it’s low in saturated fat and richer in monounsaturated fat than other seed oils. However, it still has a number of potential health risks. Additionally, saturated fat intake is not related to heart health.

GET RESULTS IN 30 DAYS

Join 90k+ people who are losing weight with Keto Kickstart, our doctor-developed program designed to give you real weight loss results.

Overall, it’s best for optimal health to eliminate canola oil and other seed oils from your diet as much as possible. Still, you don’t have to tackle this momentous task all at once — slow and steady improvements are still improvements.

20 References

Saleem M et al. Characterization of canola oil extracted by different methods using fluorescence spectroscopy. 2018 December 17

Said G Refining Vegetable Oils: Chemical and Physical Refining. 2022 January 11

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Oil, canola. 2018 April

Reimara V et al. Saturated fat: villain and bogeyman in the development of cardiovascular disease? 2022 Dec 21

Marta G et al. Olive Oil Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk in U.S. Adults. 2020 March 5

Mark L et al. Hass avocado composition and potential health effects. 2013

Cindy P et al. The impact and toxicity of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on health and immunity. 2020 December

Jing H et al. Determination of 197 pesticide residues in edible vegetable oil by gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. 2021 November

Melissa M et al. Ultraprocessed food and chronic noncommunicable diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 43 observational studies. 2021 March

Samantha A et al. Challenges of Utilizing Healthy Fats in Foods. 2015 May 7

Zoltan S et al. Effects of Repeated Heating on Fatty Acid Composition of Plant-Based Cooking Oils. 2022 January 12

Zoltan S et al. Effects of Repeated Heating on Fatty Acid Composition of Plant-Based Cooking Oils. 2022 January 12

Kumar G et al. Impact of consumption of repeatedly heated cooking oils on the incidence of various cancers- A critical review. 2017 October 20

Rekhadevi P et al. Evaluation of the deleterious health effects of consumption of repeatedly heated vegetable oil. 2016 August 16

James J et al. The Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio for Reducing the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases, Asthma, and Allergies. 2021

James J et al. The Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio for Reducing the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases, Asthma, and Allergies. 2021

David F et al. Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. 2019 December

Dimitrios B et al. Olive Oil: Processing Characterization, and Health Benefits. 2020 Nov 6

Monika G et al. Potential Health Benefits of Olive Oil and Plant Polyphenols. 2018 February 28

Marcos F et al. Avocado Oil: Characteristics, Properties, and Applications. 2019 June 10

824 Shares

Join the Internet's largest keto newsletter

We'll send you articles, product guides, and exclusive offers customized to your goals.