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Canola Oil Nutrition Facts

Canola Oil Nutrition Facts
Canola oil is produced by extracting oil from genetically modified rapeseeds, referred to as canola. Canola was created by Canadian scientists who modified rapeseed to reduce the undesirable compounds in it that made it unhealthy for human consumption. Modification reduced the erucic acid and glucosinolates to an acceptable level and canola oil became widely available in grocery stores. Canola oil can be extracted from canola via cold-pressing methods, which are healthier, or through hexane extraction, which is less healthy because it uses hexane and heat to extract the oil. Canola oil is high in energy and therefore high in calories, with a high smoke point. Canola has been compared to monounsaturated fatty acids in the Mediterranean diet which is known to be very heart healthy, but its 'healthy' fats may not be as healthy as suggested.
Interesting Canola Oil Nutrition Facts:
When cold pressed canola oil should be free of trans-fats which are very unhealthy for humans. When canola oil is extracted using hexane and heat the fats are often turned into trans-fats, even though this is not mentioned on the label.
Canola oil has the lowest saturated fat of any oil available today for human consumption however saturated fat is not necessarily bad for human health as it was once thought.
Canola oil contains a healthy amount of omega-3 fatty acids. However the omega-3 in canola oil is alpha linoleic acid, which the human body is not good at converting to its usable form of EPA or DHA. This renders the omega-3 benefit useless to humans.
100 grams of canola oil contains 884 calories, which is half of the recommended daily requirement of energy for the average person.
100 grams of canola oil contains 500% of the recommended daily requirement of fat for the average person.
100 grams of canola oil contains 59% of the recommended daily vitamin K requirement for the average person and 182% of the recommended vitamin E.
Canola oil is void of electrolytes, minerals, most vitamins, and contains zero carbohydrates.
Canola oil has a high smoke point, which makes it more ideal for cooking at high temperatures.
Canola oil is named after the country it was created in - Canada, and the product that it becomes - ola (meaning oil). Together these words can and ola make up the word canola.
Like any vegetable oil canola oil can be used as a pesticide because it can smother insects, a biofuel, lubricant, and to make soap, plastic, and even ink used for printing. It can also be used to make cosmetics.
High-oleic canola oil is often used for a substitute for partially hydrogenated oils which are known to be unhealthy.
In North America a high percentage of canola oil is from genetically modified plants. Organic canola oil must be from a non-genetically modified plant. In Europe canola oil must be non-genetically modified.
The hexane used in most canola oil extraction processes is not always removed from the oil when sold and consumed. Hexane also has shown to have toxic effects on the environment. To avoid hexane it is important to buy canola oil that has been cold pressed and expeller pressed.


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