The Hemp Connection:
canola oil

I was recently asked by a colleague, what I thought about various popular cooking oils…in particular, grapeseed, flaxseed, canola, and pumpkin seed oil. Here is a summary.

First of all, all of these oils are oils, and their caloric content is roughly similar, about 50 calories per teaspoon. You will not save calories by choosing a particular oil, and there is no oil you can eat limitless quantities of without the caloric content eventually catching up with you.

Secondly, as far as omega-3 content, any vegetable oil containing omega-3 fatty acids contains ALA, NOT the EPA and DHA found in seafood. Even though some ALA can be converted to DHA, it does not occur in quantities needed to therapeutically treat PCOS, or to maintain the integrity of brain structure in the general population. The reason ALA is important, is that it helps to protect the body from inflammation and when it is consumed in adequate quantities, it allows DHA to do its job. In other words, if all you are doing is taking a few fish oil capsules but not changing your diet, you are not very likely to benefit from the fish oil.

That being said, when you choose oils to cook with, you want to remember that your overall dietary omega 6 to omega 3 ratio should be 10:1 or less, in order to reduce the possibility of insulin resistance. How do these four oils measure up?

I boldfaced the ones I prefer.

Grapeseed oil 696 to 1
Yikes!

Flaxseed oil 0.238 to 1
Now you know why we love flaxseed so much around here. Here is some information on some flaxseed oils you can cook with that you might find interesting.

Canola oil 2 to 1
Whether or not you want to include canola oil in your diet is part of your own food religion. If it fits for you, know its ratio is excellent. If it does not, you may want to investigate the flaxseed oil option listed above.

Pumpkin seed oil 3 to 1
Not bad!

Lard 10 to 1
This surprised me. It also made me feel better about my love of tamales.: )

Butter 8.6 to 1
Even better than lard!

Margarine, stick 11.4 to 1
Don't go there.

Margarine, tub 4.8 to 1
The only problem here is that in order to make a liquid oil solid…it has to be turned into trans fat. Wrong kind of omega-6 oil.

While I was at Walmart today looking for vinegar, I ran across a new product that is perfect for PCOS! Crisco's Puritan brand has released a canola oil with algal DHA. What that is, is regular canola oil blended with marine algae omega-3's.

If you regularly read this blog, you know the"S" and"C" rule about oils; avoid, as much as possible, (with the exception of canola), oils beginning with the letters"S" and"C". For most women, that translates into cooking primarily with olive and canola oils. This new canola also has those hard-to-find marine oils, in the form of marine algae oil.

One tablespoon of this oil contains 32 mg of DHA. Fat is still fat, and you should still moderae fat intake…so this is really not a practical way to get all of your omega-3's. But, if you make simple switches and add a little DHA where before there was none, you can effect big changes. This oil could be used in waffles, muffins, salad dressings…wherever you were using any other kind of vegetable oil.

I especially love that I found this product at Walmart…meaning you don't have to have a lot of money to buy health-promoting foods or take care of yourself.

I can tell by looking at this blog's visitation statistics that a very high percentage of its visitors are looking for help with an immediate problem that has"hit them where it hurts", so to speak. You may have acne. Or want a child. Or be looking for a successful weight loss plan.

The fact is, however, that sitting in my seat, it is equally important to offer insight and solutions for those problems as it is to educate about the big picture.

The fact is, 10% of women with PCOS will be diabetic by age 40.

The fact is, PCOS increases your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

And…since diabetes is increasingly being associated with Alzheimer's disease, the fact is, you may end up being at risk for that as well if you're on this blog looking for help with your acne.

Fortunately, you don't have to do one thing for your fertility, another for your acne, and another to prevent Alzheimer's. All the suggestions you see here work to help all organ systems function better.

And the fact is, there is a whole lot you can do to decrease your risk of having any of the problems mentioned above.

The fact is, you can't decrease your risk if you don't take action. That part of the solution is totally in your control.

In this particular study, the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)concentrations in fat tissue were evaluated in 1819 people. (ALA is a type of omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseed, flaxseed oil, soybeans, canola oil, and nuts, to name a few.)

Individuals with higher levels of ALA had a lower risk of heart attack.

The fact is…if you cook more often with canola oil, eat more nuts, put some edamame on your next salad, and/or add some ground flaxseed to your next bowl of oatmeal, you just might experience the same benefits as the people in this study.

If it can't hurt and it might help, there doesn't seem to be a reason not to try at least one of those things!

Campos H, Baylin A, Willett WC. Alpha-linolenic acid and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2008 Jul 22;118(4):339-45. Epub 2008 Jul 7.

Anyone who has been to a Whole Foods class knows how much I hate what I call the"crunchy aisle"--the place where chips and snacks are located. That's because even in a place like Whole Foods, the oils used in these snacks are the kind we're trying to discourage. Those dreaded"S" and"C" oils.

There's a company in Phoenix that has slowly building a following through Whole Foods, AJ's, and the local farmer's markets that deserves attention. If you're in Phoenix, I encourage you to try them…perhaps if we can help them succeed here, they can offer their good stuff in other markets where we're promoting inCYST!

Dr. Hummus is a brand of hummous that is tahini-free. Meaning it is sesame-oil free. The owner of this company has done this primarily for people with food allergies, but it turns out this helps make its fatty acid balance more in line with what inCYST encourages.

Secondly, the good mediterranean doctor has created a line of pita chips fried in canola oil. Not safflower, sunflower, soybean, or any of the other oils that always cause me to put other crunchy possibilities on the shelf. But canola oil! Again, this was done not for any"healthy" reason, but because in testing all the other oils, the product that ended up having the most acceptable flavor…ended up being the one with one of the healthier oils.

Which has been inCYST's argument all along! When you eat good food, it is often healthier food.

One caveat, even healthy oils can be detrimental in large quantities. A serving size of Dr. Hummus chips is still 10 chips, not the entire container.

If you're in Arizona and you're looking for a great snack, or even lunch, consider Dr. Hummus. If you're not in Arizona, the ingredient guidelines you read here can be applied to your own local hummous maker. There are many brands and flavors that can, as we can attest to here in the desert, make your eating adventure fun as well as healthy.

This blog post is a guest post written by inCYST Network member Christine Marquette, RD, LD, CLT, HFS. Chris is especially well-informed about healthy eating for vegetarians with PCOS.

Chris has just finished writing three great e-books about PCOS: (1) The Quick Start Guide to PCOS, (2) The Nutrition Guide to PCOS, and (3) The Supplement Guide to PCOS, which you can get for a 20% discount with the code INCYST20 at checkout.

Chris' private practice is located in Austin, TX. If you're farther away, you can keep up with her at her blog and on Twitter, at @ChrisMarquette, and on her Facebook fan page.

The Truth About Canola Oil

By Christine E. Marquette

Have you read somewhere on the internet, or better yet, gotten an email from a friend, that says canola oil is not healthy, and worse, is down right dangerous? I’ve gotten these emails myself, and have seen some of the websites disparaging canola oil. In an effort to set the record straight, I first looked up the nutritional profile of canola oil on the USDA’s Nutrient Data Library, and compared it to Olive Oil. Keep in mind that virtually every website that provides nutrient analysis information gets their data from this website.

What I found was that canola oil contains about 1 gram (g) of saturated fat, 8.86 g of monounsaturated fat, and 3.94 total grams of polyunsaturated fat per tablespoon.1 The polyunsaturated fat includes 1.28 g of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA omega 3) and 2.6 g of omega 6 fatty acids. Olive oil contains 1.86 g of saturated fat, 9.85 g of monounsaturated fat, and 1.42 total g of polyunsaturated fat per tablespoon.1 The total polyunsaturated fat includes 1.32 g of linoleic fat and 0.103 g of linolenic fat; it does not contain any ALA omega 3 fatty acids (or EPA or DHA omega 3). As you can see, canola oil actually has more omega 3 fatty acids in the form of alpha-linolenic acid than olive oil. This is one positive regarding canola oil.

But a lot of the fear mongers will say that even if this is true, canola oil has high levels of erucic acid, which is dangerous. Originally canola oil did come from the rapeseed plant, which is a member of the mustard family, and did have high levels of erucic acid, but newer “breeds” of rapeseed plant used to make canola oil now have very low levels of erucic acid.2 I did not find any studies showing that the level of erucic acid in canola today causes any health problems.

Others will go on to say that even if the erucic acids are low, it is still bad for you because the polyunsaturated fats in it are unstable and can become inflammatory. If canola oil was truly inflammatory, the various clinical studies on canola oil would have shown it. Instead, there have been several studies in humans showing canola oil “produces hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and antithrombotic effects,” which means it is indeed heart healthy. 3, 4

I did not find a single scientific study that showed any detrimental effects on humans from conventional canola oil. It is true that 80% of canola oil in North American is genetically modified to make it resistant to herbicides, which has not had an effect on its fatty acid profile. 5 There have also been some websites claiming that it has been banned in Europe. I have not found this to be the case either. It is true that in Europe there is a ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), so canola oil produced there comes from non-GMO rapeseed plants and is called “oil seed rape” rather than canola oil, but as far as its nutrient profile (percentage of omega 3s, monounsaturated fats, etc.) it is the same as conventional canola oil produced in North America.6

I can understand the fear in using GMOs, as some studies have shown certain foods that have undergone this process have gone on to cause problems in rats. The exact effect in humans is still under investigation. To allay that fear, I would suggest sticking with organic, non-GMO canola oil. Also make sure that no matter what type of oil you choose, if it is unrefined, avoid cooking at temperatures higher than about 355 F as high heat can cause chemicals to be released from unrefined oils that may increase the risk of cancer.7,8

1 USDA Agricultural Research Service Nutrient Data Laboratory/USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference; accessed online June 16, 2011 at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

2 Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. Accessed online June 15, 2011 at http://dictionary.infoplease.com/canola

3 Indu M and Ghafoorunissa. N-3 Fatty acids in Indian Diets – Comparison of the effects of precursor (alpha-linolenic acid) Vs product (long chaing n-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids). Nutrition Research, Vol 12 Issues 4-5 April-May 1992, pp. 569-582.

4 Ghafoorunissa. Fats in Indian diets and their nutritional and health implications. Lipids. 1996 Mar;31 Suppl:S287-91.

5 Canola Quick Facts: Why Growers Choose GM Canola. Accessed online June 17, 2011 at http://web.archive.org/web/20071026034326/http://www.canola-council.org/facts_gmo.html

6 Canola Oil: The Myths Debunked. Accessed online June 17, 2011 at http://www.canolacouncil.org/canola_oil_the_truth.aspx

7 Canola Oil. Accessed online June 15, 2011 at http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp

8 Is Canola Oil Hazardous to Your Health? Accessed online June 16, 2011 at http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blcanola3.htm

Used with permission. Copyright  2011 Christine E. Marquette

When I ran across this research study, it immediately brought to mind most women I know with PCOS--because they focus so much on restrictive eating as a way to improve their condition. Women with PCOS that has not yet been diagnosed often develop eating disorders as a way to manage it. If their eating disorder is anorexia or bulimia, it encompasses deprivation. And it often bounces back into binge eating disorder when the PCOS wrangles control back in its direction.

And if you've tended to lean toward the binge eating direction, you've likely been advised to lose weight. And much of the advice you have been provided for how to do this, even by licensed health care providers, has been about eliminating--calories, carbohydrates, even entire food groups. Most of what I see on Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups, where women with PCOS are talking about what they're eating, it's about extreme programs and denial.

It seems to be especially prevalent in women who are trying to conceive. So when I saw this study, I wanted to share it.

This is a study done on cows, but I believe there is a good takeaway lesson. So bear with me.

Seventy-two pregnant cows, about a month before their due dates, were assigned to 6 different dietary regimens:

Ad lib eating with canola-supplemented feed Ad lib eating with linola-supplemented feed Ad lib eating with flax-supplemented feed
24% calorie restriction with 8% canola-supplemented feed 24% calorie restriction with 8% linola-supplemented feed 24% calorie restriction with 8% flax-supplemented feed (Linola is a low omega-3 form of flax often fed to cattle)

After the calves were born to these cows, they were fed the same non-supplemented lactation diet.

From one week after birth, the cows underwent reproductive ultrasounds twice a week until they again ovulated. Here are the very interesting findings (I discuss them below).

1. Cows fed without caloric restriction had higher body weights before delivery, but after delivery, they had fewer ovarian cysts.
2. These cows, regardless of what kind of fat they were given, did have a higher incidence of uterine infections.
3. Regardless of diet treatment, the time it took for the uterus to return to its normal size did not differ.
4. It took longer for cows to ovulate after giving birth if they were fed canola oil, regardless of calorie level eaten, than it did if they were fed linola or flaxseed oil.
5. A greater percentage of cows whose diets were not restricted during their first pregnancy were able to conceive a second time with the first round of artificial insemination.

OK, the obvious omission in this study is the overfed cow. But cows are not natural binge eaters so it's understandable why this condition was not included in this study. But…what this study really highlights, is that restricting calories is not really the best fertility-friendly strategy. (The degree of restriction was actually far less in these cows than what many of our inCYST fans impose on themselves. It was the equivalent of a 1350 calorie diet for someone who would normally need 1800 calories to maintain their ideal weight.)

Secondly, even though we do talk about using canola oil because it has a nice omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, continuing to eat your favorite fried foods and using a"healthy" fat may not really be a productive strategy. You will help yourself most if you learn to eat foods that are not too high in fat.

Bottom line, it's not about the quantity of calories, it's more about the quality. It's not about extremes, it's about balance.

If you're having a hard time with balance, let us help you!

Colazo MG, Hayirli A, Doepel L, Ambrose DJ. Reproductive performance of dairy cows is influenced by prepartum feed restriction and dietary fatty acid source. J Dairy Sci. 2009 Jun;92(6):2562-71.

Last night I settled in to watch the evening news, in time to see an ad for Country Crock's Omega 3 Plus brand margarine. With my reputation as somewhat of an"omega 3 queen," I figured I'd better pay attention. And by the time the ad was over, I knew I had today's post.

This label is a perfect example of why consumers are confused, and why they can have a hard time achieving the benefits of good nutritional choices.

First, the good news.

The margarine has no trans fats, because it contains no hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. For fertility, this is a huge plus--with as little as 2% of your total calories per day coming from trans fats (about 2/3 tsp for the average woman), fertility can drop by as much as 73%.

Secondly, one serving provides 500 mg of omega-3's in the form of ALA.

Now for the confusing and potentially detrimental news.

When the professionals on this blog talk about what we're doing to enhance fertility and reduce inflammation, and we refer to omega-3's, we are primarily referring to EPA and DHA, the omega-3's that, except for omega-3 eggs and foods supplemented with algal DHA, contain either fish or fish oil. (Menhaden oil, which is what is found in Smart Balance Omega 3 Margarine, is a type of fish oil.)

Any other type of omega-3 is likely to be ALA. This type of omega-3 is found in canola oil, and flaxseed oil, among other things. In this margarine, the ALA source is canola oil.

But there is no fish oil or marine algae to provide a similar nutritional feature.

There are some things that flax and canola can do, and there are some that flax and canola simply cannot do.

Many people, nutritionists included, operate on the assumption that since the omega-3 found in canola and flax can be converted into EPA and DHA, that you can get enough of the latter two without having to eat fish. Most respected omega-3 chemists will tell you this is highly unlikely.

On a good day, when your diet is as perfect as it can possibly be (which, even in the case of the person writing this post is never), only about 2-3% of your flax and canola can be converted into the other omega-3's.

Bottom line, it's pretty non-negotiable, you are highly unlikely to get the amount of omega-3's your body needs, especially if you are trying to conceive, if you are assuming you can do it without fish.

Secondly, the primary oil in the margarine appears to be liquid soybean oil. Remember the rule about"S" and"C" oils? Soybean is one of those"S" oils with a tendency to be pro-inflammatory. It was impossible to tell from the label what the ratio of soybean to canola oil was, and I would suspect that it was higher than you're going to want if you're trying to choose fertility-friendly foods.

I immediately became suspicious about this Country Crock product when I went to the website and nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, could I find a plainly stated ingredient list. Sure, there's a label to look at, but it's strategically posted in a way that all the nutritional information is there except for the ingredients. Hmmmm…

…so I went to the FAQ section. Couldn't find it there either. I found a lot of long-winded explanations of trans-fat labeling, and that was my second red flag.

Since I had to go to the grocery store anyway, I stopped in and looked at the label. Here, for the benefit of the rest of the people on the Internet, is the list of ingredients from the side of the container of this product:

Vegetable oil blend (liquid soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, water, whey, salt, vegetable mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin (potassium sorbate, calcium disodium EDTA), citric acid, artificial flavor, vitamin A (palmitate), and beta carotene.

For more information on healthy fats, go to http://www.zingbars.com/science-of-zing.html, where my Zing Bar friends describe why they did--and didn't--include certain fats in their new product.

Any fat that is going to be solid at room temperature is going to have to have some saturated fat in its formula. Otherwise, it would melt. So even though the total saturated fat content is low, the type of fat being used to provide the solid quality is not one you want to get much of in your diet.

I'm not really a butter or margarine person so giving those up was not an issue for me. But I did start my career in the Chicago area, and I remember how people used to look at me like I was purple-polka-dotted if I even hinted that dairy intake might need to be adjusted. So I know it's an issue for some of you.

Bottom line--if you choose to use the product, do so only once in awhile and sparingly. I'd rather see people use olive oil-based dipping sauces for breads and cook with either canola or olive oil.

If you're interested in learning more, the authors of the study below also wrote a recently released book in plain English entitled, The Fertility Diet. I'd check it out.

Chavarro JE, Rich-Edwards JW, Rosner BA, Willett WC. Diet and lifestyle in the prevention of ovulatory disorder infertility. Obstet Gynecol. 2007 Nov;110(5):1050-8.

It's spring and I'm excited about the shift in available vegetables. Making a salad the other night got me thinking about salad dressing.

A couple of years ago I was telling a neighbor about my"S and C" rule--that is, stay away from oils, except for canola, that begin with the letters"S" and"C". I say that because these oils are all predominantly from the omega-6 family, and the problem with our diet is that we get way too much omega-6 fat in proportion to omega-3 fats.

This neighbor is diabetic and was asking me for some help with his food choices. So on my next trip to the grocery store, I stopped by the salad dressing aisle to make a list of available brands that followed my rule. I found about 2.

It occurred to me that this could be a really important piece of the puzzle for people who don't really eat much fat, and who think they're eating healthy foods, but still have trouble losing weight or getting relief from inflammatory symptoms.

The key is the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. That means the less fat you eat, the less deviation from the"S" and"C" rule it takes to push you in the wrong direction. In other words, restrict your fat all day long then have a salad with the wrong oil, and you've overdone it for the day.

You have to be really careful with labels. A few weeks ago I was pulling samples off the shelves at Whole Foods for a class, and I stopped at the salad dressing section to get some examples. I couldn't believe it--Paul Newman's olive oil dressing listed soybean oil as the primary ingredient. I have no idea how he gets away with that…but I'm guessing that most people who he's branded his products with assume that since he's doing good works with his profits, that the foods are also healthy. We tend to make huge leaps of logic like that.

A few years ago I stopped buying salad dressings altogether. I make my own vinaigrettes. They're really quite simple, you need only a few basic ingredients, and you take the power back. Google"vinaigrette recipe" and you'll find a gazillion options. Yup. A gazillion. I counted each and every one.

If you really aren't into kitchen chemistry, please do read labels. If what is in your hand is not primarily olive oil or canola based…it's not something that should go into your grocery basket, your kitchen cabinet…or YOU.