subject: Canola Oil- A Heart Smart Oil [print this page] Canola oil is derived from pressed canola seeds also known as oil rapeseeds. Canola seeds and rapeseeds belong to the family of same genus. Canola oil is considered healthy and important for the overall well-being of the body. There is some specific health benefits associated with canola oil. Health experts state that you can effectively reduce your risk of heart disease, which the leading cause of many deaths. Change in lifestyle particularly alteration in diet and lowering your intake of saturated fats as well as increasing the consumption of unsaturated fats or essential fatty acid will definitely help you to prevent yourself from many chronic ailments.
Canola oil is light yellow in color and has neutral tang. Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils. If you are looking to alter your diet by adopting healthy products, then canola which is made up from crushed seeds of canola plant, oil is best option for that. It contains the lowest saturated fat as compare to any other oil. Canola oil is low in saturated fats and considerably high in the unsaturated fats that are considered good for the health. It has only 7% of saturated fats, whereas sunflower has 125 of it, corn oil has 13% and olive oil contains 15% of the saturated fat.
It is a tremendous source of the omega-6 fatty acid, linolenic acid, and it is high in the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) as compared to any other oil generally used. These fats are generally significant in the diet as the human body cannot make them on their own.
According to the scientific research, alpha-linolenic acid present in the canola oil helps to protect the heart by its effect on blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation. Canola oil can be named as heart-smart, as there are enough evidence of canola oil hearts benefits. Canola oil is high in energy; 100 g of oil gives 884 calories. Though, its high ratio of more mono-unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids makes it healthy oil for consumption.
Canola oil is cooking oil with smoke point of 450 degree F. This quality can be made used in setting oil temperature whereas deep-frying food products. Canola oil has quite high-quality lipid portion. It has saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in healthy proportions. Cold pressed oil is one of the constant cookery oil that has very long shelf life.
Canola oil has potential health benefits than any other edible oil. Olive oil is derived from fruits; hence it contains all the quality of plants like it is anti-oxidant, phyto-sterols and vitamins. Canola oil is high in calories, however its calorie content is favorable for the body and comes from better fat. It is particularly loaded with mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) like oleic acid (18:1) which comprise of 61% of whole fats that help out to lesser LDL or "bad cholesterol" and add to HDL or "good cholesterol" in the blood.
The oil includes important sum of anti-oxidant vitamin E, mainly gamma-tocopherol. 100 g fresh oil has 27.34 mcg of a-tocopherol and 17.46 mcg of alpha-tocopherol. Vitamin E is an influential lipid soluble antioxidant, requisite for uphold the reliability of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin by shielding it from dangerous oxygen free radicals.
