Stay clear of Canola oil (IHCAN news)
The general understanding of canola oil is that it is a vegetable oil and therefore healthy, right? Think again. A study published last month in the journal 'Scientific Reports' by researchers at Philadelphia's Lewis Katz School of medicine summarised the consumption of rapeseed/canola oil in the diet actually worsens memory, worsens learning ability and causes weight gain in mice which models Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid plaques are seen in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease which contribute to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration and memory loss. The damage was accompanied by a significant decrease in the number of contacts between neurons, indicative of extensive synapse injury which play a central role in memory formation and retrieval. Another research done with extra virgin olive oil produced reduced levels of amyloid plaques and experienced memory improvement. Another surprising result was that the mice fed the canola oil were significantly heavier than the olive oil mice!