Canola Oil
According to Lisa Richards, nutritionist and author of The Candida Diet, the process required to make some oils is the primary cause of many of the health issues they can create.
"Canola oil is among the worst cooking oils, which is unfortunate considering it is a popular oil that is thought to be healthy-but on closer inspection into how it is made, we see otherwise," she explains.
Got it! So how is it made, and why is that problematic for your health?
"Canola oil is created by making crude oil, which has been heat extracted from rapeseed," Lisa continues. "It is then refined, bleached and deodorized. This high heat, multiple step processing causes the oil to become tainted, which then requires further need for purification."
Furthermore, this purification utilizes industrial carcinogens like hexane and bleaches to reach the final product that we drizzle on our food.
As Lisa outlines, there is a misconception that because canola oil is made from omega-3 fats it is healthy, but these fats are fragile and denatured through heat processing. "This whole process is called refining, and refined oils are largely unhealthy," she adds.
Of all vegetable oils, canola oil tends to have the least amount of saturated fats, but its highly processed nature means fewer nutrients overall. It's also one of the food processing industry's go-to oils, so if you're looking to drop a few pounds, it can be a good idea to double check nutrition labels before purchasing popular items like chips and salad dressings. (You'll be surprised to find that canola oil is everywhere!)
That said, it is possible to find healthier alternatives like "cold-pressed" or unprocessed canola oil-but you may have to embark on a little bit of a treasure hunt to find them.
Other great choices for your health include oils like avocado oil and extra-virgin olive oil.