Canola & Alzheimer’s, Can A Seed-Based Cooking Oil Cause Pain In The Brain?:
Most of us make an effort to eat healthy, especially if you’re a regular HT visitor.
And except for excess sugar, you would think that if it’s sold at a store, it’s safe.
It usually appears that way. But that might just be for the short-run.
And since diet-studies are notoriously hard to do, it’s very difficult to know about the long-run.
But a recent Temple University test may have you reconsidering much of the processed or low-cost foods you eat, and even the way you cook…
The Surprising Study:
So in their study, Doctor Domenico Praticò and Elisabetta Lauretti looked at 2 groups of test-mice.
One group was fed a normal diet.
The other one was fed a diet that had the human-equivalent of 2 Tablespoons of Canola Oil in it.
The test went from 6 months of age to 1 year old.
After that time, they gave the animals cognitive tests.
And the results showed that the Canola-fed mice had problems with working-memory and weight-gain.
Problems Didn’t Stop With Thinking Tests, They Showed Up In Brain-Cells, Too:
Furthermore, when researchers tested their brain-tissues, the Canola-mice also showed more early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease and fewer of the factors that mitigate it.
NERD ALERT!: Specifically, they had more of the dangerous 1-42 version of Amyloid-Beta proteins and less of the healthy 1-40 version. This roughly approximates some of the conditions present in humans with Alzheimer’s disease.
The animals also showed more of the other indicator of Alzheimers, increased presence of Tau Proteins.
Canola+Alzheimer’s Disease Idea Gets A Backlash:
Now, in-response to this study, there have been several articles out there contradicting it as much as possible.
-And rightly-so.
Because, right now there is no Smoking-Gun that says Canola Oil causes Alzheimer’s disease.
And it also is a little-bit controversial and click-baity to publish a study that makes it look that way.
However,…
There Are Still Many Reasonable Things To Consider (17):
1) The normal ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 Oil intake should be around 2:1 or even 1:1.
2) Americans currently get somewhere around 15:1.
3) Canola oil has a high 6/3 ratio at ~8:1.
4) Americans also get too much Poly-Unsaturated-Fatty-Acid-Oils (or PUFAs) in their diet.
5) Too much PUFA is bad, even Omega 3.
6) Omega 6 Oils are more pro-inflammatory, and are correlated with higher circulatory, brain, liver, heart, and diabetes issues.
7) Because of the way they’re extracted from seeds, using heat and hexane, oils like Canola may go rancid very quickly.
8) All PUFAs are vulnerable to quick-oxidation/going rancid.
9) Canola oil bottles are made of clear-plastic and may also permit light or uv-based degradation.
10) By-contrast, all Extra-Virgin Olive Oil containers are dark or opaque. (same with your bottles of fish-oil)
11) Rancid Omega-6 Oils are associated with even greater amounts of the previous health-problems.
12) Temperature is the #1 factor for causing seed-oils to go rancid, and Canola is primarily used for cooking and deep-fat frying.
13) Rodent-studies can only be discredited so much. They still have functional circulatory-systems and response to inflammatory-compounds.
14) All Omega6-heavy oils have been associated with increased weight-gain compared to equal calorie-intake of other oils.
15) Body-Fat is not inert, does not self-regulate, and the more of it you have, the more inflammatory-compounds it secretes into your system.
16) One of the healthiest diets, especially in populations that live to over 100, is the Mediterranean-Diet, which is much higher in Omega 3 and lower in Omega 6.
16a) If researchers can’t conduct a diet-study because of cost & complexity, they can go watch the people who are already running it on themselves.
17) Don’t necessarily believe the naysayers whole-hog either. Just because they’re saying nay doesn’t make them right. Debunker-fallacy, etc.
The Backlashers Make Good Points:
So, the critics make good points about the potentially-immense, click-baity leap that the researchers could be making in this study; regardless of whether-or-not they were sponsored by The International Olive Oil Chamber Of Commerce.
This is especially-true if the association is mostly due to excess bodyfat or inflammation-alone.
Just-In-Case The Studiers Are Right…:
However, anyone eating a western-style diet could probably improve their health by:
1) Getting MUCH fewer Omega 6s,
2) Getting More Omega 3s,
3) Eating fewer processed-foods, especially the ones built-to-a-price (which may be all of them?…),
4) And Using More (non-rancid) Olive-Oil in their cooking and diet.
If you’re Really fancy, you can even reduce your total PUFA intake after you get your 6/3 ratio back to 2:1, you studmuffins.
Perhaps future research will nail down the causes of Alzheimer’s Disease and let us know if poor-old Canola Oil and other Omega 6 seed-oils really are the culprits; but for now, following the most generally-healthy practices you can is the best you can do.
Photo Credits: “Stop GMO”, by Laurent Renault
Links:
• Source: Temple
• via: Newsweek
• Source Study: Nature,SciRep-Effect of canola oil consumption on memory, synapse and neuropathology in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
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