Walk down any grocery store aisle or glance at a restaurant menu, and you’ll find canola oil everywhere. It’s in salad dressings, protein bars, frozen meals, sauces, dips, and even many foods labeled “organic” or “heart healthy.” But just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
Canola oil has been marketed as a better alternative to saturated fats because it’s low in saturated fat and contains omega-3s. But here’s the problem: the story behind canola oil’s origin, extraction methods, and biochemical effects tells a very different story—one that raises serious concerns about its role in inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and fat loss resistance.
Let’s break down what canola oil really is, how it’s made, and why it may not belong on your plate.
Where Canola Oil Comes From: The Rapeseed Rebrand
Canola oil wasn’t always called canola. It’s derived from a plant called rapeseed, which is part of the Brassica family, related to mustard, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. In its original form, rapeseed oil contained high levels of erucic acid, a compound that, in large quantities, was shown to cause heart damage in animal studies (1).
To make the oil more palatable and marketable, Canadian agricultural scientists in the 1970s bred a version of the plant with low erucic acid and lower glucosinolates. The name “canola” was born from “Canadian Oil, Low Acid.”
This new oil was widely adopted thanks to its mild flavor, long shelf life, and low cost. But the problems came from how it’s extracted and refined, along with how our bodies respond to it.
💡 Key Takeaway: Canola oil was designed to be cheap and palatable, not necessarily healthy. Its origin from industrial rapeseed oil raises early red flags.
The Hexane Extraction Process: From Plant to Bottle
Canola oil is not cold-pressed like extra virgin olive oil. It is heavily processed using high heat, chemical solvents, and mechanical pressing. One of the most common solvents used is hexane, a byproduct of gasoline production.
Here’s how the process works:
- The seeds are heated to high temperatures to extract more oil.
- A chemical solvent (usually hexane) is used to draw out the remaining oil from the seed mash.
- The oil is then refined, bleached, and deodorized to remove off-flavors, unwanted odors, and impurities.
- The end result is a colorless, odorless oil with a long shelf life—but one that has been stripped of nutrients and exposed to oxidation.
This industrial processing damages the oil’s polyunsaturated fatty acids, creating oxidative byproducts that contribute to inflammation and cellular damage (2).
💡 Key Takeaway: Most canola oil is chemically extracted and oxidized before it ever reaches your plate. The result is a refined fat that fuels inflammation rather than health.
Why It’s Marketed as Healthy (and Why That’s Misleading)
One of the main reasons canola oil is marketed as heart healthy is because it is low in saturated fat and contains a small amount of ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid.
However, that doesn’t tell the full story.
- The omega-3s in canola oil are fragile and easily oxidized during processing, making them less bioavailable.
- Canola oil is also high in omega-6 fats, which contribute to the pro-inflammatory imbalance in the modern Western diet (3).
- Most of the beneficial fats are already damaged by the time the oil hits your plate.
- Studies have shown that high intake of refined vegetable oils, including canola, is associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammation markers (4).
💡 Key Takeaway: Despite the marketing, canola oil’s health claims fall apart under scrutiny. Oxidized omega-3s and excess omega-6s make it more harmful than helpful.
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Why Canola Oil Is Everywhere
Canola oil isn’t just in fast food or fried items. It’s used in:
- Pre-made salad dressings
- Vegan snacks
- Store-bought hummus and dips
- Protein bars and “healthy” frozen meals
- Organic packaged foods
- Nearly all restaurant cooking oils unless otherwise stated
Food manufacturers love it because it’s cheap, neutral-tasting, and stable for long-term storage. But that doesn’t make it good for you.
💡 Key Takeaway: Canola oil is widely used because it’s cost-effective, not because it’s health-promoting. Its presence in so many foods makes avoiding it difficult but important.
The Health Risks of Canola Oil
Research has raised several red flags about regular canola oil consumption:
- A 2020 study found that rats fed canola oil had higher levels of oxidative stress, inflammation, and impaired learning behavior compared to controls (5).
- Human studies link high intake of processed omega-6 fats with greater risk of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and fat accumulation (6).
- Canola oil may alter the composition of your gut microbiome in ways that increase inflammation and fat storage (7).
- It may also impair mitochondrial function, the part of your cells responsible for burning fat and generating energy (8).
This means that even if you’re eating in a calorie deficit, a high intake of processed fats like canola oil may make it harder to lose body fat, control hunger, or recover from training.
💡 Key Takeaway: The metabolic and neurological risks of canola oil go far beyond fat content. This oil can impair fat burning, gut health, and even brain function.
What to Use Instead
If you’re cooking at home, swap out canola oil for healthier alternatives:
- Extra virgin olive oil for low to moderate heat
- Avocado oil for higher-heat cooking
- Coconut oil in small amounts for certain recipes
- Grass-fed butter or ghee for flavor and stability
- Flaxseed oil (cold only) for omega-3 boosts in smoothies or dressings
When dining out, you may not be able to avoid canola oil entirely, but you can minimize your exposure by:
- Asking for olive oil and vinegar on salads
- Avoiding fried or heavily sautéed items
- Limiting sauces, dips, and dressings unless you know what’s in them
- Preparing more meals at home where you control the ingredients
✏︎ The Bottom Line
Canola oil may seem harmless, but its history, extraction method, and impact on your metabolism tell a different story. This highly refined oil is everywhere, and it may be silently contributing to inflammation, insulin resistance, and stubborn fat.
You don’t have to avoid fat to lose fat. But you do need to choose the right kinds. Replacing industrial seed oils like canola with stable, anti-inflammatory fats can support better fat loss, brain health, and longevity.
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Bibliography
- Engfeldt, B, and E Brunius. “Morphological effects of rapeseed oil in rats. I. Short-term studies.” Acta medica Scandinavica. Supplementum vol. 585 (1975): 15-26. doi:10.1111/j.0954-6820.1975.tb06555.x. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1062116/
- Mazzocchi, Alessandra et al. “Bioactive Compounds in Edible Oils and Their Role in Oxidative Stress and Inflammation.” Frontiers in physiology vol. 12 659551. 30 Apr. 2021, doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.659551. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33995124/
- Zhang, Yuchen et al. “Higher ratio of plasma omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids is associated with greater risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality: a population-based cohort study in UK Biobank.” medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2023.01.16.23284631. 10 Jan. 2024, doi:10.1101/2023.01.16.23284631. Preprint. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9882493/
- Atefi, Masoumeh et al. “The effects of canola and olive oils on insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress in women with type 2 diabetes: a randomized and controlled trial.” Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders vol. 17,2 85-91. 23 May. 2018, doi:10.1007/s40200-018-0343-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30918840/
- Souto, Tayane Dos Santos et al. “Lard-rich and canola oil-rich high-fat diets during pregnancy promote rats’ offspring neurodevelopmental delay and behavioral disorders.” Physiology & behavior vol. 213 (2020): 112722. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112722. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31676261/
- Tsurutani, Yuya et al. “Increased Serum Dihomo-γ-linolenic Acid Levels Are Associated with Obesity, Body Fat Accumulation, and Insulin Resistance in Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.” Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) vol. 57,20 (2018): 2929-2935. doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.0816-18. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29877283/
- Adjonu, Randy et al. “Different Processing Practices and the Frying Life of Refined Canola Oil.” Foods (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 8,11 527. 24 Oct. 2019, doi:10.3390/foods8110527. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31652948/
- Ghazali, Reem et al. “High omega arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid ratio induces mitochondrial dysfunction and altered lipid metabolism in human hepatoma cells.” World journal of hepatology vol. 12,3 (2020): 84-98. doi:10.4254/wjh.v12.i3.84. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32231762/
