What is Rapeseed Oil?

What is rapeseed oil? I have seen it primarily on store brand peanut butter ingredient lists, not much else, but with such a peculiar name I felt a need to do research. At first I found out that rapeseed (peculiarly enough) is what Canola oil is made from. This satisfied me at first, as I had always wondered that as well. Olive oil is from olives, and every other oil is named after its source, and with a name like rapeseed you can kind of see why they would call it canola.

So where does the name canola come from? Well, it's a clever combination of the words "Canadian" for Can and "oilseed" for O, and "Low Acid" for the LA. As the name suggest, Canada is one of the biggest and original manufacturers of this oil.

I also found out that rapeseed is related both to cabbages and mustard seed. For a little while I thought my research was complete.

However, I began finding disheartening information about how canola oil is made. You see, rapeseed oil is actually poisonous to humans. It is normally made for insect repellents (it suffocates them rather easily), soaps (which also can kill insects easily), synthetic rubbers, and in times of old was used to lubricate steam engines. Sounds nutritious, doesn't it?

Also, when Mad Cow disease erupted, rapeseed oil was removed from sheep's food (beyond cows being forced into cannibalism, they also had to eat ground sheep which were feed on rapeseed, causing a similar disease) and suddenly the epidemic became much better. While science has not proven this, it is quite an interesting connection to make.

Rapeseed is known for containing high amounts of acid, so much so that it can hurt or be fatal to humans. Thus, after years, it has been genetically modified into a less acidic, more palpable oil. So whenever you see "organic" canola oil, remember the plant was genetically modified.

So why has canola/rapeseed oil been so popular? Well, it is true that it contains a high amount of good fats, and tends to work well in the body (according to present research). However, after finding out its origin and what the plant is really like, I would get my unsaturated fats from other, more trust worthy oils.

My suggestion, stick with olive oil. You know where it's coming from, you know olives are good for you, and if you are the organic type like me, you know it truly is organic and not from some plant created in a laboratory. Besides, from the nutritional point of view, they contain about the same amount of good fats, so you're not losing out on anything by staying away from rapeseed.