Since Hanukkah is coming up on Dec. 4, I thought it'd be a great idea to chat about oil. When you look on a shelf at the store, there are many kinds of oil to choose from, and I always thought that canola and corn oil were the same thing. I was way off.
Corn oil is made from the germ of corn. Canola oil is actually produced from rapeseed oil and was originally made in Canada. The word canola comes from "Canadian Oil, Low Acid." Some people think that canola oil is unhealthy because rapeseed oil contains high amounts of erucic acid, which is know to have harmful effects. Don't worry though, canola oil is now made from a new plant that is similar to the rapeseed plant, but has a much lower erucic acid content.
So how do they compare nutritionally? To see the chart read more
| Corn oil | Canola oil | |
| Serving Size | 1 Tbsp | 1 Tbsp |
| Calories | 120 | 120 |
| Total Fat | 14g | 14g |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 1g |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 8g | 4g |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 4g | 9g |
| Sodium | 0g | 0g |
| Fiber | 0g | 0g |
| Sugars | 0g | 0g |
| Protein | 0g | 0g |
As you can see, canola oil is so great because like olive oil, it's low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat. This kind of fat is good to consume because it can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol. Another thing, corn oil contains more polyunsaturated fat than canola oil. This type of fat has also been shown to reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, but too much can lower your HDL (good) cholesterol.
Fit's Tips: Canola oil is a great choice when it comes to baking and sautéing, because it has a high burn point, meaning it doesn't start smoking until it reaches 238°Celsius. Just for reference, olive oil's burn point is 190°Celsius.
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Vsct Jeans
Claudie Pierlot
Canola oil is also higher in omega 3s.
Plus personally, I think corn oil gives everything this weird tortilla chip kinda flavor.
1Canola is my second choice after olive oil. I always have those in my pantry along with cooking spray.
2we actually used corn oil before but now we sort of switched to coconut oil, which is a gazillion times better
3Wow, who knew Canola was short for "Canadian Oil, Low Acid"? That's hilarious. Supermarket trivia, here I come.
4Fascinating tidbits. I always thought Canola was healthier because of the monosaturated fat but I never heard about the rapeseed past, what CANOLA stood for, or realized the omega-3 content.
5Canola oil - who would have thought that's what it stood for
6How fascinating - I had no idea it was an acryonym-y type thing. I thought there was a canola and this was the oil it gives off.
I do only use olive or canola oil for most cooking. Peanut oil for the occasional homemade chicken nuggets to appease the little ones.
7great imformation! thanks for informing us
8i didn't realize canola stood for something! i use canola oil when i bake & evoo for everything else.
9haha same thing about what canola stands for...cant wait to bring up the random factoid when im cooking with family...hehe
10Yea, I barely use canola or corn oil. I don't even think I have any in my house!
11If I do need some oil, it's extra virgin olive oil for me!
I wonder how vegetable oil compares with canola oil?
12I always use canola.
13mtiger-I'm curious on that one too.
14my husband and i were just discussing htis this week as we made falafel. he used canola oil instead of the corn the recipe called for.
15In general I prefer olive oil.
16also corn oil is bad for blood type 0 while dieting. we should avaoid corn at all cost, because in people whose blood type is 0, it slows done the production of insuline.
17I've never seen it in supermarkets!!!
Maybe it's not exported to Europe.
18I never use canola.I think it tastes terrible and more and more information is coming out that it's not so good fo you. I decided I was never going to use it when I learned they use the same plant in Europe to produce motor oil. On the other hand corn oil always gives things a great flavor...especially in cornbread and potato salad.
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