Hi;

If you read about fats you know that fats can be really good for you or
really bad for you. The worst fats are tranfats(
http://www.umm.edu/features/transfats.html) and saturated fats.

The really good fats are from olive and canola oil. They have been
shown to help prevent cardiovascular disease( if used to the exclusion
of other cooking oils ). Canola oil used to be recommend for vegans and
vegetarians until almost all canola seeds became GMO.

Even in our area with the good stores we have it is next to impossible
to find organic ( non GMO ), mechanically pressed ( no use of chemical
solvents ), and unrefined cooking oils.

All of these things make life convenient for producers and retailers,
but make the oil less than healthful.

Well, google provides. I found a company that sells organic, unrefined,
and mechanically pressed canola, as well as other oils over the internet:

http://www.sunorganicfarm.com/Mercha...egory_Code=OIL

Just thought I would share.

Steve
--
Be A Healthy Vegan Or Vegetarian
http://www.geocities.com/beforewisdo...ealthyVeg.html

Steve's Home Page
http://www.geocities.com/beforewisdom/

"The great American thought trap: It is not real
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Steve wrote:

> Hi;
>
> If you read about fats you know that fats can be really good for you or
> really bad for you. The worst fats are tranfats(
> http://www.umm.edu/features/transfats.html) and saturated fats.

Trans-fatty acids are produced during "hardening" (catalytic
hydrogenation) of vegetable oils, but are also a natural product of
bacterial metabolism. Since milk fat is produced by the intestinal
bacteria of cows, butter contains about 5% trans-fatty acids (Source:
The Lipid-Handbook). Thus recommending butter over margarine for
avoidance of trans-fatty acids, often seen in the non-scientific
literature, is folly. Note however that this reasoning pertains only to
the margarine-butter discussion, not the the health-effects of
trans-fatty acids per se.

> The really good fats are from olive and canola oil. They have been
> shown to help prevent cardiovascular disease( if used to the exclusion
> of other cooking oils ). Canola oil used to be recommend for vegans and
> vegetarians until almost all canola seeds became GMO.

Olive oil is mostly mono-unsatturated, while Canola (rape seed) oil
contains not only plenty of poly-unsatturated, but also some of the
omega-3 fatty acids that are suspected to act as a kind of vitamin in
humans (although final proof has not been obtained yet). Thus both oils
are certainly healthy, the olive oil for frying, the canola for salats
(walnut oil is an almost as healthy alternative).

The GMO issue has nothing to do with the health effects of oils, as oils
contain hardly any DNA. Thus there is no possible way how the
*consumption* of canola oil from GMO rape seeds could harm you. The
negative effects are more likely environmental during *growing* of the
crops.

> Even in our area with the good stores we have it is next to impossible
> to find organic ( non GMO ), mechanically pressed ( no use of chemical
> solvents ), and unrefined cooking oils.

Oils from Europe are still non-GMO (may change in the future, as the
current ban on GMO will be lifted next year) and mechanically pressed.
Since under EU regulation GMO-using farmers have to compensate "green"
farmers for contamination by pollen, we may still keep GMO off our
fields.