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According to a study conducted by AARP, brain health is important to as many as 93% of people, but few of them actually know how to maintain it.
Despite the widespread belief that brain performance declines with age, this does not have to happen. There are simple steps that will ensure that even as the years go by you maintain good memory, quick thinking and overall good brain performance.
This applies even if you are already in the so-called “golden years”. It was once believed that the formation of new nerve cells ends in youth.
We now know that neurogenesis continues into adulthood.
The factors that influence the formation of new brain cells are still being studied. However, there are other things that affect brain health.
And we’ll talk more about one of them in our article today.
How canola oil negatively affects brain health and body weight
A recent study revealed that consumption of canola oil triggers processes in the brain that cause damage, resulting in impaired memory and the ability to learn.
The lead researcher of this study was Dr. Domenico Pratico from the School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As Dr. Pratico states, canola oil is considered healthy by many, but this is a widespread myth.
He adds the following:
“Canola oil is popular because it is cheaper than other vegetable oils and is often promoted as healthy. However, this claim has been very little studied scientifically, especially its impact on the human brain. “
The use of canola oil spread at a time when reports about the harmfulness of saturated fats began to appear (which, by the way, has since been refuted). And canola oil contains the fewest saturated fats of all vegetable oils, so attention focused on it.
In reality, however, this oil is the worst for human health. It is often used not only in households but also in restaurants for cooking, baking, or frying.
But let’s return to the aforementioned research.
What the researchers found
The researchers used an animal model on mice that were genetically modified to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The mice were divided into two groups. The first group was given a regular diet and the second group a diet enriched with the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of canola oil per day.
At the end of the 6-month experiment, scientists observed that the mice consuming canola oil were significantly fatter than the mice that did not consume it.
In addition, the second group of mice showed a significant decline in memory capacity and also a decrease in the density of post-synaptic protein 94, which is an indicator of synaptic integrity.
The researchers therefore concluded that canola oil has an adverse effect on health:
“When we put all this together, our results did not confirm any positive effect of canola oil on health. On the contrary, it turned out to be a factor promoting the development of Alzheimer’s disease, including memory loss and damage to the brain’s synaptic integrity. “
Your brain needs healthy fats
The same researchers also studied the effects of olive oil in a similar mouse model.
As they found, no group of mice became fatter. Regarding brain performance, the group consuming a diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil fared significantly better in terms of memory, spatial orientation, and the ability to learn.
Even mice that were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease in old age showed preserved synaptic activity and increased neural activity.
Fats are an essential part of brain structures. After all, the brain is made up of 60% fats. Therefore, it should not be surprising that for optimal function it will need healthy types of fats.
Moreover, although the brain is only a small percentage of total body weight, it consumes up to 20% of metabolic energy. It primarily needs essential fatty acids, which the body cannot produce on its own, so they must be supplied in the diet.
However, most people consume an excessive amount of omega-6 fatty acids, but too little omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA. Researchers have found that levels of these two important fats are too low in patients suffering from ADHD.
You can find omega-3 fats mainly in these foods:
- fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines
- fish oil
- flaxseeds
- nuts
- hemp oil
- olive oil
- avocado
Also, unlike processed and damaged vegetable fats, your brain as a fuel needs the saturated fats that until recently were disparaged.
Saturated fats are mainly found in these foods:
- pork lard
- butter
- coconut oil
Conclusion
In light of these new facts, it is possible to say that canola oil is not healthy. On the contrary, for the body it is literally a poison that slowly but surely destroys it.
Here is an interesting short video about how canola oil is made (in English):
For those of you who don’t understand English, the video shows how oil is obtained from rapeseed seeds by pressing, but is then chemically cleaned with sodium hydroxide, then refined similarly to how soap is made, and finally deodorized and bleached with chemical bleaches.
Only then is this highly processed oil filled into bottles that head to store shelves.
As you can see, such a processed oil is truly far removed from the original vegetable oil and more resembles an oil product than food for people.
