# Canola Connection



## Guest (May 23, 2000)

I think there's a good chance that many of you may be reacting to canola oil the way I was. I've written this as a response to a few postings and thought maybe I should post it myself.When I had IBS a friend mentioned that her mother in law said to not eat canola oil if you had diarrhea. At the time I was cooking with canola oil and was very sick. IBS, joint pain and frequent migraines.I quit cooking with it and got way better but still kept having bouts. Then after a while the same friend told me about all the things canola was in--OK then I became a label reader. Peanut butter--they take the peanut oil out, replace it with canola or rapeseed oil and sell the peanut oil. The canola oil probably increases the shelf life and is cheaper. Cake mixes. Most corn chips.Many salad dressings.So nothing came in my house that had canola in it. At this point I only get sick when I eat at certain restaurants--so I start asking and find which ones use canola and stop going there. (not so easy since many will just say "vegetable oil" and you have to find out what kind--if it's a "blend" I just don't go there) Also to be considerate, I call when it's not during a busy time and speak to the manager.Now I'm almost never sick, haven't had an attack in at least a month. I've also started losing weight but that's another aspect of canola I just read about in last week's AZ Republic that I haven't studied.. Something about it being a polyunsaturated oil that increases hunger.(The article quotes Stephen E. Specter, Penn State U. assist. prof of nutrition) BTW canola isn't a natural plant. It was engineered from rapeseed. The name canola comes from Canadian oil. Dr. Andrew Weil no longer recommends it--butter and olive oil only.Know this is long but if it helps one person be less miserable than I was then it's worth it.


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

Interesting. I don't do peanut oil because I'm sure it causes flare-ups and I've been cautious of sunflower seed oil. I have been eating products with canola, but only cook with soy or olive oil.Speaking of soy...what's the verdict on soy products in general and IBS? Can most of us deal with it ok?


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## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

That is interesting. And I've also heard that a lot of the canola oil we have today in the US is genetically engineered, so, who knows if that may be causing problems.I switched to olive oil a few years ago, and try not to eat much fried food.JeanG


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## Rhetana (May 14, 2000)

I handle soy much better than cow's milk. But it's not perfect. I can still react to it. Great thought on the Canola oil...I'm going to be checking labels myself and testing it out! Thanks!Rhetana


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