Sophie Brünke

July 25, 2026, 8:01 am | Read time: 5 minutes

What Exactly Is in Canola Oil?

Canola oil is extracted from the seeds of the canola plant. Large oil mills primarily produce refined canola oil: The seeds are pressed, the remaining oil is extracted, and then purified. Smaller mills more often produce cold-pressed or virgin canola oil.¹

Canola oil consists—surprise—almost entirely of fat. The largest portion is made up of monounsaturated fatty acids, primarily oleic acid. It also contains the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid and the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid. Additionally, canola oil contains vitamin E and small amounts of erucic acid, which will be discussed later.²

Refined Oil Is Allegedly Unhealthy

If you believe questionable influencers, refined oil is fundamentally unhealthy. It’s true that during refining, some vitamin E as well as aroma and plant compounds are lost. However, unwanted by-products are also removed, and the oil becomes more heat-stable. Refined canola oil is therefore well-suited for frying and deep-frying, while virgin canola oil is better for cold dishes and gentle heating.

I’d like to emphasize that from a nutritional perspective, it’s perfectly fine that refined oil contains fewer secondary plant compounds. We get much more of them from fruits and vegetables. It’s also important for health to cook with a heat-stable oil. Perhaps you’ve put virgin oil in a pan and noticed smoke forming at a certain temperature. That’s a sign that harmful compounds are forming in the oil!

Also interesting: Certain cooking oil can protect against belly fat, according to a study

Does Canola Oil Cause Weight Gain?

This accusation is mainly based on a small study with 22 mice.³ Some of the animals received canola oil in addition to their regular feed, thus consuming more calories. It’s no surprise they gained more weight than animals that consumed fewer calories daily. Methodologically, the study is weak; it needed a calorie-equivalent control group. Therefore, it cannot demonstrate that canola oil itself is a fattening agent for humans.

Does Canola Oil Promote Alzheimer’s?

The Alzheimer’s rumors stem from the same methodologically weak mouse study. The animals were specially bred Alzheimer’s mice, predisposed to develop typical changes of the disease. After six months, the canola oil group performed worse in working memory and showed more beta-amyloid and synapse changes. This cannot be extrapolated to humans—especially since the canola oil group also consumed more calories and gained more weight. Whether the oil, weight gain, or another factor influenced the results remains unclear.

Erucic Acid Is Said to Cause Heart Fat

Erucic acid naturally occurs in canola. Very high amounts led to temporary fat deposits in the heart muscle in animal studies, which can weaken pumping power. However, after the high intake ended, the deposits receded. While this sounds alarming, the risk with commercial canola oil is significantly lower than often portrayed on social media. Earlier canola varieties contained more than 50 percent erucic acid. For decades, canola varieties approved for food have usually contained less than 0.5 percent erucic acid, sometimes even less than 0.1 percent.⁴

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set a precautionary tolerable daily intake of seven milligrams per kilogram of body weight.⁵ According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, this value is generally not exceeded with typical consumption amounts. Even for infants, calculations with actually measured contents showed no increased health risk.

Canola Oil and Inflammation

The claim that canola oil promotes inflammation and thus arteriosclerosis is also unproven. On the contrary, canola oil has a favorable fatty acid profile. It contains only about eight percent saturated fatty acids, but many healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The polyunsaturated omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids have a health-promoting ratio to each other. Much better than, for example, sunflower oil.

For the blood vessels, this is more of an advantage. Replacing saturated fats, such as those from butter, with canola oil can lower unfavorable LDL cholesterol. A consistently high LDL level promotes deposits in the vessels and thus arteriosclerosis. The German Nutrition Society explicitly recommends preferring plant-based oils like canola oil.⁶ Stiftung Warentest also labels canola oil as “the healthiest cooking oil.”⁷

More on the topic

FITBOOK Editor Reveals “These 9 Foods I Always Keep at Home as a Nutrition Expert”

Nutrients 5 nuts that can help you lose weight

Can Canola Oil Cause Cancer?

There is also no substantial evidence for the claim that canola oil causes cancer. Alleged proof often comes from lab studies where isolated oleic acid was directly applied to cancer cells.⁸ However, this is not comparable to consuming canola oil. Moreover, oleic acid is found in many other foods and is even the main fatty acid in olive oil. One of the often-cited cell studies also reached the opposite conclusion: There, oleic acid inhibited a cancer-promoting signaling pathway in breast cancer cells.⁹ Therefore, such cell experiments cannot conclude that canola oil causes cancer in humans. The interplay of diet and lifestyle is more crucial for cancer risk. The DGE recommends a predominantly plant-based diet for cancer prevention.¹⁰

Which Oils I Use as a Nutrition Scientist

I think it’s more than clear that it’s worth having canola oil at home. Here’s how I handle it: refined canola oil for hot cooking, virgin olive oil for cold dishes. Since virgin oils retain more aromas, they add more flavor to food. With this duo, you’re well-equipped from a health perspective. Optionally, you can keep flaxseed oil in the fridge (yes, it really needs to be there) and occasionally stir it into yogurt or quark for an extra dose of omega-3 fatty acids. Those who don’t eat fish should definitely use flaxseed oil regularly.