Hi all,

My father just gave me a copy of an interesting article from the Gerson
newsletter (5/98).

I don't know much about it, so I'm passing along my own summary here.
To make a long story short, it advises avoiding certain oils, espeically
rapeseed oil, also named canola oil.  Loose teeth, gum problems, high
cholesterol, numbness, swelling, joint pain, cloudy vision,
constipation, hearling loss, skin and hair problems, respiratory
problems, and heart pain have ben documented as a result of consumption
of cooked canola oil.  This was from items cooked in canola oil.  But
lab rats had similar problems on the oil alone, but whether a
distinction was made between heat pressed/cooked canola oil and
cold-pressed was not specified.  Soy oil was reported to cause vision
loss.  Lab animals recovered some when canola oils were stopped but
organ scar tissues did not heal.

Fat and oil are fatty acids.  They are crucial to proper nutrition.
Without any fatty acids we do become unwell.  These problems listed
above seem to come from erucic acid, a component found in many oils.

That article quotes another, a Wall Street Journal (6/7/95) stating that
canola oil is toxic.

Also, in the same publication, but the 4/98 issue, Dr. William Douglass
writes that OK oils and fats include: animal fats, coconut oil, sesame
oil, extra virgin olive oil.  Bad oils include soy, corn, safflower,
cottonseed, canola and peanut oils.

Personally, I'm not quite sure what to think.  So I'll state what I
believe based on intuition and years of watching my clients - comments
welcome.  I believe that Asians use cold pressed rapeseed oil without
such horrible problems, but I cannot be certain, and probably the
longest lived of Asians are the Japanese, who eat lots of raw foods,
including pickled veggies and raw fish.  I believe cooked fats and oils
are generally bad for people.  I believe that raw oils and fats,
consumed as a part of the original substances, rather than extracted,
are the healthiest way to consume them.  Like eat some coconut and
you'll get coconut oil, along with many other nutrients.  I think that
using large amounts of extracted anything including extracated oils is
probably bad for most people.  I think that when you eat mostly raw,
whole foods, most of this doesn't really become a big issue.  It's
another strike against eating lots of cooked foods, in my opinion.

Anyone with direct experiences regarding these issues on oils, please
let me know.

regards
Roberta