Last Sunday, my doctor friend and I were on shopping survey. We visited hyper shopping places in the city to study different processed food items and their ingredients.
We found many shocking ingredients. Maggi is just a tip of the iceberg. There are many dangers beyond heavy metals.
First shock was canola oil in feeding formula powder for infants!
This is insane. Canola oil for infants?
Like all modern vegetable oils, canola oil goes through the process of refining, bleaching and degumming — all of which involve high temperatures or chemicals of questionable safety. And because canola oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which easily become rancid and foul-smelling when subjected to oxygen and high temperatures, it must be deodorized. The standard deodorization process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them into trans fatty acids. Although the Canadian government lists the trans content of canola at a minimal 0.2 percent, research at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found trans levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid oil. The consumer has no clue about the presence of trans fatty acids in canola oil because they are not listed on the label.
A 2014 review article published in “Vascular Pharmacology” discussed the detrimental effects of heated oils on cardiovascular health, such as vascular inflammation and arteriosclerosis. [1]
Besides, 90% of Canola oil comes from Genetically Modified Rape seeds. GMO crops demands more pesticides so they come with high level of toxic chemicals. It affects body [2]:
Blood platelet abnormalities
Retards normal growth (why it’s illegal to use in infant formulas)
Free radical damage
Higher cancer risks due to the hydrogenation process
And this highly indigestible food for kids? This was our first shock.
PS: You may find many researchers in support of canola. But beyond that, use this thumb rules to select oil:
1) Can your region grow this oil seeds?
2) Is it obtained from Genetically modified crop or not?
3) Is it obtained from cold-press method of high heating chemical process?
Suggestions:
Your breastfeeding has everything that your infant need. Never substitute it with feeding formula. If you cannot feed for some reasons, use Desi cow’s milk. There are many home-made formulas that you can prepare using grains. Try them. Research about them. But never think about feeding formulas.
Always see ingredient and if you find canola oil, avoid. It is not for us.
Any oil that is not obtained by cold-press is not worth. (Although pressing and grinding produces heat through friction, the temperature must not rise above 120°F (49°C) for any oil to be considered cold pressed. Cold pressed oils are produced at even lower temperatures. Cold pressed oils retain all of their flavor, aroma, and nutritional value.). Gradually, find sources of such oil. Or buy your own home-use micro oil mill.
Processed food is fundamentally faulty from roots. So against the Art and Science of cooking. Try N-numbers of measures but it will remain life-consuming weapon. Weapon that can silently kill the generation after generation until civilization/community/nation.
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[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24632108
[1] http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-great-con-ola/
[2] http://draxe.com/canola-oil-gm/
