Sarah, I used to buy it macadamia nut butter all the time until the store stopped carrying it. I thought it was delicious

Hi Sarah - we got the almond butter at nuts.com Their nuts aren't that great but the almond butter is fantastic.

regarding the canola oil, I think it gets a bad wrap because it really isn't a naturally occurring oil.

Thanks, Larry. :-) Good to know.

Sue: so roasted m. butter are delicious ... ok, I'll give it a try once I run out of my butters :-)

Drat about the store no longer selling m butter for you to buy though ...

A

[quote]
Posted By cranberrycat on 19 Sep 2012 10:57 PM
regarding the canola oil, I think it gets a bad wrap because it really isn't a naturally occurring oil.
[/quote]


yes - it must be okay, though, if Dr. Sears put it in the Zone Cereal.

I personally don't eat it, as it does not occur in nature. Good to know about the cereal, I do like the cereal, but did not know that there was canola oil in it.

Some info on Canola Oil, I don't have any; but, like most other things, some in moderation, other foods limited.
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Canola and regular rapeseed oils (Canola oil is a rapeseed oil) are extracted from the seeds of several of the brassica plants - the same family of plants from which we get vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, and several other vegetables.

Of course, there is not much fat in these vegetables; but what fat there is in some of them, e.g., mustard greens, is as much as 29 percent erucic acid. Also, since glycosides (typical are stevioside and other flavonoids) are basically water soluble, I would not expect to find much of them in any oil, even Canola oil. Those glucosinolates found in rapeseed meal after the oil has removed from the seeds are the same goiterogens that are found in the brassica vegetables.
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One problem with canola oil is that it has to be partially hydrogenated or refined before it is used commercially and consequently is a source of trans fatty acids; sometimes at very high levels.
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Another problem is that it is too unsaturated to be used exclusively in the diet; so unfortunately some of the undesirable effects caused by feeding canola oil can only be rectified if the diet is made higher in saturated fatty acids.

Found this, too Though we know about Omega-6, I was not aware that Canola was high nor that it contains so much Trans-Fats.:
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Omega-6 fatty acids accelerate the growth of human prostate tumors.
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The current study found that the fats caused human prostate tumors in cell culture to grow twice as quickly as tumors to which omega-6 fats had not been added.
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Omega-6 fatty acids are found in vegetable oils, including:
- Corn
- Canola
- Soybean
- Sunflower
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Americans currently consume over 25 times the level of omega-6 fats as the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Further, the researchers pointed out that the rate of prostate cancer in the United States has increased steadily along with intake of omega-6, suggesting a possible link between diet and prostate cancer.
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Omega-6 oils such as canola and sunflower oil are not safe foods or health foods, whatever you may have heard. Excessive consumption of these vegetable oils can lead to:
- Asthma
- Blindness
- Heart disease
- Cancer

And finally, this
(Note ... and can contain as much as 50 per cent trans fats. ... although they are not indicated on labels for canola oil):
Thanks, Larry - for giving me the momentum to look into Canola Oil.
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After the Second World War, 'improvements' made it possible to plasticise highly unsaturated oils from corn and soybeans. New catalysts allowed processors to 'selectively hydrogenate' the kinds of fatty acids found in soy and canola oils - those with three double bonds.
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Called 'partial hydrogenation', this new method allowed processors to replace cotton-seed oil with more unsaturated corn and soybean oils in margarines and shortenings. This spurred a meteoric rise in soybean production from virtually nothing in 1900 to 70 million tons in 1970, surpassing corn production. Today, soy oil dominates the market and is used in almost 80 per cent of all hydrogenated oils.
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The particular mix of fatty acids in soy oil results in shortenings containing about 40 per cent trans fats - an increase of about 5 per cent over cotton-seed oil and 15 per cent over corn oil. Canola oil, processed from a hybrid form of rape-seed, is particularly rich in fatty acids containing three double bonds and can contain as much as 50 per cent trans fats.
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Trans fats of a particularly problematic type are also formed during the process of deodorising canola oil, although they are not indicated on labels for canola oil.
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Certain forms of trans fatty acids occur naturally in dairy fats. Trans vaccenic acid makes up about four per cent of the fatty acids in butter. It is an interim product which the ruminant animal then converts to conjugated linoleic acid, a highly beneficial anti-carcinogenic component of animal fat. Humans seem to utilise the small amounts of trans vaccenic acid in butter fat without ill effects.
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However, most of the trans isomers in modern hydrogenated fats are new to the human physiology. By the early 1970s, a number of researchers had expressed concern about their presence in the American diet, noting that the increasing use of hydrogenated fats had paralleled the increase in both heart disease and cancer.

Hi John - Love the internet but I guess it all depends upon which web page one finds when searching. This one says the opposite about transfat in canola oil

"Canola oil (provided that it has not been hydrogenated to increase its stability) contains very small amounts of trans fatty acids at levels too low to be a health concern. The levels of trans fat in non-hydrogenated canola oil are below 0.5 grams per serving and qualify for a label claim of "trans fat free." I don't see any reason to shy away from non-hydrogenated canola oil on account of trans fat.

However, to be sure you're getting only this trace level of trans fat from your canola oil, you'll definitely want to check on the ingredient list to make sure that the word "hydrogenated" does not appear. Although you could also check on the Nutritional Facts panel to see if there are 0 grams listed under trans fat, this method isn't full proof, because even though the product may contain some trans fat, the company would be legally allowed to round the number down to 0 grams under certain circumstances (if it contains less than 0.5 grams per serving)."

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?...ip&dbid=39


Regarding your reference that said canola oil is high in Omega 6, it's not. Look at my table a few posts before this one. Canola oil has less Omega 6 than almond butter.

Bottom line - I think as long as long as one gets non-hydrogenated canola oil, all is good. And I hope/trust that Dr. Sears put non-hydrogenated canola oil in his Zone Cereal product. Tech Support - can you find out?

It depends, the one fact is that all canola oils are not the same.
And hidden are those that are "Partially" hydogenated - because they do not have to state that information.
So, it's buyer beware.

I think that this is the bottom line:
(from the same website you cite)
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If you want to make sure that you are avoiding all genetic engineering, you're safest step is to purchase organic canola oil. It's still illegal to use genetic engineering in the product of any certified organic product. I prefer organic canola oil for many reasons, including this one.
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AND I would add that although organic is probably not Hydrogenated or even partially hydrogenated, one should still also check the label as you state from the article.
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Otherwise, I think that what I found is probably mostly true, the general run of the mill, Canola Oil that folks would pick up without reading the label, carefully, is most likely those that are cheaper and high in Omega-6.
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Again, buyer be-ware.
Of course Zoners usually are. So beginning to preach to the choir, so to speak.
I'll stop rambling, now.

P.S. We are the ONLY modern, industrial, western nation, NOT to REQUIRE labeling GMO food as GMO.
Big Agra: Monsanto, Con-Agra, etc is fighting (with literally Billions of dollars) a California (where else) Ballot Initiative to have all GMO foods sold in CA labeled as GMO.
And usually as CA goes, eventually the rest of the country.
BUT, I digress ...

good points, john. thanks.

and... I was looking into canola oil in the first place because it is the main oil used in Zone Cereal, which I love. I wanted to be sure it was okay to eat it. Quality canola oil has no transfat and is low in Omega 6 so I'm going to keep munching that cereal. It's 1/3 the cost of Zone Bars and keeps me in the Zone just as well. It's curious that a serving of the cereal is 2 P blocks and only a little over 1 C block but I can always throw in a few berries, etc. I even like it dry which makes it a good snack to take on the go, and it doesn't melt like the bars do in the Texas heat.

I agree, much cheaper than the bars, and more versatile.
It might be (Carb/Protein) because if you have it with Milk, even though milk is considered mostly balanced, there are a bit more carbs in milk than Protein Zone requirements.
So, maybe they were considering that when they made the cereal. And, thankfully, it is relatively less expensive than the bars, and a lot less sweet than the old Zone Foods granola.

Anyone who's REALLY, REALLY carb-sensitive: how well do you far on this cereal?

Hi Larry--about the NAET treatments--still taking notes etc ... and still not 100% arrived at my own conclusion on the effectiveness of these treatments, because my own stuff involve so many different components, it's much more complex than many other people who go to get NAET treatments ... but I can say that I'm seeing a lot of different things happening as a result, and that these treatments DO actually, believe it or not, work ...

It's a lot of detoxing though--I'm doing my 90th treatment in a few minutes (most people only need 15-20 treatments), and a lot of "bad stuff" (toxins etc) leaving my body which really affects me ...

I have to leave, but in a few weeks, once it's all over and I'm just maintaining as opposed to this aggressive, two-treatments-a-day (10 treatments a week) approach, I'll start giving you examples. It's confusing because when one is detoxing (releasing the toxins from one's body), one can have symptoms as a result ... kinda like the AA leaving the body and you feel crappy as a result ... LOL ...

A

thanks, Sarah, for the update on NAET. It sounds very interesting. Please do keep me posted.

Sarah;
I am somewhat sensitive to Carbs (Bread esp.),and I am Italian!
Though the few times we go to the local bakery for a salad and soup for lunch or quick dinner,
I am not tempted to get a loaf of their wonderful smelling fresh made bread.
They used to do a low-Carb Herb Italian bread, but stopped because Corporate sid there was not enough demand for it.
.
To get to your Query: The cereal actually holds me fairly well.
.
Without any of the now defunct Zone Foods available for my annual week long business trip to Las Vegas, NV, USA this coming February,
I'll be ordering some bars when they are on sale, and a bunch of the cereal.
Though I usually get a refrigerator in my room, and do some local grocery shopping as well.
But no Zone breads for sandwiches, this year.
And I am not holding my breath for the supposed new Zone Foods that are supposed to be coming this fall, we;ll see .....
And I pack my snacks in a cooler bag for my long days working the conference.
Lunch's are provided, so I can pick and choose and keep those relatively Zone friendly,
though I can't control the salt and the Fat in some of the foods.
The Bars are so-so at holding me. But I use them on the airport/airplane portion of the trip.

Sarah, I actually do pretty well with the cereal, though I am not happy that it contains canola oil... so may have to re-evaluate this option.
I don't do as well with it dry as I do with milk, though.

Hi Larry,

Glad to share. And in a few weeks I'll be going on maintaining, just a treatment or two a week, and will then be more able to see more clearly and be more accurate in describing these treatments. :-)

John: Thanks for sharing your experiences. So even you (not the most carb-sensitive in the world) still react ... but cereal holds you well. Good to know. :-)

Cranberrycat: Did you say that you don't do as well with dry cereal as you do with milk (which is a liquid and unstable), OR, did you say you do better on cereal when it has milk in it???? I'm confused!

A

I do BETTER with cereal AND milk. Don't ask why, because it doesn't make sense from the standpoint of it being a liquid carb. LOL!

No, it sure doesn't! Interesting ...

In case you haven't seen my AA/EPA test thread ----- The test showed my AA is lower than it should be. I wasn't getting enough Omega 6 (which converts to AA) and I eat mainly nonfat proteins (no AA). I was trying to get my Omega 6 fats as low as possible by eating at least half of my fat in Macadamia Nuts. I'm returning to the usual acceptable fats that have a little higher omega 6 in them (avocado, olive oil, peanut butter, almond butter). I think I'll stay with eating mostly nonfat proteins, for the most part.

that's actually good news in many ways--it will be cheaper for you in the long run since olive oil is a pretty cheap source of fat, relatively speaking :-)

i did see the other thread ...

i haven't done my own aa/epa test yet ... there have been various obstacles, e.g., the local blood test area here refused to do it, saying i have to go to the hospital, etc ...

but at least my physician signed the papers, so i can get them done eventually ;-)

sandra