by Don Harkins for the SPOTLIGHT The cheapest cooking oil on the market today is called canola. It is used to fry potatoes in fast food restaurants and is found on the list of ingredients for mayonnaise sold in health food stores. Canola is taking the place of peanut oil in peanut butter and is being blended with olive oil for domestic kitchen use. Canola is a name that recently appeared in the marketplace and is apparently derived from Canadian-oil. Canola oil is actually produced from the rape seed plant. Rape (Brassica napus), a member of the mustard family, is listed in the Encyclopedia Britannica as a poisonous plant with toxic effects which include ìpulmonary emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability and blindness in cattle. According to John Thomas, author of Young Again: How to Reverse the Aging Process, ìThe name canola disguised the introduction of rape oil to America. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in Great Britain between 1986 and 1991 at which time its use was discontinued, Thomas wrote. Most people remember the mad cow disease epidemic and that cows, pigs and sheep went blind, behaved insanely, attacked other animals and people and had to be destroyed. Reports at the time blamed the erratic behavior of livestock on a viral disease called scrapie (in sheep and pigs) and mad cow disease in cattle. However, when rape oil was removed from animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared, Thomas explained. According to Dr. Len Horowitz, author of Emerging Viruses, AIDS and Ebola: Nature, Accident or Intentional, What is scrapie in sheep, mad cow disease in cattle, wasting disease in wild game animals, whirling disease in fish is Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in people. English experts told people not to panic if they had been cooking with rape oil when mad cow disease was at its peak in Great Britain, said Thomas. The 'experts' added that the effects of rape oil ingestion takes at least 10 years to manifest. With grain prices down and grass seed growers faced with increasing opposition to their seasonal field burning, beautiful yellow rape fields are contrasting deep green panoramas of what has traditionally been field after field of grasses and grains in the northwest United States. Rape, the most toxic of all food-oil plants that has no natural insectoid predators, is a weed that can grow vigorously in most climates and terrains throughout North America. Rape toxicity The toxic properties of the rape plant are cyanide-containing compounds called ìisothiocyanates. Thomas explains that cyanide inhibits the production of ATP in our bodies. ATP is the energy molecule that powers the body and keeps us healthy and young. According to Thomas, ...glaucoma is the result of insufficient blood flow due to agglutination (clumping together) of the red blood cells and waste buildup on the cells and intercellular fluids. Thomas believes that ingestion of rape over time may cause glaucoma. Thomas also believes that ingestion of rape over several years causes other vision irregularities such as retinitis. Thomas explains how the clumped red blood cells cannot squeeze throughî the tiny capillaries in the posterior of the eye and, therefore, cannot deliver oxygen to the mitochondria (the rod-shaped bodies in a cell that facilitate the metabolism of fats, sugars and proteins). Rape oil, as metabolized in the body, produces the latex-like substance that causes the agglutination of red blood cells, explained Thomas. In this respect, glaucoma has much in common with hair loss, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and hearing problems. Rape and the central nervous system Rape is an acetlycholinesterase inhibitor. Acetylcholine is critical to the transmission of signals from nerves to muscles. When the normal function of aceytlcholinesterase is compromised, nerve fibers are not able to send the signals properly and muscles will not respond as expected. In the last 20 years we have seen a dramatic increase in muscular disorders such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Soy and (rape) oils are players in the outbreak of these disease conditions. So are the organophosphates--insecticides such as malthion-- used in food production in the name of efficiency, commented Thomas. There are many people throughout the country who are convinced that rape oil is poisonous to the human body and that the body digests rape in such a fashion that congests the blood and restricts the flow of lymph fluid which can cause a myriad of physical and psychological disorders. Moreover, using processed foods containing canola oil, soy oil and chemical additives confuses the body and weakens the immune system, continued Thomas. Response to canola oil issues Articles and information on canola oil LINK Associated Press, 4/02 Corn/Cotton/Canola/Soya 99% of GE crops Website addresses Euro J Cancer Prevent, 6/03 Coconut for heart disease, kidney stones, balancing blood sugar, protecting against cancer Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.