OTC Remedies: Palm & Canola Oil Blend ~

I had a customer come to me asking if our company produces a similar product to one sold on the market manufactured by a popular commercial bird food manufacturer. That product my customer mentioned contains part Red Palm Oil and part Canola Oil.

I was as honest with my customer as I can be giving my customer my own, heartfelt and true feeling about this product. “Don’t use it.”  And here’s why.

Canola oil is a large part of this mixture. Canola oil comes from rapeseed which is extremely high in Omega 6s. When all of us are trying so desperately to decrease Omega 6s in our birds’ overall diets, while attempting to increase Omega 3s, why on earth would we want to use an oil that is considered to be an “industrial” oil that contains high levels of Omega 6s??? We don’t. In addition, most Canola oil is hydrogenated before it is used in any production process. I wouldn’t want to take that chance with my bird’s health.

“Canola” is a made up term from two words: “Canada” and “ola” – Can – ola. Yes, most of the rapeseed comes from Canada and “ola” is a Spanish term for “oil.” So you see “Canola” isn’t even a real oil!

Most likely the manufacturer of this commercial product uses Canola Oil in their product to reduce the cost of manufacturing this product. Canola oil doesn’t really have any real nutritional properties as an industrial oil. Then the manufacturer charges exorbitant prices for this oil touting the benefits of the Palm Oil in their product making huge profits.

While this manufacturer states that the Canola Oil used in their product is non-GMO, they do not state if the Canola Oil they use is not hydrogenated, and most likely it is because most Canola Oil is. Be careful to also read what a product is notor does not contain, those can be red flags just as much as what a product does contain. Most Canola Oil is hydrogenated to keep the Omega 3s it contains from going rancid. Unfortunately during the hydrogenation process the Omega 3s are actually treated with high heat. You might say they are “forced to go rancid”, and then they are deodorized with a chemical solvent leaving a toxic chemical known as “hexane” in the oil. In addition hydrogenation actually increases the Omega 3s by turning them into trans-fatty acids. Those are like Omega 3s on steroids. We all have learned about the dangers of those, haven’t we? Cardiovascular disease is heavily associated with trans-fats. And if you think increasing the Omega 3s is a good thing, think again.

More often than not we are actually attempting to increase Omega 3s in our birds’ diets, but it is possible to get too many in their system, especially when they are artificially produced. Uh oh, there’s that thing again about “food combining” and a “balanced nutritional profile” I keep warning about over and over and over again. Yes, it is important and we do need to make sure our birds’ diets are balanced even if we are feeding a totally fresh, raw diet! –Too many Omega 3s in a bird’s diet can actually cause internal bleeding – hemorrhaging. It is possible to cause our bird to have a hemorrhagic stroke if the blood vessels of said bird lack integrity, are weak and the blood becomes too thin from ingesting too many Omega 3s. And because the Omega 3s are artificially increased during the heat processing of Canola Oil we are asking for trouble.

If you want to use Red Palm Oil in your bird’s diet, why not just purchase 100% cold-pressed, organic Red Palm Oil? It contains naturally occurring Omega 3s, not artificially pumped-up Omega 3s in the form of trans fats. Even at that, you would want to use minuscule amounts of this oil because it too is high in Omega 6s. What you are wanting to derive from Palm Oil (not to be confused with Palm Kernel Oil which is white in color) is the Oleic Acid (Omega 9) and the beta-carotene which converts to Vitamin A.  However, you can provide other foods that supply these nutrients to your bird’s diet.

Organic macadamia nuts, sprouted sunflower seed, sprouted sesame seed, soaked raw almonds in limited amounts provide Oleic Acid and organic mango and papaya from Mexico or Brazil provide beta-carotene.

The bottom line is this folks, most over-the-counter (OTC) remedies are made to make the manufacturer money, period. I have researched so many products only to find “hidden” ingredients used as fillers, buffers and stabilizers the unsuspecting consumer never learns about. It’s those hidden ingredients that end up potentially causing us and our pets more harm than the intended good of the product.

If you will look into the main constituents most of the time you can purchase the main ingredients and feed those to your bird in minuscule amounts yourself. If you have any doubt about how much to offer to your bird contact your trusted avian nutritional consultant or certified veterinary naturopath. Either of these people will be more than happy to help you, but don’t ask them how to administer an over-the-counter remedy, most likely neither of these people will approve of using such products if they are worth their salt.

Ref: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/621/2; http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/510/2; http://draxe.com/canola-oil-gm; http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/08/14/con-ola1.aspx; http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/the-great-con-ola (Processing).

©2.5.16    Machelle Pacion   Passion Tree House LLC   All Rights Reserved