Enova Cooking Oil

A New Kind of Cooking Oil: Scanning the shelves of my local grocery store, I noticed a new kind of cooking oil, one that claims to be very different from the rest, yet it is not a fat substitute. The makers of Enova claim that less of its oil is stored in the body as fat. Let’s take a closer look.

Who Is It Made By?: Enova oil is the product of ADM Kao, which is a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), based in Decatur, Illinois, and the Kao Corporation of Japan.

What Is It?: Enova oil is essentially a blend of soybean and canola oils. Nutritionally, Enova is similar to regular vegetable oils. A tablespoon still delivers 120 calories and 14 grams of fat, so it is not a low fat or low calorie oil.

Is Enova A Heart Healthy Oil?: Most of its fat is unsaturated, with the balance tipped towards polyunsaturated fat (8g) rather than monounsaturated fat (5g). Both types help lower levels of bad cholesterol, but polyunsaturated fat can also lower levels of good cholesterol. The ratio of Omega 6 fatty acids to the more beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids in Enova is 10:1. Ideally this ratio should be closer to 3:1, since excess consumption of Omega 6 has been linked to high blood pressure, inflammation and other chronic diseases.

Are there any Saturated Fats or Trans Fats in Enova Oil?: At half a gram per serving, Enova’s saturated fat content is lower than that of its closest counterparts (canola oil has 1 gram of saturated fat). Enova claims to have 0g of trans fat per serving (which is one tablespoon), yet it has not gained approval in European markets because of, among other things, stated concerns about Enova Oil's trans-fatty-acid content.

How Does Enova Oil Work?: The key to Enova brand oil is that it is metabolized differently than other oils, which means more of it is burned and less of it is stored as fat, even though the body absorbs it in the same way as conventional fat.

Enova is produced through a process that increases natural diacylglycerol (DAG) levels, over triacylglycerols (TAG), which are the main components of regular oils. The lower intestine treats these particular DAG fats differently. Instead of being repackaged and stored in the body as fat, these special DAG molecules are filtered into the bloodstream and broken down in the liver instead. Substituting Enova for conventional oils may help lower blood lipid levels, especially triglycerides. Although research is still continuing, initial studies have shown reductions in post-meal triglyceride levels of more than 30%; other studies showed some fat loss, too.

Although Enova oil has been available in the United States since January 2005, it has been sold in Japan under the brand name Healthy Econa Cooking Oil since 1999, and has become Japan's bestselling cooking oil.

Light in color and mild in taste, Enova oil has been given GRAS status—“generally recognized as safe”—by the Food and Drug Administration, which means it can be used for home cooking, as well as an ingredient in salad dressings, mayonnaise, spreads and other processed foods.

For more information, check out Enova’s web site.