Nutritional properties of camelina oil

The nutritional properties of camelina oil: the healthy plant oil you've probably never heard of. 

High Omega 3 - 36g per 100g!

Cold pressed camelina oil is one of the richest plant sources of Omega-3. Ours has 36g of Omega 3 per 100g! You've probably heard of Omega-3s. These essential fatty acids are used in our cell membranes to allow them to function normally. They are especially concentrated in our eyes and brains, which is why there's interest in Omega-3s for brain health. Omega-3s are also beneficial for cardiovascular health: they can lower triglyceride levels, prevent plaque build up and lower blood pressure. 

There are several different types of Omega-3. The one found in plants is called alpha-linolenic acid (or 'ALA'). ALA is what's in camelina oil. Your body works to convert ALA into other forms of Omega-3 to use. ALA has been associated with decreases in all cause mortality and reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, although the exact mechanisms aren't fully understood (Cambiaggi et al, 2023). It contributes to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels.

(Sources are listed at the end of page could put them here though as links - graph needs updating)

Omega 3: Omega 6 ratio

Our camelina oil has approximately a 2:5 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids. This is important because our diets are typically proportionally too high in Omega-6. Some Omega-6 is essential for our bodies to work normally, but too much can cause problems. 

Scientists are still trying to determine the optimal ratio, but there are suggestions that we evolved to have a ratio of 1:1, but Western diets are typically around 15:1 (Simopoulos, 2002)! This imbalance is believed to be linked to all kinds of problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune diseases. ALA is believed to be converted to other forms of Omega-3 (DHA and EPA) by the same enzyme that processes Omega-6 (Cambiaggi et al, 2023). This means that the high Omega-6 in our diets could be reducing how much ALA can be converted into DHA and EPA by our bodies. 

Naturally occurring antioxidants

Camelina oil naturally contains a wide range of high in antioxidants, including Vitamin E, sterols, polyphenols and flavonoids (Kurasiak-Popowska et al., 2022). 

High in Vitamin E

Camelina is typically high in Vitamin E which helps to protect cells from oxidative stress. There are several different types of Vitamin E. The most common one is alpha-tocopherol, which has been most widely studied. Camelina oil has high gamma-tocopherol, which works a bit differently. While alpha-tocopherol seems to inhibit free radicals from being produced, gamma-tocopherol is believed to scavenge and neutralise free radicals in the body (Jiang, 2014). Gamma-tocopherol is becoming of considerable interest for it's potential in preventing diseases associated with inflammation, such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Lewis et al., 2018).

High in unsaturated fats

Our camelina oil is over 90% unsaturated fat. Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats in the diet has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol. And high cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease

Interesting studies 

There is increasing interest in the health benefits of camelina, and there is a lot still to learn about this crop. Here are a few that we've come across: 

Data used in charts: 

  • McCance and Widdowson's Composition of foods integrated dataset, Public Health England
  • Mazzocchi et al., 2021, Frontiers in Pysiology.
  • European Food Information Resource
  • Lab analysis of our camelina (UKAS certified, available on request)