Mustard oil nutrition: glycemic index, calories and diets

Macronutrients and Calories

The macronutrient composition of mustard oil is pretty simple. Mustard oil contains no carbohydrates and no protein. It consists entirely of fats.

Mustard oil contains more fats than 99% of other foods. A 100g of mustard oil has 884 calories, responsible for 154% of your daily value of the average caloric intake. However, the serving size of this oil is only one tablespoon, equalling 14g.

Fats

The most interesting thing about the nutrition of mustard oil is its fat composition.

Mustard oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, which comprise 64.3% of its nutrition. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are in second place with 21g, leaving saturated fats in the last place.

This oil also has no trans fats and contains no cholesterol as a plant-based product.

A fat molecule called allyl isothiocyanate gives the mustard oil its potent smell. This same compound gives mustard, horseradish, and wasabi their specific tastes and scents.

Vitamins

Mustard oil contains no vitamins except for vitamin E in the form of α-tocopherols (10).

Minerals

Mustard oil contains minerals in insignificant amounts.

Allergy

Mustard allergies often manifest in people allergic to it right after consuming any product derived from mustard plants, such as mustard oil, mustard seeds, mustard or cress, and others.

The general symptoms follow the food allergy pattern with rashes, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling of itching, tingling, or swelling in the mouth as part of the oral allergy syndrome. More severe symptoms can include difficulty breathing, severe asthma, and anaphylaxis. Symptoms tend to occur between a few minutes and two hours after eating.

The major allergen found in mustard seeds is a heat-resistant protein also resistant to degradation by proteolytic enzymes. Therefore, processing and cooking the seeds do not eliminate the allergen (2).

According to European Union laws, mustard is one of the 14 major food allergens that has to be listed on a prepackaged product that contains it, even if it appears in small quantities. The reason for that is the prevalence of mustard allergies in some European countries, such as France and Spain. However, it appears to occur much more rarely in the UK (3). Mustard is also considered a priority food allergen by Health Canada (4).

People suffering from mustard allergies are much more likely to be sensitized to other allergens. Some researchers believe mustard sensitivity should be routinely tested in patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis (5).

Mustard allergens were proven to have cross-reactivity between mugwort pollen, one of the primary sources of hay fever and allergic asthma, nuts, legumes, corn, and fruits of the Rosaceae family, including apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, and some berries (6).

The mustard plant belongs to the Brassicaceae family, including cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and canola. People with mustard allergies should be wary of those foods since they can contain very similar proteins to mustard seeds.

Canola oils tend to be refined to the point of containing almost no proteins, so highly refined canola oil poses no threat to people with a mustard allergy. However, being less refined, cold-pressed canola oil can contain residual protein and should be avoided. Rapeseed oil can also be cold-pressed and pose a health risk (7).

Mustard allergy is diagnosed by a skin prick test or through antibodies in a blood test. People with a mustard allergy are advised always to carry an epinephrine auto-injector if they are going to eat anything.

Diabetes

A study about the effects of edible oils on type 2 diabetes mellitus concluded that mustard oil was second in place based on its benefits after sesame oil.

Mustard oil increases the levels of high-density lipoprotein, which is called the “good” cholesterol. It absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver to be removed from the body later. It was not found to significantly decrease low-density lipoprotein, known as “bad” cholesterol. Mustard oil also had some effects in decreasing very low-density lipoprotein (8).

Traditional cooking oils, such as mustard, could reduce the risk of dyslipidemia, atherosclerotic heart disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Mustard oil is said to enhance the activity of pancreatic beta cells and increase insulin secretion. It also contains elaidic acid and vitamin E, which are protective in diabetic conditions (9).

Some research has indicated that trans fats significantly cause insulin failure and high-fat oxidation. The absence of trans fats in mustard oil can benefit insulin control in the body (10).

Cancer

Mustard oil contains phytonutrients such as glucosinolate, which has antibiotic, fungicidal, and anticarcinogenic effects. This phytonutrient is also said to protect against colorectal and gastrointestinal cancers (10).

Glucosinolates are also called mustard oil glycosides, from which mustard oils are enzymatically hydrolyzed. It has potent antioxidant qualities, which protect the cell DNA from damage; therefore, it inhibits mutations and potential oncogenesis. In particular, a glycoside called sulforaphane, which can also be found in high amounts in other plants of the Brassicaceae family, broccoli and its sprouts, has been studied to target most cancer stem cells, which are typically not affected by conventional cancer treatments (11).

Mustard oil can also effectively protect against and prevent colon cancer due to its high concentration of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (12).

Another compound that mustard oil is rich in is allyl isothiocyanate organosulfur. It has expressed various anticancer qualities in culture cancer cell lines and animal tumor models. It has also inhibited the growth of various human cancer cell lines, such as colorectal carcinoma, lung cancer, leukemia, breast adenocarcinoma, bladder cancer, neuroblastoma, hepatoma, and prostate cancer cells. These effects probably involve mechanisms like DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Allyl isothiocyanate can potentially be used in cancer treatment (13).

However, one study found that consuming high mustard oil can increase the risk of gallbladder cancer. Therefore, reduced consumption of mustard oil might have a preventative effect on gallbladder cancer (14).

Cardiovascular

One research has concluded that using mustard oil instead of sunflower oil when frying can decrease the risk of developing ischemic heart disease due to the concentration of α-linoleic acid in mustard oil. α-Linoleic acid reduces blood platelets' adhesion and aggregation qualities, decreasing the risk of thrombosis and myocardial infarction (15).

Mustard oil can also be one of the healthiest choices among edible oils due to its favorable linoleic acid to α-linoleic acid ratio, low saturated fat, and high monounsaturated fat content, along with its relative stability during cooking. Epidemiologic studies among Indians suggest that consumption of mustard oil can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (16).

However, another study showed a positive correlation between coronary heart disease and increased consumption of mustard oil. This may be due to the high oleic and erucic acid content. The study suggests that the total consumption of mustard oil per month should be less than 1.75-2.06L (17).

In the kitchen, ghee, an Indian clarified butter, may be favorable over mustard oil for the blood lipid profile (18).

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial compared mustard and fish oil to placebo treatment in individuals with suspected acute myocardial infarction. After one year, the mustard and fish oils groups expressed significantly fewer total cardiac events. The mustard and fish oil groups also showed significantly reduced nonfatal infarctions, total cardiac arrhythmias, left ventricular enlargement, and angina pectoris. These effects may be due to the high content of omega-3 fatty acids and reduced oxidative stress (19).

One study found that mustard oil alone produced ambivalent results in blood lipid levels. However, a mixture of mustard and sunflower oil showed a favorable result, decreasing the levels of total cholesterol, low-density cholesterol, very low-density cholesterol, and increasing high-density cholesterols levels (20).

Mustard oil has also been suggested to have digestion-stimulating, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and other effects (10), as well as the ability to reduce body temperature, protect from eye and throat irritation, protect children from asthma, allergic cold and asthmatic eczema (21).

Arthritis

There are several studies that show the effectiveness of mustard oil massages on people with arthritis. Warm mustard oil may reduce the joint pain (37). High omega-3 fatty acid content lowers the stiffness and symptoms of arthritis other than pain.