Why skip seed oils? How?
Overview
Commonly known as “vegetable oils”, seed oils include corn, cottonseed, soy, canola, peanut, sesame, rice bran, grape seed, and sunflower oils. They are typically refined, bleached, and deodorized. They result from high heat, high pressure, chemical solvents, and deodorization. They are not “heart healthy“. They were originally used to make soap and candles. Later, they were obtained as by-products (unused seeds) of food processing, after the stainless steel rolling press was invented at the end of the nineteenth century. The process denatures the oil and makes it inflammatory for many a digestion. Technically, they are high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as linoleic acid.
Processed vegetable (seed) oils are used in almost all processed, packaged foods, because they are cheap, not because they are healthy.
By contrast, olive oil and coconut oil are pressed at room temperature and not processed. Coconut oil can resist heat, so it is often used for healthy frying and to cook sautés.
Other vegetable (seed) oils, such as hemp, flax, and pumpkin seed oils, are eaten cold-pressed and unprocessed. These oils can be healthy. They are not heat-treated nor the result of toxic solvents. Technically, hemp, flax, and pumpkin seed oils have more omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce inflammation for many people. They require refrigeration. They are not to be used for cooking. They can go rancid easily.
Saturated fats, such as coconut oil, and animal fats, such as butter, have been blamed in error for many years. The real distinction is between highly processed vegetable oils (industrial seed oils), which tend to be unhealthy for many people, and raw, unprocessed oils and fats, such as coconut oil, butter, olive oil, hemp, pumpkin, and flaxseed oil, which tend to healthy for many people.
What are seed oils? Where are they found? How are they produced?
Seed oils are vegetable oils obtained from the seeds of plants, usually extracted under heavy pressure and processed with heat and other treatments. To repeat, seed oils include corn, cottonseed, soy, canola, sunflower, peanut, sesame, rice bran, and safflower. These oils are found in supermarkets. They are used by most restaurants for frying, for example for frying potatoes. They are often found in many processed, packaged foods.
History of processed vegetable oils
As Dr. Jason Fung MD points out, the production and consumption of cottonseed oil began with the waste product of cotton, which was harvested for fiber and fabrics to make clothes. For every hundred kilos of fiber, there are one hundred and sixty-two kilos of cotton seeds that are largely useless. In 1911, these seeds were processed and marketed as “Crisco”, which was promoted in free recipe books as a “healthy alternative” to lard.
Seventh Day Adventists and other gung-ho vegans promoted abstinence from eating animals, and Crisco took off. In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower had a high-profile heart attack, which was attributed by Ancel Keys, a prominent academic, to eating too much fat. Without proof of cause and effect, animal fat and cholesterol were eagerly blamed for gaining weight and susceptibility to heart attacks. There was little or no distinction between healthy, natural, traditional fats and processed fats in the form of hydrogenated, processed vegetable oils. Lately, there has been a public awareness that these processed vegetable oils contain “trans fats”. They have been modified chemically to try to keep them stable on store shelves, but the processing denatures them, rendering them inflammatory to many a digestive system.
By the 1950s, cottonseed oil itself was becoming expensive. Crisco once again turned to a cheaper alternative, soybean oil. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) declared the switch from lard and other saturated fats to trans-fat laden, partially hydrogenated oils to be “a great boon to Americans’ arteries”. Soybean oil is now the most heavily consumed vegetable oil in the USA. “Do not eat butter”, they said. Instead, replace it with the partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (read: trans-fats) known as margarine. That edible tub of plastic was much healthier than the butter that humans had been consuming for at least three thousand years, they said.
Industrial seed oils, such as cottonseed are high in the omega-six fat linoleic acid, which is also found in eggs, nuts, and seeds, but Crisco introduced an isolated and adulterated type of linoleic acid. These omega-six seed oils can now be found in nearly all processed foods and in grocery aisles in plastic bottles for cooking. These oils are highly susceptible to heat, light, and air, and are exposed to all three during their processing. Again, they can inflame many a digestive system.
The truth is inside you. “Look for the truth, and your health will follow,” as Dr. Herbert Shelton, MD, said.
Fat does not make you fat.
Contrary to the popular belief, healthy fats do not make you fat. It is sugar and refined grains, such as wheat flour and pasta, that make you fat. If you cut the sugar and the refined grains, substituting stevia and either certain vegetables or even meat, then you can lose the fat.
Why avoid seed oils?
They are removed from their natural state. They are heat-treated and processed in a way that denatures them and renders them unhealthy for many people. They contain mostly fats known as omega-six fatty acids, which inflame the digestion of many people.
What are healthy oils and fats?
Your brain is about sixty percent fat. Fats and oils are necessary for the health of the brain.
Healthy oils and fats are not heat-treated, not bleached, and not deodorized. They include coconut oil (for frying and to resist high heat), olive oil, hemp seed oil, and flax seed oil, among others. Coconut oil has other healthy uses than for high-heat cooking.
Unlike industrial seed oils, black seed oil (from Nigella sativa) is not refined. It has been used since ancient Egypt as medicine. In small amounts, at most half a teaspoon, black seed oil has proven benefits that make it healthy for many people. It is also known as black cumin seed oil. One half to one teaspoon can be used to reduce inflammation, including relieving symptoms of arthritis (inflamed joints) and bronchitis (inflamed lungs), according to both traditional use in northern Africa and modern research.
Dr. Cate Shanahan MD describes healthy fats and oils versus unhealthy.
You can make a natural adhesive remover from coconut oil, baking soda, and essential oil of orange.
What if you do not digest any oils well?
The digestive enzyme known as alkaline phosphatase is required to break down oils, fats, nuts, and seeds. According to Dr. Peter D’Adamo, people with blood types A and AB tend to excrete less of this enzyme than those with blood types O and AB.
This means that if you have blood type A or AB, you may be less able to digest oils, fats, nuts, and seeds. A few peanuts may be healthiest for your digestion. If you have blood type O or B, then you may be able to digest a handful or more of nuts at a time, at the end of a meal or between meals as a snack.
According to blood type eating, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts are healthy for both blood types O and A.
References
Gillespie, David, “Toxic Oil“, Penguin, 2013, podcast summary
Hyman MD, Dr. Mark, “Eat Fat. Get Thin.“, Hachette, 2016
Mercola DC, Dr. Joe, “Fat for Fuel“, Hay House, 2017
Lai MD, Dr. Michelle, and Asha Kasaraneni, “The Liver Healing Diet“, Ulysses, 2015
Masley MD, Dr. Steven, “Smart Fat: Eat More Fat. Lose More Weight. Get Healthy Now.“, Harper, 2016
Morrell, Sally Fallon, and Enig, Mary, “Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats“, Plume, 2006
Teicholz, Nina, “The Big Fat Surprise“, Simon Schuster, 2014, :36 video, critical (vegan) review
Teicholz, Nina, “Vegetable Oils: The Untold Story and the US Dietary Guidelines“, :35 video
Mercola DC, Dr. Joe, “The Case Against Processed Vegetable Oils“, Organic Consumers Association
Goodrich, Tucker, “Sinning with Seed Oils – are Vegetable Oils Healthy?“, 2:14 video
Mercola DC, Dr. Joe, “Linoleic Acid – Interview with Tucker Goodrich“, 2:02 video
Knobbe MD, Dr. Chris, “Diseases of Civilization: Are Seed Oil Excesses the Unifying Mechanism?“, :45 video
Knobbe MD, Dr. Chris, “Processed oils are at the core of nearly all disease“, article & video
Noakes, Professor Tim, “The Cholesterol Hypothesis: 10 Key Ideas that the Diet Dictators Have Hidden“, 3:00 video
“The $100 Billion Dollar Ingredient Making Your Food Toxic“, on industrial seed oils, :28 video, other
“Omega 3s Explained: Why Fatty Acids Are Essential“, Touchstone Essentials, :22 video
“Best Kept Secrets to Prevent, Halt, or Even Reverse Macular Degeneration” GreenMedInfo, Jan. 2, 2021
“Conference Reveals Health Risks of Seed Oils“, EpochTimes, 9 March 2022
“Why Some Fats Are Good, and Some Are Bad“, KnowTheCause.com, article, recipes
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“61 Health Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids“, GreenMedInfo.com, article
“Iron and Vegetable Oil Are a Deadly Combo“, EpochTimes, article
“Fats that Heal Fats that Kill“, Udo Erasmus, 1:03 video
“Chia Seeds & Their Omega-3 Fatty Acid Content“, HealWithFood.org, article
“Grind Your Chia Seeds“, Dr. Michael Greger MD, article
“How to Eat Chia Seeds: Whole, Ground, Soaked or Raw?“, Dr. Josh Axe DC, article
“7 Health Benefits Of Oil Pulling (With Tutorial)“, HerbsHealthHappiness, article
“Olive Oil – Medicine Produced by Nature“, Dr. Emeran Meyer, MD, article
“7 Surprising Benefits of Black Cumin Seed Oil“, theartofantiaging.com, article
“How Eliminating Vegetable Oil (AKA the Hateful 8 Seed Oils) Helps Weight Loss“, Dr. Cate, article
“Fats, functions & malfunctions“, Ray Peat Ph.D., article with references
“Coconut Oil“, Ray Peat Ph.D., article with references
“Unhealthy health foods – 10 ‘healthy’ foods to avoid“, Dr. Eric Zielinski, DC, article with references
“How Industrial Seed Oils Are Making Us Sick“, Chris Kresser, article
“How Canola Oil is Made“, Discovery and Science Channel, :05 video
“The Incredible Power of Coconut Oil“, TheTruthAboutCancer, :06 video
“Canola seed and oil processing“, Canola Council of Canada, process description, article
“List of Good Fats and Oils versus Bad“, Dr. Cate Shanahan, MD, article
“15 Reasons to Keep Coconut Oil in Your Bathroom“, Dr. Joe Mercola DC, article
“What Most People Don’t Know About Omega Fatty Acids“, Alliance for Natural Health, article
“8 Healthiest Cooking Oils: The Definitive Ranking (And Which Ones To Skip)“, mindbodygreen, article
“Popular processed oils linked to cancer“, Olivia Cook, NaturalNews, article
“The #1 Worst Food for Your Heart (Hint: It’s Not Sugar)“, Dr. Eric Berg, DC, article
Gershuni V. M., (2018). Saturated Fat: Part of a Healthy Diet, Curr Nutr Rep. 2018 Sep;7(3):85-96.
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