Stop Using Crappy Seed Oil
Industrial seed oils are oils made from the seeds of plants such as corn, soybean, cotton, sunflower and safflower. Historically they’ve been used in a variety of applications from manufacturing products such as perfumes, cosmetics, lubricants, pet-food additives and biodiesel fuel. It is actually their use in the preparation and manufacturing of so many products that gave them the name “industrial” seed oils. Today they are marketed as heart-healthy and used in just about all processed, packaged and refined foods as well as being the primary cooking fat used in restaurant kitchens. I would argue that these oils should be minimized because they are high in omega 6 fatty acids that contribute to inflammation. They are easily oxidized (damaged), which is associated with numerous modern inflammatory diseases. There is also NO strong evidence that seed oils protect against heart disease. In fact, there is evidence suggesting increased risk of heart disease.
It should be our goal to have an omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio that is 1 to 1. This is very difficult when you are consuming vegetable oils or industrial seed oils because they are very high in omega-6. Today, this ratio ranges from 10 to 1 to 20 to 1 and as high as 25 to 1. The consequences to human health of an omega 6:3 ratio that is 25 times higher than it should be is an increase in inflammatory diseases including cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and cancer.
Leave a bottle of processed seed oil open on the counter for a week and you will notice a change in its smell. It has gone rancid or oxidized. Unsaturated fats like the ones found in processed seed oils and olive oil are VERY delicate and oxidize easily. This is the reason olive oil should not be heated - so its chemical structure stays intact and the body can use it as it was intended. The problem with processed seed oil is that high heat, bleach and deodorization are used in its manufacturing. These processes can cause the oil to go rancid before it is even bottled.
The American Heart Association recommends that we should use liquid vegetable oils and non-fat cooking sprays whenever possible. They also warn against coconut oil because even though it is a "vegetable oil" it is high in saturated fat. The AHA is working off research that was done between 1961 and 1984. There were 6 studies that isolated a single variable - replacing saturated fat with vegetable oil. Three of the studies found no difference, two studies found that replacing saturated fat with vegetable oil increased the risk of heart disease and one study had mixed findings. More recent research that studied the effects of omega-3s and omega-6s separately found that vegetable oils high in omega-6s did not prevent heart disease and in fact may actually increase the risk
Industrial seed oils are killing us but fat is not bad! We need fat to be able to absorb the fat soluble vitamins in the food that we are eating. Fat is essential for cell construction, nerve function, digestion, and for the formation of the hormones that regulate everything from metabolism to circulation. The membranes of every cell in your body are composed of fat molecules. Your brain is composed of more than 60% fat and cholesterol. We need to stop using the crappy oils - industrial seed oils. But, you must replace them by adding healthy fats to your diet.
