The Slippery Slope of Seed Oils
What's the fuss with the “Hateful Eight”?
I have a confession: I feel remiss about not wading into the debate on seed oils, a topic that has been stewing in the health and wellness space for quite some time. Until now, I’ve refrained from making waves on this issue, but now that the mainstream news cycle is muddying the waters, I feel compelled to share my position.
Just in case you aren’t aware, there is quite a brouhaha between two distinct camps of thought over the vegetable and seed oils that many Americans use for cooking and which are found in most of the thousands of processed food products lining the grocery shelves. You know the ones. For the last several decades, they have been touted as “heart-healthy” and even featured a comforting little heart symbol on the front of the bottle.
One side, let’s call them Side A, holds that vegetable oils such as canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran oils (known as “the Hateful Eight”) are at the root of much that ails the American diet. Side A’s experts tend to be naturopathic and holistic medical practitioners, as well as popular health and wellness enthusiasts. Their preferred oils are olive, avocado, coconut, macadamia nut, and butter and animal fats. Side B’s authorities are mostly the allopathic medical and scientific community, legacy media, and industrial agriculture. They contend there is no conclusive scientific evidence to support Side A’s position; they cite many of their own positive studies and thus continue to promote the use of industrialized vegetable oils.
While this has long been a niche topic within the wellness community, it has recently gained considerable traction due to several high-profile government hearings and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr.’s position is that these heavily processed vegetable oils are poisoning Americans, and he advocates for lessening their overall consumption and employing swaps such as using the once-popular beef tallow for deep frying in fast food restaurants.
What’s the fuss?
A fatty acid balance battle
Side A’s preferred fruit and nut oils (the aforementioned olive, avocado, coconut, and macadamia nut oils) are high in omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat. These are considered "healthy fats," which the body does not produce but are essential for various bodily functions and have been linked to numerous health benefits. The three main omega-3 fatty acids—EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and ALA (alpha-linolenic acid)—are obtained through food and are vital for building brain cells and supporting heart and immune health, among other critical functions.
On the flip side, Side B’s seed oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids, which include linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. These are also essential polyunsaturated fats, not produced by the body. They are indispensable for maintaining healthy cellular function and play a role in various bodily processes, such as cardiovascular and inflammatory responses.
Interesting. Both fatty acids are critical to the health of our cells and drive vital functions. So what’s the problem? The key is in the balance. Our bodies require both types of fatty acids, with an optimum ratio of 1:1. Unfortunately, with the pervasive and abundant use of “healthy” vegetable oils in cooking and their nearly exclusive use in processed food production, there is a tremendous dietary imbalance in the average person, as high as 20:1, with omega-6 being the higher number.
Therein lies one of the core issues. An overabundance of linoleic acid (LA) can disrupt healthy cellular function and contribute to inflammation by reducing tissue levels of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Excessive LA intake can also lead to the formation of harmful metabolites and impairments in mitochondrial function, potentially contributing to chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease.
Process imperfect
But there is another reason that this group of seemingly healthy oils has earned the moniker “the Hateful Eight” and become Side A’s target for elimination: extreme processing. Of course, all oils are extracted through some process; the point of difference is the specific process used.
Side A’s fruit (yes, olives and avocados are considered fruits) and nut oil extraction methods are relatively gentle in nature. Though typically referred to as “pressed” oils, they are actually expressed through a grinding and kneading action that is usually a cold-temperature process with minimal steps.
Although Side B’s seeds and vegetables start with a similar grinding process, that’s where the similarities end. Because crushing alone yields less oil (and these are tiny seeds), many processes utilize a chemical solvent, such as hexane, to dissolve the oil from the flesh. Aside from the fact that a synthetic chemical has now been introduced, it takes a great deal of additional processing to then remove the solvent. Strike one.
Additionally, as opposed to a cold method which preserves the integrity of Side A’s nutrients, high heat is often used in Side B’s dissolving processes, which can cause off odors and free radicals that are damaging to health. Strike two.
Finally, there is Side B’s refining process, which includes up to four steps: degumming to remove phospholipids that can cause instability; neutralization, which removes free fatty acids to reduce acidity; bleaching, which removes color pigments, residual metals, and other impurities; and deodorization, which eliminates unwanted odors and flavors. Strike three.
Remember, one of the downsides of ultra-processing is that at every step, microplastics or heavy metals can seep into the mix. That, combined with the litany of chemicals, is why warning flags are being raised for these ultra-processing methods and their impact on health.
Origin and evolution matters
Historically, there is evidence that shows olive oil production dating back to 6000 BC in Israel; palm and coconut oil appeared in 4000 BC in Egypt; and soybean oil has been traced to 1000 AD in China. Interestingly, when I think of olives, avocados, macadamia nuts, peanuts, or even soybeans, they have oily characteristics, so it’s not a stretch of the imagination to understand how they can be transformed into oil. But corn? I don’t think of corn as oily. Or rapeseeds (the ill-named source of canola oil)? Does anyone even eat rapeseeds? I don’t even know what they are.
In contrast to the legacy of olive oil, many vegetable oils emerged as industrial byproducts. Take cotton production in the late 1800s, for instance. While the cotton gin facilitated a booming industry, an awful, gunky waste byproduct caused quite a production issue. Although in its raw form it was quite toxic to humans and animals alike, entrepreneurs William Proctor and James Gamble seized the opportunity to utilize new methods to turn the leftover cottonseed oil into a creamy, buttery substance.
What was once garbage, fertilizer, and cattle feed, was introduced to the world by Proctor and Gamble in 1911 as Crisco. Yum!
Leading with logic
Unfortunately, highly effective marketing campaigns have trumpeted these industrialized oils as heart-healthy for decades. Corroborated by innumerable studies supporting this contention, most of the population believes that these oils are perfectly fine, if not beneficial.
Although there are undoubtedly many benefits to studies, they can be a double-edged sword, especially in human diet situations where many confounding lifestyle variables can significantly impact the outcome. Furthermore, examining which studies get selected for funding and who funds them calls into question what information ultimately sees the light of day. Then throw in techniques like “data modeling,” and I start to be leery of studies that don’t align with logic or the hard data that Americans have more chronic diseases now than at any time in history.
Perhaps just one of these Hateful Eight wouldn’t be so bad in a pantry—although seriously, do you want to consume anything that had to be degummed and deodorized?! But combined with the ubiquitous presence of these oils in absolutely all processed foods, it’s easy to see how the balance of omega-3 to omega-6 is catastrophically thrown off, causing damaging inflammation throughout our bodies.
Furthermore, it’s not logical to think that such an extreme industrial process could produce a healthy product that our bodies can recognize and utilize for nutritional benefit. I believe they wreak havoc on our metabolic health and contribute to the poor state of our overall health.
I’ve recounted this story before, but when my mom moved in with us (we took care of her for thirteen years), she was addicted to ruinous ultra-processed foods and was considered morbidly obese. My strategy was to wean her from her beloved, better-than-butter spreads and anything packaged. Combining this approach with the simple act of making most of her meals with whole, fresh foods resulted in an 80-pound weight loss and the elimination of all her medications, which, for a sedentary 88-year-old woman, was quite remarkable.
Team A
As I’m a firm believer that our bodies function best on natural foods that have evolved alongside us, I am squarely on Side A, but it didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a slow progression over the last two decades; I think the last time a bottle of safflower oil was in our home was probably 18 years ago. It has been replaced by olive oil for dressings and dunking and avocado oil for cooking. I also only use real, full-fat butter made from grass-fed cows. (I’m not on the tallow wagon, mostly because I don’t eat beef, but if I did, I would be.) Those are the easy items.
The more challenging items are packaged foods. At least one of the Hateful Eight is in nearly everything. Although I make most of our meals from scratch, I still purchase a few minimally processed things, such as olives, bread, and crackers, and I’ve become fanatical about reading labels to avoid the slippery seed oil slope.
From my own experience, I believe wholeheartedly that inflammaging is at the root of being generally unhealthy and aging poorly, and avoiding the seed oils that contribute to it is one tool in the arsenal to live well, age great.
Thank you for sharing such in-depth information. You clearly know the lengthy and complex process of oil refining. As I mentioned, there are knowledgeable and passionate people on both sides of the ongoing oil debate, and I assume it will continue for some time.
For me, the critical aspect of w-6 is not the percentage in a single oil, but that a wide range of these oils are in nearly everything people eat, which is where there becomes an overabundance that creates an imbalance.
From what I have researched and through my own experience, the closer our food is to its original form, the healthier we will be. Full stop. I believe this wholeheartedly.
As far as the processing, I believe that no amount of chemical is insignificant because it accumulates with all the other seemingly insignificant exposures to become significant. Chemicals or no chemicals, I prefer minimal steps. The process outlined demonstrates all the added points at which microplastics or heavy metals can seep into the mix. This is becoming increasingly concerning due to their presence in many foods, which has a cumulative effect. Take, for instance, the use of “naturally mined minerals.” How does the average consumer know what those minerals are? How are they mined? How are they stored? What trace of those are there in the end product, and after years of digesting them, what is the result? Many steps create many questions.
No process is perfect, but for me, the simpler, the better.
I appreciate you sharing your comprehensive thoughts. The subject of oils and fats is clearly very complex and nuanced. I mentioned in my post that some of these oils, in and of themselves, may not be deleterious if used solely for cooking, but the widespread use of them in nearly all ultra-processed foods creates a situation where people are consuming them in far greater amounts than they were once intended.
That is where many people far smarter than I are sounding alarm bells that they may be contributing to the harmful inflammation that is wreaking havoc on America’s health. People like Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. William Li, Dr. Casey Means, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, Dr. Dale Breseden, and Dr. Catherine Shanahan, to name a few.
I agree with you that evolution and geography is integral to people’s metabolic composition and needs. To your point about India and vegetarians, while they may not get their Omega 3 from oils, they can get it from various vegetarian sources such as flax, chia, and hemp seeds, walnuts, and kidney beans. Their bodies may have adapted to utilize vegetarian sources better than others. Interestingly, from a quick search according to The Indian Express, 72% of Indians eat fish, and consumption has increased almost threefold from 2005 to 2021, so the majority are getting their Omega-3 from some fish.
I have been a pescatarian for over 40 years and in the years that I didn’t eat much fish, I was very mindful to consume foods high in Omega 3 such as dark leafy greens, kidney beans, flax seeds, and nuts, so I know it is achievable.
Ultimately, with so many confusing choices, I aim to distill my diet down to clean, tried-and-true foods. I’ve chosen olive oil as our mainstay to keep it simple since it has been around since biblical times, and it is very well studied with proven anti-inflammatory benefits. So far, it has proven very effective for my family’s health.
Granted, there will always be people on both sides of the debate, but that helps fuel investigation and discussion.