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Seed and vegetable oils are causing major controvesy in the nutritional world, but all the confusion and shouting doesn't help you decide if these oils should be part of your diet. So I aim to clear up some of the confusion for you here.

These oils use a high amount of chemicals in thier production and manufacturing process which could be damaging, the fact that the manufacturing process damages the chemical structure of the oil - which then gets damaged further when we heat it up - as well as the general lack of nutrional contenet. They argue that you get all the calories with out any nutrition.

There is little to no proof that these oils are actually harmful when we consume them. The main area of confusion here is that these oils are usually found within unhealthy foods themselves  (ultra processed, takeaway foods) which can skew the argument to the fact it might be these foods that is causing these undesired outcomes, not the oils themselves. They also profess that studies indicate the use of these oils reduces overall LDL levels in cholesterol panels.

They are oils that use the seeds, fruit or pulp from plants. These oils are relatively new to our food environment, only being introduced in the early 1900's. The inclusion of vegetable and seed oils into almost all processed foods has happened slowly in ever increasing amounce since then. The seeds and vegetable parts are fed into machines that follow varying steps along the processesing path (dependant on the product being processed) these steps include: cleaning, drying, dehulling, solvent (chemical) extraction, cleaning (to remove chemical residue), drying, decolourization, deodorizing, and finally you get the finished product.

This then produces a poly unsaturated fat, that you will also hear described as an Omega 6 fat.

In 1960's a guy named Ancel Keys, who was an  American physiologist, carried out a study that linked saturated fat (our traditionally used fat) to heart disease. From there the american heart association began to advise that we reduce saturated fat and include more vegetable and seed oils. 

These oils include:

• Sunflower oil
• Soybean oil
• Rapeseed oil
• Corn oil
• Rice bran oil

Our traditionally used oils (dependant on where you were in the world) would have been:

• Lard
• Ghee
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Duck/Goose fat
• Avocado oil

Traditional fats are made up of mostly saturated fats and mono unsaturated fats. To understand what a fat looks like, imagine a dining table - the main body of the table is made up of many carbon atoms held together by a link, it looks something like this:

C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C

Saturated fat has hydrogens (we will imagine them as chairs) that sit on both sides of each carbon atom. Effectively making a hydrogen shield around the table. Saturated fats include Lard, Butter, Tallow, Coconut oil, Goose/Duck fat, 

   H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-H

   H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H

Saturated fat has been shown to increase LDL cholesterol in studies.

Mono unsaturated fats have one hydrogen missing, mono meaning one. This is oil like Avocado and Olive oil.

   H-H-H-H-H-H-H

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-H

   H-H   H-H-H-H-H

This missing hydrogen leaves the carbon atoms open to degredation from inflammatory molecules. But with only one hydrogen missing, this happens less frequently than with polyunsaturated fats/oils.

Mono unsaturated fat have shown to reduce LDL and Triglycerides and increase HDL levels in cholesterol panels.

Polyunsaturated oils have multiple missing hydrogens, which means that these oils are more prone to becoming rancid and denatured. Polyunsaturated fats include Sunflower, Corn, Rapeseed, Soybean, Rice Bran.

   H-H   H-H    H-H-H    H

H -C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-H

         H-H-H-      H-H-H

So if we know that seed and vegetable oils can be damaged in the making of them, and we know that due to them being poly unsaturated they can be easily degraded when used for cooking, or being heated, is it not much safer to stick with the saturated and mono unsaturated fats and oils?

Until we have some really robust studies that seperate the use of processed foods and polyunsaturad oils (that study might look  at people who eat a whole food diet, without any UPF but do use seed and vegetable oil to cook with),  I will er on the side of caution and stick to using traditional fats and oils, that we have eaten for milenia. I think the most safest approach is to use saturated fats  for flavour and to finish a dish for enjoyment, I eat butter and use ghee to cook my eggs, yummy. I buy bone marrow and eat the beautiful buttery centre, but I also do not deep fry foods. 

I use mono unsaturated fats when cooking (onions for a spag bol for instance) and to drizzle on salads.

I would not be concerned to eat polyunsaturated oils once in a while, but making the stand that these foods can easily become pro inflammatory and are best avoided, reduces the amount of grab and go, fast food that you eat. The argument for reducing the amount of UPF cannot ever be challenged. The use of Ultra Processed Foods as a standard inclusions into our every day diet has, in my opinion, caused no end of harm to the nations health.

Disproportionaly high intake of polyunsaturated fats or Omega 6 oils may also be of concern as we traditionally had an Omega 6 to 3 ratio of  1:1 or 2:1. we now see omega 6 to 3 ratio intake sits at around 15:1. We need Omega 6 fats to be healthy, but they are the pro inflammatory pathway, and too much input here means we drive inflammation beyond the point that can be easily managed within the body.

We see our population becoming ever increasingly inflammed, ever increasingly obese and with ever increasing amounts of metabolic and cellular disease (Type 2 Diabetes, Cardio vascular disease and cancers). By labeling polyunsaturated fats as 'healthy' it can lead to over consumption as the bias for concern is reduced.

In summery what are some actionable tips you can take away from this review of oils:

• Reduce your intake of fried and processed foods. By prioritising whole food sources of Omega 6 you will get all the benefits of this compound: whole nuts and seeds.
• Increase your intake of whole food omega 3. Oily fish. I use the accronym SMASH which stands for Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovy, Sardines, Herring. Plus Walnuts, flax oil, chia and hemp seeds.
• When cooking at home, consider using mono unsaturated fats which are proven to be heart healthy but have less chance of being de natured than poly unsaturated fats. Think Olive and Avocado oil.
• If you want to use seed oils, buy cold pressed versions (Rapeseed, Pumpkin, Sesme) and use to drizzle over salads and on soups, instead of using them to cook with. After all, seseme oil is an absolute must on stir frys and vegetabels, but the chinese KNEW to use them unheated.

It seems we should learn from ancient wisdom and get back to whole natural foods as we have always eaten them  💚