THE WHAT

What is all of this talk about seed oils and what are YOU supposed to do about it?  I would like to keep this short and sweet, so you finish this quick read with good answers.

THE WHY

Seed oils are a BIG part of our food system, most likely because they are useful and cheap for food companies.  Seed oils are seemingly EVERYWHERE, from our salad dressings to our chips, from our cereals to our protein bars, so it’s important to know the risks for our health and our family’s health.

JUST THE FACTS MA’AM

Seed oils are considered harmful to our health because of:

1. Amount – The dose makes the poison in this case. Seed oils may be in small amounts in each individual food product, but they are in so many food products that the amount most Americans consume is harmful.
2. Production Method – The way they are commonly produced, with heat, to extract the oils from the seed, can make them harmful.

Short and Sweet.  That’s the facts. If you just want to know what to do, click here.  But if you’re dying to understand why they are bad and what that can do to our health, please read on.

LET’S JUMP DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, SHALL WE?

What is harmful?

1. AMOUNTS Many seed oils (like corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and cottonseed oil), have a lot of the kind of fatty acids (linoleic or Omega-6) that promote inflammation in our bodies.  The dreaded “inflammation!”  We actually need some inflammation to help our immune system protect and defend.  But too much inflammation leads to chronic ailments like headaches and joint pain, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, malignant diseases like cancer, and autoimmune diseases (source).  Therefore, it’s important to consider that there are too many in our food system, and therefore, our diets.

• RATIO – The amount AND the ratio of Inflammatory (Omega-6) to Anti-inflammatory (Omega-3) fats in our diet matter.  The ratio should about be 4:1 (that’s 4 parts Omega-6 to 1 part Omega-3) or less, but if you eat oils that have higher ratios in-and-of-themselves (8:1 or more), the overall ratio in your diet is higher.  In fact, today, the ratio in the typical Western diet is more like 20:1.  That’s not a typo, people.  20:1!

• PRODUCTION PROCESS Many seed oils are pulled from the seeds using heat.  That heat makes the oils oxidize and create free radicals (unpaired electrons).  Free radicals are a damaging force our bodies are constantly fighting to eliminate.  Adding more free radicals via these seed oils in our food just puts more stress on our bodies, leaving them weakened to fight off disease and foreign invaders.  So, unless the ingredient list describes the oil as expeller-pressed or cold-pressed, they were likely extracted using heat, and you want to minimize those oils.  Our bodies are amazing machines, but they have a limit, so let’s help them when we can!

Below is a helpful chart that lays out the amounts in different oils you’ll find on the ingredient lists of many common food products. Remember, ratio matters, not just amounts. This article focuses on poly-unsaturated fats, those found in many seed oils. They represent the blue, orange and yellow bars in the chart below. Yellow represents Omega-9s, very heart healthy. The blue is Omega-6 and the orange Omega-3s. See, for example, how Sunflower Oil has a 6:3 ratio of 71:1!

In the Grocery Store

Here are some ingredients lists on food labels of boxed, bagged and even prepared foods I found in Whole Foods, for reference.  What do you notice?    

CONCLUSION

The truth is, the food industry wants to make what you’ll buy. So the more educated you are about what’s possible and what’s best, the more you can signal the food companies with your purchasing dollars, and the better our food will become. Here are a few tips that I hope make it simpler. Our health and the health of our families are in our hands and getting us all healthy is within our power! Pick one or two of these tips below and go! We’ve got this!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. REDUCE –  cooking and baking with vegetable oil (that’s usually soybean oil, actually!).
2. ADD – whole fruits and vegetables to your day and cook them in oils with a high smoke point and a healthy fatty-acid content, like avocado oil, grass-fed butter, or ghee. You can sometimes use coconut oil, too! If you’re not using high heat (under 375 degrees F), olive oil is a great option.
3. REDUCE – processed foods in your grocery cart, including salad dressings and sauces, containing seed oils (most have it and that’s the problem – it’s everywhere!).
4. MIX IT UP!  – Try some popcorn popped in coconut oil and salad dressing made with olive oil. Digestible LOVES diversity!
5. LOOK FOR – expeller-pressed seed oils on the ingredient list.  They are out there!
6. ADD – Omega-3 rich foods to your diet, like fish oil supplements, sardines and salmon, flax seeds and chia seeds.  Soften the ratio and that makes a difference!