Are Vegetable Oils Healthy?
Sunday Health Newsletter, August 21, 2022
“The American Heart Association revised its dietary recommendations every two to three years and, with each revision, made its advice to eat less fat increasingly unconditional. By 1970, this prescription applied not just to those high-risk men who had already had heart attacks or had high cholesterol or smoked, but to everyone, “including infants, children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons.
The AHA [American Heart Association] had an important ally in the vegetable-oil and margarine manufacturers. As early as 1957, the year Americans first purchased more margarine than butter, Mazola corn oil was being pitched to the public with a “Listen to Your Heart” campaign; the polyunsaturated fats of corn oil would lower cholesterol and so prevent heart attacks, it was said. . . . .
This alliance between the AHA and the makers of vegetable oils and margarines dissolved in the early 1970s, with reports suggesting that polyunsaturated fats can cause cancer in laboratory animals.”
- Gary Taubes, PG 35 Good Calories, Bad Calories [2007]
DISCLAIMER: David Beruh (Grand Strand Health Coaching) is an American Council of Exercise (ACE) Certified Health Coach and National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer.
The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should always consult your health care provider to determine the suitability of the information presented or if you have questions about a medical condition, treatment, or lifestyle change.
Vegetable oils are oils refined from seeds they include Corn Oil, Canola Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Sunflower Oil, Safflower Oil, Soybean Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Sesame Seed Oil, Peanut Oil, and Flaxseed Oil.[1]
As you can see from the chart below soybean oil is by far the most common followed by rapeseed oil – which is the seed canola oil is derived.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/301044/edible-oils-consumption-united-states-by-type/
Rapeseed in the wild form has a high degree of toxic erucic acid but that was bred out of the seeds used for Canola. By law Canola must have less than 2% erucic acid, which has been determined not to be health risk.[2]
One issue with both Canola and Soybean is they are mostly grown in their GMO form which means they are tolerant to the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate). Glyphosate kills weeds and is used as a drying agent to make harvesting easier.
Although glyphosate has been generally considered safe for humans in small doses, exposure over a long period of time is hard to determine. Several countries and California have banned its use.
Another issue with seed oils, is their high Omega 6 content. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are the essential fatty acids, meaning our body cannot make them and we need to get them in our diet. Eating too many Omega 6s can increase inflammation and may be a Cardiovascular Risk.
High Omega 6 levels are also found in foods such as nuts and seeds. Chris Kresser believes it is mainly the Omega 6s in processed foods made with seed oils that create health problems.[3]
One final issue, I should mention is these seed oils tend to go rancid easily. This is true with most liquid oils (this is why you will never see virgin olive oil in a clear bottle as sunlight damages it.)
I try to look at things through an ancestral lens. Have human beings been eating this food or ingredient for a long time? The answer with soybean and canola oil is no. They were both introduced into our diet in the early 20th Century.
This alone would lead me to avoid them. Add to that the factors mentioned above, GMO, Omega 6 Content and Rancidity and that becomes a hard no.
When cooking I prefer butter or ghee and for dressings olive oil. I generally do not like to use a lot of oil because any oil, even extra virgin olive oil is processed to a degree and is relatively new to the human diet. When cooking with oils or fats you should make sure that you use an oil that will not burn and denature under the heat you are using. This is called the smoke point.[4]
But vegetable oils can lower cholesterol, right? One of the earliest studies on this hypothesis was done in 1957 called the Anti-Coronary Club and run by Norman Joliffe, director of the New York City Department of Health.[5] Joliffe was also the author of Reduce and Stay Reduced on the Prudent Diet [1952] which President Eisenhower used after his first heart attack.
In 1957 Joliffe took over 1,000 men and told half to reduce the amount of red meat they ate and had them eat two tablespoons of vegetable oil a day. The control group was told to eat normally. Five years later success was reported in the New York Times: “Diet Linked to Cut in Heart Attacks.” The men who stayed on the diet saw reductions in cholesterol, blood pressure and lost weight.
Jolliffe was not around to celebrate, he had died a year earlier of a heart attack at age 60. A decade later, however, when researchers checked in, they found ‘somewhat unusual results’ 26 men from the anti-coronary club had died while only 6 of the control group had. Furthermore, 8 of the club members had died of a heart attack while not even one cardiovascular death was recorded in the control group.
“Far from an anomaly, this sort of finding comes up again and again . . . people who eat less fat, particularly less saturated fat, appear not to extend their lives by doing so.”
- Nina Teicholz, PG 74, The Big Fat Surprise [2014]
While this small, poorly controlled study of 60 years ago is not definitive proof vegetable oils are unhealthy, it does certainly give doubt to the assumption that they are heart healthy simply because they lower total cholesterol.
Captain Kirk followed Star Fleet’s Prime Directive, that prohibited interfering with the natural development of alien civilizations. So too do I follow my prime directive, which is to, as much as possible, eat and live like my ancestors and my ancestors ate very little processed oils and no processed vegetable oils.
Everyone knows the key to living healthy is "eat right and exercise". So why is losing weight on your own so hard?
With so much conflicting advice it's almost impossible to figure out what actually works.
Not to mention, eating bland food and exhausting workouts does not sound like fun.
Grand Strand Health Coaching provides custom plans for your exact situation, no matter what your age or current physical condition.
Getting started is quick and easy.
1. Take a quick questionnaire - assess your current health and determine your goals
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Schedule your free consultation at: www.DaveBeruh.com or Text: 610-235-7567 or email: DaveBeruh@GMail.com
[1] NOTE: Olives, Coconuts and Avocados are all fruits, and these oils tend to be less processed and thus I do not include them in the term vegetable oil.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed_oil
[3] https://chriskresser.com/an-update-on-omega-6-pufas/
[4] https://anovaculinary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cooking-oils-smoke-points-v2.pdf
[5] PG 73 – 74 The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz. [2014]