Seed Oils & Why You Should Avoid Them At All Costs!

I must admit, this was a new one to me as of about a year ago. Seed oils are everywhere (and they didn't used to be) and this is a problem for the health of Americans.

To start off - what is a Seed Oil? Simply listed- it's basically the following list:

• Canola oil (aka rapeseed oil)

• Corn oil

• Cottonseed

• Grapeseed oil

• Soybean oil

• Sunflower oil

• Safflower oil

• Rice bran oil

• Peanut oil

Now here is why it's bad. For one they are ultra processed before use in products that are ultra processed. This means, they bleached and refine these oils and add them to many foods - (mostly processed foods) but also are used in restaurants and in tricky items that you may think are "healthy foods" (sorry Oatmilk).

Seed oils are known to cause issues like acne, and inflammation - which in turn is the root of a whole host of conditions and diseases, and can cause weight gain.

We didn't always use seed oils. If anyone follows RFK - he mentions that back in the 60s fast food was fried using tallow. A recent Newsweek article claims "A blend of these oils is often used to cook fast food in chains like McDonald's, which switched to using seed oils in the 1990s largely to reduce saturated fat content in response to growing concerns about heart disease." (Newsweek : RFK Jr. Shows How to Cook Thanksgiving Turkey 'the MAHA Way' - Newsweek).

Although there is much debate around these a growing number of scientists and doctors are increasingly pointing to seed oils as one of the main culprits in America's obesity crisis.

And unfortunately, it's widely used in almost all American restaurants, which is why you may feel bloated when you eat out (and is always a risk as you don't know what cooking oil any particular place is using! However, assume your fast food chains are definitely using them - and yes even Chipotle).

At home, if you have not done so already, throw away any canola oils or vegetable oils and switch to using avocado oil (it does not taste like avocados) for anything that needs to be fried and good old olive oil for any sautéing or baking/ broiling.

Luckily there are many health-conscious techy folks out there and I recently came across an app called Seed Oil Scout. It is still in its infancy and needs to further onboard restaurants (and you have to pay for its full list), but if you eat out and avoid fried foods / look for olive oil based dishes you may be able to avoid them altogether!

For some further reading I like this article : Why Seed Oils Might Be Bad for You