I’ll just get right to it.  Everything you thought you knew about vegetable oils is a lie.  First of all, none of them come from vegetables at all.  I’m referring to the highly processed chemical oils that find their way into just about every packaged food and restaurant meal we consume.  This is a complicated topic with growing research, trials and studies to show how vegetable oils are slowly killing us. Since you don't have time to read the books and do the research, I've done that for you, and summed it up.  

What Are Vegetable Oils

The toxic vegetable oils, at the center of this topic are commonly referred to as seed oils, although they come from seeds, grains, soy, cotton and whatever a safflower is.  They originated as byproducts of the animal feed, soap making and textile industries and didn’t exist 150 years ago. If you don't have the time or attention to read this whole article, just memorize this list, remove these oils from your diet, and watch your metabolism regulate, your inflammation reduce, and your energy and mood improve.  

Oils to Avoid

• Corn Oil
• Canola (Rapeseed) Oil
• Cottonseed Oil
• Soy (Soybean) Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Safflower Oil
• Grapeseed Oil
• Rice Bran Oil

In addition to the above, also beware of the ingredient “Vegetable Oil”, which can include one or more oils on the list.  Partially hydrogenated oils, or trans fats, should also be avoided, but I think we’re all on board with that one.  

These oils are basically in every junk food, processed food, restaurant meal and packaged item, and they are often marketed to us in a way that makes us believe they promote health, with labels like Natural, Gluten Free, Whole 30 Approved, Heart Healthy, Keto, etc.  

Because they are in so much of the food supply, the average American has a diet of up to 20% of calories from these harmful oils.  

Why Are Vegetable Oils Harmful

• They promote oxidative stress in the body, which leads to inflammation, which contributes to all major diseases.
• They create insulin resistance, which leads to obesity and type 2 diabetes.
• They metabolize slowly, staying in your cells for over 2 years!

History of Vegetable Oils

Vegetable oils came to be in the late 1800s when Proctor and Gamble faced a shortage of tallow, used for making soap and candles. Cottonseed oil was used as lamp fuel at the time, but chemists discovered how to solidify it and make the original Ivory soap. Modifications to the process turned the product spreadable, giving it a lard-like appearance, and that was the birth of Crisco. Yikes!

Cottonseed oil today is not regulated for food consumption because cotton is a textile crop with different EPA standards.  The oil is commonly used as a fry oil in fast food restaurants.  

Lab studies have shown that a 5 ounce serving of restaurant french fries cooked in vegetable oils has the toxicity of 20 cigarettes.  WHAT?! 

Soybean oil (soy oil) originated after World War II, as Americans were eating more meat and farmers had to keep up with the production.  Soy meal was a cheap and easy way to fatten up the animals, but they can’t digest it unless it is defatted.  So, the soybeans grown for animal feed were crushed, the oils separated and used to make plastics and…for cooking.  

Over the last hundred years, much of the farmland in the US has been designated for these oilseed crops to be used for animal feed, biodiesel, corn syrup, processed protein powders and infant formulas.  (The second ingredient on the Similac 360 Total Care Infant Formula is High Oleic Sunflower Oil. It also contains Soy Oil as a main ingredient.)

It’s not just an American problem.  Almost every country in the world, with the exception of some remote areas that still practice hunter/gatherer lifestyles, has introduced seed oils.  100% of the time when these vegetable oils are introduced, the nation becomes fatter and sicker.  100% of the time!

How Vegetable Oils Are Made

The vegetable oils listed above (cottonseed, corn, canola, soy, sunflower, safflower, rice bran and grapeseed oil) go through multiple highly chemical and toxic processes before being further processed into the “foods” that we are eating. Here are the basic steps: 

1. The raw product is pumped out of delivery vehicles into cooking and cleaning chambers.
2. It is heated between 400-600 degrees.
3. It is crushed with a large metal screw in the initial extraction process.
4. The oil goes to a holding tank, and the solids go to a solvent chamber where they are washed with hexane (a component of gasoline) to extract all but 1% of the remaining oil.
5. The remaining solids will receive additional treatments, and then be used as animal feed.
6. The hexane-contaminated oil will be further processed to remove most of the hexane, and then combined with the oil from the first extraction. It is still not safe to consume at this point, as it contains other toxins and inedible components.
7. Finally, it goes through the refining process. Refining oils to be safe for consumption is complicated and contains many processes including degumming, dewaxing, deodorizing and more. Entire factories might handle just one of these steps.

The Science of Seed Oils

A Brief Lesson in Fats

Fats can fall into one of three categories: Polyunsaturated, Monounsaturated and Saturated. A double bond refers to how carbon atoms in a fatty acid molecule are connected to each other.  

Polyunsaturated fats have multiple double bonds and are the least stable of the fats.  Monounsaturated fats have one double bond and are more stable than polyunsaturated.  Saturated fats have no double bonds and are the most stable. 

Fatty acids are the building blocks of dietary fats. Linoleic acid is an Omega 6 fatty acid, and seed oils contain 50-75% linoleic acid.  The proper ratio of Omega 6, Omega 3 and Omega 9 fatty acids is important, but another complicated topic for another day.  For our purposes here, Omega 6 increases inflammation, so this high concentration of linoleic acid is where the problem begins.  

Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fat, with multiple double bonds. The more double bonds a fat has, the more easily it oxidizes. The easier it oxidizes, the easier it breaks down into harmful compounds and toxins, resulting in oxidative stress in the body.  

What is Oxidative Stress?

Oxidation is when a molecule loses an electron and that electron becomes a free radical.  

Free Radicals are destructive molecules that damage cells in a way similar to radiation.

Antioxidants are molecules that bond with the free radicals to deactivate them. When we have more free radicals than antioxidants, we increase our oxidative stress.  

Oxidative stress is a cellular imbalance that disrupts every function the cell is trying to perform, and is at the root of inflammation and chronic disease. 

Inflammation is the body’s natural response to stress, and is necessary in acute situations, such as the pain that accompanies a sprained ankle to prevent you from walking on it.  The body needs inflammation to respond properly to trauma and infections.  

Chronic Inflammation is the result of too much oxidative stress.  Chronic inflammation can disrupt the immune system and lead to autoimmune disorders.  Chronic inflammation has been linked to all major diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  

To connect it all together, with diets of nearly 20% linoleic acid from seed oils, Americans are experiencing oxidative stress at rates higher than ever.  Because linoleic acid is stored in our cells for over 2 years, and antioxidants (from food or supplements) are metabolized in days or hours, it’s nearly impossible to consume enough antioxidants to cancel out the effects.  

Metabolic Impact

The beautiful thing about the human body is that it is smart, it knows how to protect itself, and it knows how to heal.  Because of this innate wisdom of our bodies, toxins are stored in fat cells. Stuffing our fat cells with toxins is the body’s way of keeping us alive despite the toxic food-like products we try to feed it. Rather than storing the toxins in our heart, liver or other organs, the body decided fat cells were the safest place to hide them for our survival.  

Vegetables Oils Create Inflammatory Body Fat

The brain needs sugar for energy.  Our cells are stuffed with linoleic acid, and this polyunsaturated body fat does not provide enough energy for our brain and body to function properly. 

Not Enough Energy Leads to Low Blood Sugar

When the cells aren’t providing enough energy, they go to the limited supply of sugar left in the bloodstream, and this causes low blood sugar, which makes us feel hungry.  Not only does it make us feel hungry, but we crave more of these processed foods.  

Body Responds with Insulin Resistance

The body, smart as it is, tries to compensate for this low-blood-sugar-induced hunger, by raising blood glucose levels and keeping them high between meals and overnight.  Because our inflammatory body fat is not energizing us properly, the liver gets the message to raise glucose, and then the pancreas releases insulin to bring the level back down.  

Basically, insulin is trying to tell the liver to stop raising blood glucose, but the liver can’t hear because the cells are screaming so loudly for energy that they are not getting from the inflammatory fat cells. This is insulin resistance.  Insulin resistance leads to Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity, which points us in the direction of pharmaceutical intervention.

Vicious Cycle

• Seed oils are cheap to produce, and many nutrition studies are funded by businesses that can make a profit from them.
• We consume up to 20% of our calories in linoleic acid containing seed oils.
• Our body chemistry gets all out of whack, causing us to be hungrier and crave more of the processed foods.
• The inflammatory fats stay in our cells for years, leading to chronic disease. 
• Weight loss drugs and other pharmaceuticals come to the rescue. 

What You Can Do to Break the Cycle

First, take a deep breath, then rage dance, scream into a pillow, throw things, be angry.  You should be.  Getting here was not your fault, but it is your responsibility to advocate for your own health.  You are not powerless in this battle, and there are several things you can do to take control. 

Eat Real Food

This is the simple solution, but it’s not always easy in our busy, rushing lives. Try as much as you can to eat real, whole foods that don’t come out of a package with a label on it.  Animal protein, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, eggs, nuts.  Start here.  

Don’t Fear Good Fat

Remember the chemistry lesson above about double bonds? Saturated fat is the most stable of the fats, meaning it’s the least likely to cause inflammation.  Replace your vegetable oils with these healthy fats:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Grass Fed Butter and Ghee
• Coconut Oil
• Sesame Oil

Make sure the oils are unrefined and buy organic if possible, especially with animal fats.  Remember toxins are stored in fats.  Butter from a grass fed cow on an organic diet will not be loaded with toxins, like the butter from a factory farm where the cows ate oilseed crops.  

These healthy oils are still subject to oxidation in the storing and cooking processes.  Dark colored, glass containers are best, and store in a cool, dark location.  

Coconut oil and ghee are great for cooking, as they can withstand the highest heat before turning toxic.  Avocado oil and grass fed butter are next. Olive oil and sesame oils shouldn’t be heated, but are delicious options for salads or adding a bit of good, flavorful fat to cooked vegetables and whole grains.  

Learn to Read Labels

If you do purchase packaged foods, read labels in this order.  Ignore the front completely.  That's all marketing, and much of that language is not regulated, and doesn’t mean anything nutritionally.  Read the ingredients first.  If it contains seed oils, don’t buy it.  If it doesn’t, then use your discernment about the remaining ingredients and nutrition facts.  

What About Restaurants

If you go to a restaurant where they’ll be accommodating to dietary restrictions, ask to have your food cooked in real butter.  If that request is not an option, then know that you control what you bring into your home, and what you put into your body.  If you keep the seed oils out of your home, don’t beat yourself up about a restaurant meal once in a while.

Resources

If you want more information on the lab studies and trials, I recommend Dr. Catherine Shanahan’s book, Dark Calories, How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back.  

Dr. Mindy Pelz’s books and resources are also great and take women’s health and hormones into consideration. 

The Food Babe, Vani Hari, is literally a warrior in taking down the crimes against our food supply.  Her activism has resulted in the removal of toxic ingredients from many popular foods. 

You Have the Power

Part of overall wellness is partaking in the things that bring you joy, and food is one of those things.  While eating healthy can seem like a full time job, never forget that you are in control of your own health.  Let go of guilt and shame, and move forward.  You got this!