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Seed Oils: Are They Making Us Sick?
In this episode of The Health Pulse Podcast, we take a deep dive into the hidden history and health consequences of industrial seed oils—like soybean, corn, and sunflower oil. Once byproducts of industrial processes, these chemically refined oils have become staples in the modern diet, marketed as “heart-healthy” alternatives to traditional fats like butter and olive oil.
But the science tells a different story. We explore how excessive omega-6 linoleic acid disrupts metabolism, drives oxidative stress, and may contribute to insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and chronic inflammation. You'll also learn how these oils accumulate in your body over time—making their effects long-lasting.
🎧 Tap play to uncover the truth behind processed vegetable oils, and discover five simple strategies to reduce your omega-6 load and reclaim your metabolic health.
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Welcome to the Health Pulse, your go-to source for quick, actionable insights on health, wellness and diagnostics. Whether you're looking to optimize your well-being or stay informed about the latest in medical testing, we've got you covered. Join us as we break down key health topics in just minutes. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're embarking on a really crucial exploration. We're looking into something that has just dramatically reshaped our diets over the last century Cooking oils, that's right. You know what was once a landscape pretty much dominated by traditional stable fats Think butter, lard, tallow no Well, it's filled with bottles of seemingly simple stuff vegetable and seed oils everywhere.
Speaker 3:And for decades, these oils, you know, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, canola. They've been pushed as heart healthy, actively endorsed by dietary guidelines.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. The message was very clear.
Speaker 3:And they've become completely ubiquitous. I mean they're lurking in our processed foods, bubbling away in restaurant fryers, sitting quietly in our pantries Hard to avoid. But our mission today on this deep dive, is to really examine this growing body of research, research that suggests maybe their widespread excessive consumption might actually be contributing to the very things they were supposed to prevent.
Speaker 2:Like obesity, type 2 diabetes yeah, exactly, fatty liver, chronic inflammation. So get ready for maybe some surprising facts, some moments of clarity. We're going to try and unravel the complexities and give you the essential insights you really need. It's an unexpected rise of seed oils from industrial byproduct to dietary staple. So, ok, how did we even get here? How did these oils become so central, largely replacing those traditional fats? It seems like a story driven less by nutritional science.
Speaker 3:And more by industrial ingenuity and opportunity. That's exactly right. This journey really kicks off back in the late 1800s with cottonseed oil. Cottonseed yeah, originally it was just well a waste product, a byproduct of the cotton industry, used for soap, candles, that sort of thing. Oh, but then came a big breakthrough in chemical processing, specifically something called hydrogenation.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And this allowed this cheap, abundant waste product to be turned into a shelf-stable fat, one that looked and acted a lot like lard. Wow, and this innovation back in 1911 gave birth to Crisco, the first widely marketed hydrogenated vegetable shortening.
Speaker 2:Crisco, I remember the cans. So from cotton waste to a kitchen staple, it just took off from there.
Speaker 3:It absolutely snowballed by the mid 20th century. You had soybean oil, corn oil, others following the same path.
Speaker 2:Because they were cheap.
Speaker 3:Inexpensive to produce? Yes, and crucially, they could be refined at a massive scale, so a very low-cost alternative to animal fats. Then you layer on the growing concerns about heart disease in the 50s and 60s.
Speaker 2:Right the saturated fat scare.
Speaker 3:Exactly, Dietary guidelines started to really demonize saturated fats and in their place they actively recommended polyunsaturated fats, PUFAs, especially those omega-6 rich seed oils, calling them the healthier choice.
Speaker 2:That history alone is fascinating, but what happened next really locked them into our diet, didn't it? Tell us about the policy change.
Speaker 3:It did. This wasn't just a friendly suggestion, you know. It became formalized first in the 1977 US Dietary Go goals, which then directly influenced the official 1980 dietary guidelines.
Speaker 2:And the impact.
Speaker 3:Oh, it was dramatic. Seed oil consumption just skyrocketed. We have data showing that between 1909 and 1999, our intake of the main omega-6, linoleic acid increased more than threefold here in the US.
Speaker 2:Threefold, mostly from soy.
Speaker 3:Primarily from soybean oil. Yes, and what's really striking looking back is that this huge dietary shift happened with remarkably little long-term understanding. We just didn't know how this massive increase in omega-6 might affect our health down the line.
Speaker 2:It was like a massive uncontrolled experiment.
Speaker 3:In a way, yes, a huge dietary experiment too, Deconstructing vegetable oils. What are they really for?
Speaker 2:So these vegetable oils? You see the names everywhere Soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, canola. They sound so well, natural, wholesome even. But when we talk about them, what are we really talking about?
Speaker 3:How do they actually get made? Yeah, that term vegetable can be pretty misleading, can't it? It seems so. Unlike something like olive oil or coconut oil, which you can just cold press with minimal processing, these seed oils need a much more intensive industrial process. It usually starts with high heat, mechanical pressing, then often chemical extraction using solvents like hexane to get every last bit of oil out.
Speaker 2:Hexane like the chemical solvent.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and after that the oil goes through what's called the RBD process.
Speaker 2:RBD.
Speaker 3:Refining, bleaching and deodorizing. This whole process is designed to strip out any flavors, smells, colors, make it look uniform and seem more stable than it actually is.
Speaker 2:But that sounds like it would affect the oil itself.
Speaker 3:It does significantly. This complex manufacturing doesn't just remove than it actually is, but that sounds like it would affect the oil itself. It does significantly. This complex manufacturing doesn't just remove potentially beneficial nutrients from the original seeds, it also heavily oxidizes the oils during processing. It leaves behind unstable compounds that are just highly prone to going rancid, degrading further with light air or heat, even before you open the bottle.
Speaker 2:And the main fatty acid we're talking about here is linoleic acid, right, and omega-6 polyunsaturated fat. We hear omega-6 a lot. What's the actual deal with it? Is it bad?
Speaker 3:That's a really key question. Linoleic acid is technically essential. Our bodies need it. We can't make it ourselves.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we do need some.
Speaker 3:We need some. But the concern isn't its existence, it's the massive excess in the modern diet. Our sources consistently point out that getting way too much linoleic acid can literally change the structure of our cell membranes.
Speaker 2:Change our cells?
Speaker 3:Yes, and fuel inflammation throughout the body, contributing to serious metabolic stress.
Speaker 2:So just to make sure I'm getting this and for you listening, it's essential, but too much basically throws our cell machinery out of balance, leading to this kind of silent inflammation and long term problems. That's a great way to put it. That's the crucial distinction. Ok, and you mentioned instability. So these PUFAs, these polyunsaturated fats, they're fragile.
Speaker 3:They absolutely are. Chemically, they're inherently unstable, highly vulnerable to oxidation.
Speaker 2:Oxidation like rust.
Speaker 3:Kind of like molecular rust. Yeah, when these fats break down, either during that harsh processing or from cooking heat, or even inside our bodies, they form toxic compounds, things like aldehydes.
Speaker 2:Aldehydes sound bad.
Speaker 3:They can be. They can directly damage our DNA, proteins, the membranes around our cells.
Speaker 2:You know, when I first started really looking at food labels, it was shocking how often vegetable oil or soybean oil just popped up. It's like it's in almost everything processed.
Speaker 3:It really is.
Speaker 2:So for you listening where are these oils hiding, Because you might be surprised just how pervasive they are.
Speaker 3:They are deeply, deeply embedded throughout the food supply, often in places you wouldn't even think to look.
Speaker 2:Like what.
Speaker 3:Well, the obvious ones are fried foods. Right, Restaurant fryers are almost always filled with soybean or canola oil. But then look at salad dressings, mayonnaise, chips, crackers, most commercial baked goods.
Speaker 2:Even things labeled healthy.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely Many. Nut butters, protein bars, tons of packaged foods, even those marketed as heart healthy or low cholesterol. You see them listed clearly Vegetable oil, canola oil, soy oil, sunflower oil, etc. Despite that healthy image, their chemical fragility and their biological impact that's drawing more and more scrutiny, and rightly so. Three the body's response to omega-6 overload, inflammation and damage.
Speaker 2:Okay, so once these omega-6s, especially linoleic acid, get into our bodies, what actually happens then? How do they interact with our complex biology?
Speaker 3:Well, both omega-6 fats and omega-3 fats the ones you get from fatty fish, flax algae they both have important jobs Structural roles, signaling roles, okay, but here's the key they compete for the same enzymes in our body to get converted into active compounds.
Speaker 2:They compete.
Speaker 3:Yes, and when omega-6 intake totally dominates, like it does in most modern Western diets, it creates this profound imbalance in downstream molecules called eicosanoids. Eicosanoids Think of them like tiny chemical messengers. They control things like inflammation, basically telling your body whether to ramp inflammation up or calm it down.
Speaker 2:So too much omega-6 biases the system towards inflammation, the system towards inflammation.
Speaker 3:Precisely this imbalance fuels chronic low-grade inflammation, and that's now recognized as a foundational driver in so many conditions heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disorders. What's really stark is the ratio. Modern Western diets often show omega-6 to omega-3 ratios as high as 20 to 1, sometimes even higher 20 to 1 compared to what? Compared to what's believed to be more evolutionarily appropriate, maybe somewhere between 1 to 1 and 4 to 1. It's a massive shift.
Speaker 2:You mentioned their instability, how they oxidize during processing. Does that molecular rusting, as you called it, keep happening inside our bodies?
Speaker 3:It absolutely does. These polyunsaturated fats, like linoleic acid, stay unstable when they're exposed to metabolic processes, heat within the body, oxidative stress. They oxidize easily.
Speaker 2:Forming what.
Speaker 3:Forming things called lipid peroxides and those reactive aldehydes we mentioned, like 4-HNE. Think of it as molecular shrapnel.
Speaker 2:Shrapnel, that sounds damaging.
Speaker 3:It is. It can damage DNA cellular membranes, mess with the function of our mitochondria, the energy factories in our cells, and promote inflammation inside our blood vessels. That contributes to insulin resistance too, and recent studies have actually confirmed this. They found these oxidized linoleic acid metabolites they call them OXLAMs for short are significantly elevated in patients with atherosclerosis. They're right there in the plaques. So these OXLAMs aren't just bystanders.
Speaker 2:They're right there in the plaques. So these OXLMs aren't just bystanders, they're actively involved in the disease process, found right in diseased arteries.
Speaker 3:That seems to be the case. They appear to be active agents of damage.
Speaker 2:And you said these fats can accumulate. That sounds worrying like a long-term problem building up.
Speaker 3:This is a really critical point. Linoleic acid has this unique and frankly concerning tendency to accumulate in our adipose tissue, in our body fat over time.
Speaker 2:It gets stored in our fat.
Speaker 3:Yes, which makes it a very long-term player in our metabolic health. Even if you change your diet today, the linoleic acid stored from months or years ago is still there.
Speaker 2:So the effects linger.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Research has found that the actual levels of linoleic acid stored in our fat cells can predict metabolic dysfunction. They correlate with markers of insulin resistance. Because it stays in fat stores and cell membranes for months, maybe even years, its biological impact stretches way beyond what you just ate. It's like a slow burn effect For five seed oils in chronic disease. What the research says?
Speaker 2:It's honestly chilling to think about these compounds just building up inside us over years. Which brings us to the really crucial question what does this hidden accumulation, the slow burn, really mean for our long-term health? What's the latest research telling us about the big chronic diseases we see so much of today?
Speaker 3:Well, the mounting evidence, looking at the sources we've reviewed, strongly suggests that getting too much linoleic acid, especially from these highly processed oils, is a significant contributor. It likely helps drive the development and progression of many chronic diseases.
Speaker 2:Okay, like what? Let's start with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Speaker 3:Right. Excess linoleic acid seems to promote oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Basically, it makes it harder for our cells to efficiently process glucose and fat.
Speaker 2:So gumming up the works.
Speaker 3:In essence, yes, this can lead directly to worsening insulin sensitivity, higher blood sugar levels. A recent meta-analysis actually found a significant link between high omega-6 PUFA intake and insulin resistance, particularly if you're already overweight or obese. And animal studies are interesting too. They've shown that diets high in linoleic acid can accelerate insulin resistance even without changes in body weight. That suggests a direct metabolic hit, not just related to getting fatter.
Speaker 2:Wow, Okay. What about non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD? That seems to be exploding globally.
Speaker 3:It is. It's a huge public health concern and our sources indicate that, yes, excess linoleic acid tends to accumulate directly in the liver.
Speaker 2:In the liver too.
Speaker 3:Yes, and there it seems to trigger inflammatory cascades that make hepatic fat storage fatty litter worse. One study this was in mice revealed that high amounts of linoleic acid actually switched on pro-inflammatory genes right in the liver and impaired the liver's ability to burn fat properly.
Speaker 2:So it makes the liver store more fat and become inflamed.
Speaker 3:It appears so, and this is where the combination seems particularly bad. Pairing these seed oils with high-carbohydrate diets that's the standard makeup of so many processed foods right, that combo appears especially damaging to liver metabolism.
Speaker 2:OK, but what about heart health? This is the big one, isn't it? For decades, we were told these oils were good for your heart, the alternative to butter and lard.
Speaker 3:That's where the nuance is just so critical and where the story has evolved. Well, yes, some early research suggested that swapping saturated fats for polyunsaturated fats might lower LDL cholesterol.
Speaker 2:The bad cholesterol.
Speaker 3:Right, but newer, perhaps more sophisticated studies have raised serious concerns about those oxidative byproducts of linoleic acid. We talked about the OXLMs.
Speaker 2:The molecular shrapnel.
Speaker 3:Exactly these byproducts can directly damage the endothelium, that delicate inner lining of your blood vessels, and they might even destabilize existing arterial plaques, potentially making them more prone to rupture, which is what causes heart attacks and strokes.
Speaker 2:So the OX lambs are found in the plaques.
Speaker 3:Research has clearly identified these oxidized linoleic acid derivatives as major components within atherosclerotic lesions. Oxidized linoleic acid derivatives as major components within atherosclerotic lesions, that strongly suggests they're playing a pro-atherogenic role, meaning they help promote the hardening of the arteries.
Speaker 2:That's a very different picture from heart healthy.
Speaker 3:It is. And furthermore, remember how linoleic acid accumulates in fat cells. It doesn't just sit there passively. It seems to actively change how that fat tissue signals to the rest of the body.
Speaker 1:How so.
Speaker 3:It seems to promote systemic inflammation. This might contribute to that low-grade chronic inflammatory state we see in obesity, but also in autoimmune disorders and maybe even some neurological conditions. Studies have shown diets rich in linoleic acid can actually increase inflammatory gene expression in fat tissue and mess with overall immune balance. V the worse than sugar Debate and how to take control.
Speaker 2:Okay, for years sugar has definitely been public enemy number one in health discussions, and for good reason, obviously. But with all this information piling up about seed oils, we kind of have to ask are seed oils worse than sugar, or is that maybe even the wrong way to frame it?
Speaker 3:It's a really important comparison to make and you're right, it's not necessarily simple. One is definitively worse in every single way they act differently. How so Refined sugars, especially fructose, cause those rapid spikes in blood glucose and insulin Right. That immediately pushes your body towards fat storage, leads to glycation like sugar-coating proteins and jacks up triglycerides.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And when you consume too much, especially in liquid form like soda. Sugar clearly promotes insulin resistance, fatty liver disease and inflammation. Big studies like the Framingham Offspring Study have linked high sugar diets to a much greater risk of metabolic syndrome. No question, sugar is a problem.
Speaker 2:Right. So how do seed oils compare? They don't spike blood sugar directly, do they?
Speaker 3:No, they don't raise glucose directly, but they seem to create this underlying metabolic environment that primes the body for damage. It makes it harder to handle other dietary insults like sugar, remember. Linoleic acid builds up in your fat tissue, in your cell membranes, and it's oxidized metabolites. Those Ocaslams are toxic and pro-inflammatory and they stick around. They stick around for months, maybe years. They continue to impair mitochondrial function, promote oxidative stress.
Speaker 2:It's more of a slow, insidious kind of damage compared to the immediate hit from sugar. So maybe the danger isn't really choosing between them like one villain versus another.
Speaker 3:I think that's exactly right. The real metabolic storm seems to brew not from seed oils or sugar in isolation, but from their constant combination.
Speaker 2:Which is basically the definition of ultra-processed food.
Speaker 3:Precisely that's the hallmark Refined sugar floods your system with energy it struggles to handle, while at the same time the seed oils are impairing your body's ability to burn fat efficiently and clean up cellular damage.
Speaker 2:A perfect storm, metabolically speaking.
Speaker 3:It really seems like a damaging synergy. They fuel fat gain, chronic inflammation, widespread metabolic dysfunction together. Studies have even shown this in animals Mice-fed diets high in linoleic acid plus sugar-developed obesity, fatty liver and insulin resistance significantly faster than mice-fed high sugar alone.
Speaker 2:Wow, so the oils made the sugar worse.
Speaker 3:It appears that way. Seed oils might not give you that immediate sugar high feeling, but they could be creating a much longer lasting, more foundational metabolic burden, and their stealth presence in nearly all packaged and fried foods makes them incredibly easy to overlook, which makes them harder to avoid unless you're actively trying.
Speaker 2:Okay, this information. It can feel a bit overwhelming like suddenly seeing hidden ingredients everywhere you look, but I think the good news here is that you, the listener, absolutely have the power to shift this balance in your own diet.
Speaker 3:Definitely it's empowering to know you can take control.
Speaker 2:So what are the practical steps? What can people do, starting right now, to reduce their seed oil exposure?
Speaker 3:Okay, number one, and this is probably the most crucial read food labels. Really read them carefully. What are we looking for? Look specifically for soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower or safflower oil, also just generic vegetable oil. There's almost always a blend of these seed oils and things like rice bran oil or grapeseed oil too.
Speaker 2:And where will we find them?
Speaker 3:You'll find them commonly in salad dressings, granola bars, chips, crackers, mayonnaise, margarine and plant-based spreads, baked goods and, of course, most things cooked in restaurants Be a detective.
Speaker 2:Okay, step one Label detective. What's step two?
Speaker 3:Step two Cook more at home and use stable fats.
Speaker 2:Stable fats, like what?
Speaker 3:Opt for extra virgin olive oil for lower to medium heat cooking Think sautés dressings. Avocado oil is good for medium high heat, and then for really stable saturated fats, especially for higher heat cooking like searing. Reach for ghee, butter, beef, tallow or duck fat, ideally from pastured animals, if you can find them.
Speaker 2:Why are those better?
Speaker 3:Their molecular structure just makes them far less likely to oxidize and create those harmful compounds. When heated, we can handle the heat better and, really important, never reuse oils for frying. Oxidation gets worse and worse with each heating cycle.
Speaker 2:Got it. Cook at home with stable fats. Don't reuse frying oil.
Speaker 3:Step three Step three Take control of your condiments. Make your own dressings and sauces whenever possible.
Speaker 2:Because the store-bought ones are full of seed oils.
Speaker 3:Very often. Yes, seed oil is usually the primary ingredient, the base, but it's surprisingly easy to make your own Simple combinations work great Olive oil, vinegar, mustard, herbs. Or try yogurt-based sauces with dill or other spices. Tikini blended with lemon juice and garlic is fantastic, too Quick, easy and you control the ingredients.
Speaker 2:Makes sense, okay, step four this one might be tricky Eating out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, eating out is a big source of exposure. Restaurants love cheap neutral oils like soybean or canola for their fryers griddles, often in marinades sauces.
Speaker 2:So how do we navigate that?
Speaker 3:Be strategic. You can significantly reduce your exposure by choosing grilled, steamed or roasted options instead of fried. Don't be afraid to ask your server what kind of oil they cook with. You might be surprised, Can instead of fried.
Speaker 2:Don't be afraid to ask your server what kind of oil they cook with, you might be surprised.
Speaker 3:Can you ask for alternatives? Sometimes you can always ask for olive oil and vinegar or just lemon juice on the side for your salad instead of the house dressing. Even small swaps when eating out can add up and make a difference.
Speaker 2:Good tips, anything else.
Speaker 3:Step five Finally, step five is more optional, but if you're particularly concerned about your long-term exposure or if you have existing health issues, you could discuss lab testing with your doctor or a knowledgeable practitioner.
Speaker 2:What kind of tests?
Speaker 3:Tests can measure things like your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, look for markers of oxidation like lipid peroxides or oxidized LDL that's the OX-LAM connection and check general inflammatory markers like HSCRP. It can give you a personalized snapshot of where you stand metabolically. Outro.
Speaker 2:Okay, so to kind of wrap up our deep dive today, seed oils, they are truly everywhere, aren't they? In our pantries, restaurant meals, nearly every processed food lining the grocery shelves.
Speaker 3:Ubiquitous is the word.
Speaker 2:And while they were initially brought in as this affordable, supposedly heart-healthy alternative to traditional fats like butter and lard, well, this growing body of research we've discussed strongly suggests their overconsumption, especially of linoleic acid, might be silently fueling some major modern health problems.
Speaker 3:Things like chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, metabolic disease.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a lot to take in.
Speaker 3:It is, and it's crucial to add some nuance here. This doesn't necessarily mean that all seed oils are instantly toxic in any amount, or that having a tiny bit is dangerous for everyone.
Speaker 2:Right Context matters.
Speaker 3:Context matters hugely, but in the setting of a modern diet that is just saturated with ultra processed foods, the sheer scale and the frequency of our exposure become really significant. It's that combination of factors, their inherent oxidative instability, their pro-inflammatory signaling effects in the body and, crucially, that long-term accumulation in our body fat All that makes these oils worth a serious reconsideration, especially for you listening, if you already have metabolic risk factors like insulin resistance or obesity.
Speaker 2:But the good news and I think this is the empowering part is clear you absolutely have the ability to shift this balance.
Speaker 1:You do.
Speaker 2:Choosing whole, nutrient-dense fats, making that conscious effort to cook more meals at home, becoming that label detective, making those small, consistent swaps we talked about. It can profoundly reduce your seed oil burden and that supports a healthier metabolism in the long run.
Speaker 3:And maybe this whole journey into seed oils. It highlights a much broader challenge for all of us, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:How so.
Speaker 3:Well, in a world where our food supply has changed so incredibly rapidly, so dramatically, how do we as individuals figure out which dietary changes are genuinely beneficial for our long-term health, for our biology, versus those changes that were really just driven by industrial convenience or cost or marketing?
Speaker 1:And what does sorting that out really mean for your health, beyond just counting calories? Thanks for tuning into the Health Pulse. If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to subscribe and share it with someone who might benefit. For more health insights and diagnostics, visit us online at wwwquicklabmobilecom. Stay informed, stay healthy and we'll catch you in the next episode.
