Some of these oils are healthy and some are VERY unhealthy — soybean oil, olive oil, coconut oil, corn oil, etc… Let’s take a closer look.

By: Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist and Author of The Diabetes Fix and The Truth About Testosterone

Today, I wanted to give you my take on a confusing subject to most people:

Why some oils and fats you may use in cooking, baking, or other food use are actually harmful to your body, and why some are healthful.

Here’s the deal…

A lot of people seem to think that anything labeled as “vegetable oil” is good for you. NOT A SHOT!

Most of what is labeled as “vegetable oil” is simply heavily refined soybean oil (processed under high heat, pressure, and industrial solvents, such as hexane)… sometimes perhaps it may also be heavily refined cottonseed, safflower, corn, grapeseed, or other oils too.

In most instances, almost all of these processed oils are NOT HEALTHY for you. I’ll explain why below…

If you buy processed food or deep fried food, you can usually be certain that these unhealthy oils are used to prepare your foods (or worse, it may use hydrogenated versions of these oils… aka – trans fats).

You may have even bought some of these oils for your own cooking or baking at home.

The problem with soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and other similar “vegetable oils” is that they are mostly composed of polyunsaturated fats (the most highly reactive type of fat) which leaves them prone to oxidation and free radical production when exposed to heat and light.

Processed polyunsaturated oils are the most inflammatory inside our bodies because of their high reactivity to heat and light. This inflammation is what causes many of our internal problems to develop such as heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Note: It’s ok if a polyunsaturated fat source isn’t processed such as in whole foods like various nuts and seeds… In that case it’s usually not inflammatory (as long as it’s not been exposed to high heat), and nuts are usually a great source of healthy polyunsaturated fats. By the way, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both polyunsaturates, and a healthy balance of approx 1:1 to 3:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is considered healthiest.

Your best bet is to choose raw nuts and seeds whenever possible to avoid the oxidation of polyunsaturated fats that can occur during roasting of nuts and seeds. Keep in mind though that some nuts are mostly monounsaturated, (for example, macadamias), so the issue of roasted vs raw nuts is less of an issue for highly monounsaturated nuts.

However, all of the vegetable oils listed above are generally heavily refined during processing, so that makes them already inflammatory before you even cook with them (which does even more damage).

Here’s the actual order of stability of a type of fat under heat and light (from least stable to most stable):

1. polyunsaturated
2. monounsaturated
3. saturated

Here’s something that mainstream health professionals will never tell you…

Saturated fats are actually the healthiest oils to cook with!

Why? Because they are much more stable in cooking conditions and less inflammatory than polyunsaturated oils with cooking.

This is why tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils (and even animal fats such as lard and butter) are best for cooking… they have very little polyunsaturates and are mostly composed of natural saturated fats which are the least reactive to heat/light and therefore the least inflammatory in your body from cooking use.

That’s also why natural butter (NOT margarine) is one of the best fats for cooking. This all goes directly against what you hear in mainstream health talk… because most health professionals don’t truly understand the biochemistry of fats, and falsely believe that saturated fats are bad for you… when in fact, they are actually neutral in most instances… and saturated fats from tropical oils are actually good for you as they contain mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are lacking in most people’s diets.

In fact, lauric acid is one of the abundant MCTs in tropical oils and is known to strengthen the immune system. Lauric acid is even being studied currently in medical studies for controlling contagious diseases.

To summarize… your best cooking or baking fats are generally butter or tropical oils such as palm or coconut oil.

Olive oil (extra virgin preferably) is okay for lower cooking temps as it’s mostly monounsaturated, so moderately stable. I also like avocado oil and macadamia nut oil for baking as they are mostly monounsaturated and relatively stable for baking, plus add great flavor!

The mostly polyunsaturated oils such as soybean, corn, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, etc, are the least healthy for cooking or baking.

My choices for top healthy cooking oils that I use:

• Virgin Coconut Oil (very stable at med-high temps and healthy fats)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (only for low temp cooking)
• Real Butter (grass fed butter is actually healthy and contains important nutrients like vitamin K2, omega-3’s, and CLA. Kerry gold is a popular brand of Irish butter that’s grass-fed and readily available in most grocery stores)

Of course, with all of that said… we should keep in mind that trying minimize our cooking with oils can help to reduce overall calories. Cooking with oils in moderation is okay and can actually help satisfy your appetite more, but be careful not to overdo it as the calories can add up fast.

Also, please don’t be fooled by deceptive marketing claiming that canola oil is healthy for you — it’s NOT!

So enjoy your coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and delicious extra-virgin olive oils knowing that you’re doing your body GOOD! But just make sure to stay FAR AWAY from dangerous inflammatory vegetable oils like soybean oil, corn oil, and cottonseed oils which are used in so many processed foods these days.

Also remember that most salad dressings you find at the store are loaded with unhealthy soybean or canola oils usually, so make your own with healthy olive oil instead.

Speaking of your brain health, check this really cool story out…

This 3-Minute Bizarre Song Boosts Your Memory

Researchers at Harvard made an accidental discovery…

They found a bizarre melody that makes your brain process information up to 3X faster.

How is this possible?

It turns out this specific sequence of sounds activates an ancient “speed protein” in your brain…

The same protein that allows 20-year-olds to think and learn so quickly.

Over 16,366 people are already using this strange melody to:

• Process information faster
• Think with crystal clarity
• Remember names instantly
• Focus like a 20-year-old
• Feel mentally sharper

All you have to do is…

>> Relax and listen to this 3-minute melody to boost your brain power

The post Which of these cooking oils are destroying your health? (the truth may surprise you!) appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

You’ve been told that bacon is “unhealthy”, but is it really? Let’s inspect the nutrition of bacon, and also the topic of nitrates and nitrites, HCAs, and more. As you’ll see, in some cases (not all), pork fat can even be considered healthy!

by Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist and Author of The Diabetes Fix and The Truth About Testosterone & guest author, Nick Pineault, aka – “The Nutrition Nerd”

Most people think that their favorite “fatty” foods, like bacon, should only be an occasional treat because they’ve been told that it will it will “clog up” your arteries and kill you because of the saturated fat.

But as you know from reading this newsletter, the scientific community has pretty much fully agreed in recent years that saturated fat is actually not bad for you at all… and is really just a natural part of the human diet just like it has been since the origins of us homo sapiens.

In reality, scientists have begun to collectively agree in recent years that highly processed polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils like corn and soy are the REAL killers (along with too much sugar and starch, both of which also cause arterial stress if blood sugar levels are too high, too frequently).

However, what most people don’t realize is that pork fat (aka, lard ) is actually only 40% saturated, 48% monosaturated, and 12% polyunsaturated (varies based on what the pigs ate), while coconut oil is 92% saturated fat, and we all know that coconut oil is super healthy for DOZENS of reasons for our bodies!

This isn’t to say that bacon fat is always bad or good per se… it really all depends on what the pigs were fed and how they were raised . Confinement factory-raised pigs that never saw the light of day and ate nothing but GMO soy and corn based feed will have a more unhealthy fat profile than free-range pork that grazed outdoors, got a lot of sunshine (which increases the vitamin D content of the pork fat), and ate a wide variety of natural foods.

In fact, free-range (or pasture-raised) pork fat can even be a really good source of vitamin D if the pigs really did see a good amount of outdoors time and sunshine…and we all know how vitally important vitamin D is for our immune systems and overall hormonal balance. Unfortunately, the vast majority of pork and bacon sold these days is from confinement factory conditions where the pigs get very little sunshine, if any at all. Yes, our grandparents and great-grandparents in the early to mid 1900’s were eating pretty much 100% pasture-raised bacon back in the day, but the factory farm industry in recent decades has ruined a good portion of the quality of our foods.

So make sure to look for pasture-raised or free-range pork if you decide to eat bacon or other forms of pork. At the very least, look for organic bacon if you can’t find pasture-raised, because at least you know they didn’t eat GMO feed in that case.

But what about Nitrates and Nitrites?

Aside from the fat content of bacon, which we just discussed can actually be healthy if you choose the right form of bacon, the biggest reason people think they need to avoid bacon is that they’ve been told that Nitrites and Nitrates can be really bad for you.

But is that really the truth?

Well, it can be a complicated subject, so I’ll let my fellow colleague, “The Nutrition Nerd“, Nicky P. simplify it for you…

Are Nitrates and Nitrites Really Dangerous?

(Do we really need to fear bacon?)

First of all, nitrites and nitrates are not exactly the same, but I’ll use them interchangeably for simplicity’s sake in this article.

Well, the consumers fear it so much that companies have started selling “nitrite-free” products in grocery stores. After all, even the Mayo Clinic says that sodium nitrite could possibly increase your risks of heart disease. (1)

But is the fear of nitrites overblown?

Should You Fear Your Saliva?

Avoiding all sources of nitrites and nitrates would involve you having the driest mouth in the history of mankind. You see, as Chris Kresser puts it…(2)

“[…] nitrites are produced by your own body in greater amounts than can be obtained from food, and salivary nitrite accounts for 70-90% of our total nitrite exposure. In other words, your spit contains far more nitrites than anything you could ever eat .”

And when it comes to food, I’ve got “bad” news for you.

Veggies contain way more naturally-occurring nitrites than processed meats like bacon. In fact, one serving of arugula contains more nitrites than 467 hot dogs…(3)

(Sorry if that made you spit out your arugula, goat cheese and walnut-salad in shock.)

“Nitrite-free” Is Misleading:

If you’re paying more for “nitrite-free” meats, you’re getting mislead.

Instead of being cured with sodium nitrite, these meats are cured with celery salt. And guess what? Celery salt gets transformed into nitrites during the curing process. (4)

In plain English… the “nitrite-free” meats probably contain way more nitrites that the regular version. (Not that it matters, because like I said nitrites are not very dangerous to begin with.)

All in all, I don’t think there’s much difference to your health whether you get the bacon containing nitrites vs the celery salt bacon since they both yield nitrites to your body.

Breaking News: Nitrites And Nitrates Are NOT A Threat:

The fear of nitrites and nitrates is overblown. There are a ton of other things you should worry about more when it comes to food, like GMOs, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup.

– On the science side, there’s a ton of research showing that nitrites and nitrates do not accumulate inside the body, and are quickly flushed in the urine: (5)

– 25% of the nitrates we consume is converted into salivary nitrite, 20% converted into nitrite, and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours of ingestion. (6)

– Any nitrate that is absorbed has a very short half-life, disappearing from our blood in under five minutes. (7)

– Some of the nitrites in our stomach reacts with gastric contents, forming nitric oxide which may have many beneficial effects. (8)

What About Nitrosamines?

The fear of nitrites and nitrates comes from the fact that some of them can transform into nitrosamines while cooking. Nitrosamines are potentially carcinogenic, so that’s definitely a legit concern. But that’s exactly why manufacturers use vitamin C (ascorbic acid) when curing their meats.

It turns out that vitamin C or even vitamin E (9) offers a protective antioxidant effect on the meat, and prevents the formation of nitrosamines.

On top of that, my recommendation of sticking to pasture-raised pork as much as possible still stands, for many reasons… One of them being the fact that grain-fed, commercially-raised pork has been shown to create way more nitrosamines when cooked than its pasture-raised cousin. (10)

The reason is simple in my mind: lard from pasture-raised animals that eat a highly variable diet outdoors contains a healthier fat profile than the fat from grain-fed confinement animals.

Conclusion

Here’s the simple conclusion… There are a ton of things you should worry about when it comes to food, but nitrates/nitrites are simply NOT one of them.

That being said, try to eat traditionally cured, pastured-raised meats from local farms as much as possible. They are much healthier, and a LOT safer.

Enjoy your bacon,
Nick
___________

Mike’s additional comments:

Before I introduced Nick’s article on whether nitrites and nitrates are worth worrying about in bacon, I discussed the fat profiles of healthier pasture-raised or free-range pork vs factory raised, and also that the vitamin D content of pasture-raised pork be as much as 5-10x higher than factory raised pork that never gets any sunshine.

I also discussed that saturated fat has been proven in recent years to not really be bad for us at all, and in fact, most forms of saturated fat are either neutral for our health, or even beneficial to our health. And besides that, bacon fat is mostly monounsaturated fat (48%), which is the same heart-healthy fat that’s raved about in olive oil, avocados, etc.

But what about Carcinogens in browned meat like bacon?

You’ve probably seen me discuss the fact that when you fry or bake any starchy foods such as grains (bread, cereal, etc), or potatoes in the form of french fries, that a carcinogen called acrylamides forms. This is a legitimate concern regarding cancer and one of the many reasons I choose to avoid breads, fries, cereals, and other browned starchy foods (aside from cheat meals) …

But there’s also a carcinogen called heterocyclic amines (HCA’s) that forms on the outer surface of meats when you brown or char meats. I’ve talked about how to counteract these carcinogenic HCAs in meat in this article .

Since bacon is a meat that’s fried in a pan at high heat, there will be small amounts of carcinogenic HCA’s, but as I’ve mentioned before, if you’re also having some high antioxidant tea or coffee with your meal, along with some veggies and/or avocado, you’ll have plenty of antioxidants to counteract the HCA’s in your body. I don’t know about you, but I almost always eat my bacon with eggs, veggies, avocado, and some form tea or coffee (all of which are great sources of antioxidants), so HCA’s just simply aren’t much of a concern if you’re counteracting them with a few sources of powerful antioxidants.

One last thing about pork fat that helps fight against any carcinogens in bacon…

According to Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, “Pork fat also contains a novel form of phosphatidylcholine that possesses antioxidant activity superior to Vitamin E. This may be one reason why lard and bacon fat are relatively stable and not prone to rancidity from free radicals.” This is yet another reason why our grandparents were actually smarter than we give them credit for… they used bacon fat or butter to cook with most times, instead of today’s inflammatory vegetable oils.

Fun Fact about Pig Diets: Did you know that some of the most expensive pork in the world comes from a region of Spain where the pigs FEAST on almost nothing but acorns. These pigs produce meat that is MUCH healthier than the corn/soy fed pigs from typical factory farms. Not only that, but apparently the absolute BEST whole-hog barbeque in the southern US traditionally came from pigs that fed on acorns as well, and this type of pork has a signficantly superior taste compared to factory farm pork, which is sadly 90% of today’s pork. It’s too bad that corporate profits are the top priority of the pork industry these days, and not the health of the pigs or the nutrition of the meat.

Did you know along with consuming meat that is pastured raised and organic, you can lower your risk of a heart attack by avoiding grains, starch, sugars and vegtable oils. Our friends over at Physio Tru, backed by the research of renonwned heart specialist Dr. Sam Walter, have come up with this simple test.

If you want to avoid a devastating heart attack, also don’t miss this simple test…

Heart Attack Test: Touch Your Feet Like THIS (for 7 seconds)

Can you really predict a heart attack?

According to America’s #1 heart nutrition expert, Dr. Sam Walters… this 7-second “feet test” can reveal if your heart is dying.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Just sit on a chair.

2. Touch your right foot.

If THIS happens… then your heart is desperately starving for oxygen (but most people only realize when it’s too late).

>> 7-second “feet test” can predict a heart attack (this could SAVE your life).

The post The TRUTH about Bacon appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

We seem to be a nation of anxious people. And yes, the events of the past couple years can make us more anxious, but a lot of anxiety is just generalized anxiety. Anxiety can also add to irritability, anger and stress. Anxiety can make it difficult to work, deal with day-to-day decisions, and it affects your relationships. Often it just simmers in the background, leaving you feeling ‘on edge’ all the time.

While many people run to the doctor for an anti-anxiety prescription, which is difficult to stop once you start, and often has unpleasant side effects.

You can realistically manage your anxiety far better by fixing it at the source, avoid prescription medications, and improve your overall health. And—surprise—fixing anxiety doesn’t start with your head; it starts with your gut.

Specific bacteria in the gut are responsible for creating about 90% or more of the serotonin in our bodies. Serotonin is the brain chemical responsible for helping you feel calm and happy. Yes, a brain chemical that is made in the gut. Let’s go into a little anatomy lesson to see how this works.

The enteric nervous system in the gut and the central nervous system were formed out of the same tissue in fetal development. So actually, the nervous system in the gut, which is quite extensive, is like a ‘second brain’. These two nervous systems have a direct line of communication via the vagus nerve, which runs from your brain stem to the nervous system in your gut.

This nervous system in the gut is made up of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the entire gut, which is about 9 meters long from the mouth to the anus. This second brain contains somewhere around 100 million neurons—more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system!

Certain gut bacteria play a very important role in immunity, synthesizing nutrients from the food you consume, and creating chemicals that help the brain and our emotional and mental health.

What I find very interesting, however, is that about 90% of the fibers in the vagus nerve in the digestive system actually carry information from the gut to the brain, and not the other way around. So, you see, the gut controls the brain to a large extent. These messages from the gut to the brain can have a powerful influence on moods, including anxiety and depression.

Scientists also know that the bacteria in the gut manufactures around 90% of the body’s serotonin, an important brain chemical directly affects moods, like anxiety and depression as well as some mental illnesses, such as bipolar, schizophrenia, and OCD.

Other symptoms of low serotonin besides anxiety and depression include, low energy, anger, craving of carbohydrates and sweets, and reduced interest in sex.

How to support the serotonin factory in your gut

Many of us have diets (whether we realize it or not) that are contributing to inflammation in the gut. Inflammation can come from eating a diet high in processed foods, too much conventional dairy, processed vegetable oils, too much sugar and other food allergies or sensitivities like gluten, corn and even foods that were sprayed with glyphosate.

Note: glyphosate is a very common herbicide used in the United States, and sprayed on most all (except organic) grains and legumes to dry them out before harvest. Glyphosate has been shown to kill off beneficial gut bacteria, upsetting the gut’s ability to create serotonin. In fact, glyphosate has been shown to increase both anxiety and depression in animal studies.

Individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), celiac disease or gluten sensitivity tend to report increased levels of anxiety due to the inflammation that exists in the gut. There is a definite link between gluten issues and anxiety and depression. Our gut bacteria are also highly susceptible to:

• Chlorinated and fluoridated water
• Antibacterial soap
• Herbicide and pesticide residue in food
• Air and water pollution

Taking care of our gut

First of all, if you have any type of IBS, gluten sensitivity, or food allergies, or if you have ever had issues with anxiety, depression, or any other mental or emotional issues it’s time for an elimination diet.

Eliminate:

• Gluten
• Corn
• Dairy

Often this one step will make a huge difference.

The next step is to eliminate all processed foods. Stop eating sugar, especially the kind that is added to food like high fructose corn syrup (usually in processed foods). Processed foods feed harmful bacteria and candida.

Important to totally avoid consuming any vegetable seed oils such as canola oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil. These oils have been proven to be cancer-causing, increase your chances of Alzheimer’s, are highly inflammatory, and instrumental in causing anxiety and depression.

Many people find amazing relief from anxiety and depression when they correct their diet and take out offending foods. And, eating a healthy, whole foods diet with lots of fresh organic vegetables, a little bit of fruit, plenty of naturally raised meat, and healthy saturated fats actually feeds the good bacteria in the gut.

Apples, artichokes, blueberries, almonds, and pistachios have also all been shown to increase Bifidobacteria in humans. Bifidobacteria are considered beneficial bacteria, as they can help prevent intestinal inflammation, and prevent anxiety.

Adding in a broad-spectrum probiotic supplement containing Bifidobacterioum longum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus will also spur the growth of this healthier bacteria colony.

Other things that can increase anxiety are alcohol, too much sugar, not enough sleep, not enough exercise, estrogen dominance (a common condition in perimenopausal and menopausal women), too much caffeine and some medications.

A multi-B vitamin containing methylfolate, and methylcobalmin, has also been shown to effectively manage anxiety and depression—which often go hand in hand. Other valuable nutritional supplements include magnesium, zinc, omega 3’s, and choline—a nutrient often very low in menopausal and post-menopausal women.

References
https://www.jeffnobbs.com/posts/death-by-vegetable-oil-what-the-studies-say
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/anxiety-are-nutritional-deficiencies-a-common-cause/
https://draxe.com/health/natural-remedies-anxiety/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-strategies-to-ease-anxiety-201604139441

The post The Diet and Anxiety Connection appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-seller: The Diabetes Fix

Back when I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, there was a new so-called ‘health’ breakthrough that dictated that “saturated fats” should be crossed off the list of foods we should eat. Steaks and hamburgers were bad news, and in order to fight heart disease we were told to avoid all animal fats, or “saturated fats” and only use vegetable oils like Crisco, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, and cottonseed oils.

Everyone started using margarine, made from partially hydrogenated seed oils, and vegetable oil for cooking, frying, baking, etc. And there was Crisco—a baking wonder! I even remember doctors telling patients who had had heart attacks to avoid all saturated fats, red meat, eggs and butter; and eat only chicken and fish, vegetable oils and margarine. Foods and cooking oils that were vegetable-based were advertised as ‘heart-healthy’. Including Crisco.

But now, everything has changed. Many health experts are now discovering that vegetable oils are significantly worse for us than sugar and grains. Vegetable seed oils are considered to be one of the primary root causes of many inflammatory degenerative diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and even cancer.

“I wonder how many people who followed the mistaken advice of eating vegetable seed died too early. This dietary change has likely killed millions of people prematurely and still continues to do so because most people just don’t understand this concept, or blindly buy into the mainstream medical paradigm.”

However, there exists a huge disconnect between what nutrition science has found and what official dietary guidelines tell us we should be doing. The nutrition scientists say that vegetable oils, which are a type of omega 6 fatty acids, are extremely toxic because they are connected to many chronic diseases. Meanwhile, the government and the FDA tell us to consumption of these oils are healthy.

Many people–including many health experts–believe that omega 6 fats are considered an ‘essential fat’ and necessary in our diets. The fact is, omega 6 fats, which are polyunsaturated fatty acids—or PUFA’s, are made up primarily of linoleic acid, which is actually very harmful to our health.

Now stay with me here—although it’s a bit involved, the following information is something I highly recommend you read all the way through. Your life and your health are at stake and it’s important to understand this information on vegetable seed oils.

Omega 6 fats have increased in the human diet from only about 2-3 grams a day, a 150 years ago, to over 30-40 grams a day in current times. Omega 6 fats now make up almost 20% of our diets.

This huge increase in omega 6 fats, combined with the toxic end products from these fats, cause damage that many scientists now believe to be one of the primary causes behind the massive increase in chronic disease including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

By simply lowering your omega 6 intake to what your great-great grandparents used to eat, you may be able to essentially eliminate most chronic disease that are now prematurely killing us.

We used to mistakenly believe that it was the ratio of omega 6 fats to omega 3 fats (the anti-inflammatory fats found in fish and grass fed meats) that was healthy or unhealthy. It was thought that you could just eat more omega 3 fats to ‘balance’ out the omega 6 fats, but we are now coming to the realization, through scientific research, that it is the total consumption of omega 6 fats—regardless of the ratio—that damages our health.

Much has been discussed about sugar and processed grains being incredibly harmful, but little is actually known about the dangers of processed omega 6 fatty acids in vegetable oils.

Vegetable oils are considered a processed, industrialized seed oil. Vegetable oils are a fairly new addition to our diets, replacing the traditional fats that have been used for hundreds of years such as ghee, butter, olive oil, coconut oil and lard.

How are Industrial Seed Oils Made?

While these vegetable oils are labeled as ‘natural,’ they are most definitely not natural. I invite you to Google the making of industrial seed oils and watch the process for yourself. It’s not an appetizing operation.

Soy, corn, cotton, safflower and rapeseed (for canola oil) plants are grown (mostly GMO and heavily sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals) for vegetable oil. Once the plants are mature, the seeds are harvested from the plants. Next the seeds are heated to extremely high temperatures, oxidizing the unsaturated fatty acids, and creating harmful byproducts. Then the seeds are processed with a petroleum-based chemical solvent such as hexane, which maximizes the oil that can be extracted from the seeds.

More industrial chemicals are added to deodorize the terrible smell that this chemically extracted oil contains. The deodorizing process yields trans fats (yes, the ones that can kill you). Lastly, the oil has even more chemicals added to it to improve the color. All of this very UN-natural processing creates a high calorie, nutrient-poor, inflammatory GMO oil with leftover pesticides, chemical residue, trans fats and oxidized byproducts.

Because the fatty acids in industrial seed oils are so unstable, synthetic antioxidants are added to help prevent oxidation and rancidity. However, these synthetic antioxidants are not healthy either. Synthetic antioxidants such as BHA, BHT, and TBHQ have endocrine-disrupting, carcinogenic, and immune-disrupting effects. And additionally, TBHQ has been found to trigger an IgE (immunoglobulin E) response to some foods, which may promote the development of food allergies.

How is this oil considered ‘healthy’???

The History of Vegetable Oil

Before the turn of the century, two soap makers named William Procter and James Gamble, created a new type of soap from cottonseed oil, which at the time, was considered a toxic waste product that no one wanted. Previous to this, soap was usually made from lard or beef tallow. The breakthrough came when it was discovered that when cottonseed oil was chemically altered and hydrogenated, it became a solid fat that resembled lard (a.k.a. Crisco). A new market for vegetable ‘lard’ was created.

Soybeans became a popular crop in the United States in the 30’s, and soon much of it was made into soybean oil. Canola, corn and safflower oil came soon after. These cooking oils were very popular due to an excellent marketing and advertising campaign.

In the 1940’s, the newly formed America Heart Association received a large donation from Procter & Gamble and then endorsed vegetable oils as a healthier alternative to animal fats. The icing on the cake, however, was when scientist Ancel Keys presented his flawed “lipid hypothesis”, suggesting a link between animal fat, cholesterol and heart disease. Keys of course, pushed vegetable oils as the preferable choice to use, and the medical society and the public soon followed.

As we now know, Keys’ hypothesis was flawed, he cherry-picked the studies he wanted to use, and his ties to the sugar industry helped to further exaggerate his claims against saturated fat. Soon the entire industrialized world was using vegetable oils and demonizing animal fats.

How Are Different Types of Fats Classified?

For the purposes of this discussion, we will be talking primarily about omega 6 fats, linoleic acid, and PUFA’s. All of these are components found in industrial seed vegetable oils.

Other healthier choices of oils include monounsaturated fats like olive oil and saturated fats such as lard, butter and coconut oil. Fish oil contains healthy omega 3 fats including DHA and EPA.  For an in-depth discussion on how fats are classified, I recommend you click here.

Discussing fats can get somewhat complicated, but generally fats are divided up into these three groups:

• Saturated fats— have a full complement of hydrogen atoms. Examples of these types of fats include coconut oil and animal fats like butter, beef tallow and lard.
• Monounsaturated fats—are missing a single hydrogen atom. Examples include olive oil, avocado oil and nuts.
• Polyunsaturated fats or PUFA’s–are missing multiple hydrogen atoms. Examples include vegetable oils like canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, cottonseed, safflower, etc.

These missing hydrogen atoms make PUFAs much more likely to oxidize, and the fat breaks down into harmful metabolites. Omega 6 vegetable oils contain a large portion of linoleic acid. OXLAMS (oxidized linoleic acid metabolites) have a profoundly negative impact on human health. When you hear of oxidization in your blood vessels or plaque buildup that causes heart attacks, OXLAMS are often a contributing cause.

Note: Do not confuse linoleic acid (LA) with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is found mostly in grass fed beef, while linoleic acid is found in vegetable seed oils. Many people think CLA and LA are interchangeable, but they are definitely not. CLA has many potent health benefits and will not cause any of the problems that LA does.

The truth is that the TOTAL amount of omega 6 you eat is detrimental to your health and as long as you eat fish a 2-3 times a week, you will get plenty of omega-3. So, you mostly want to pay attention to your omega 6/PUFA/linoleic acid intake.

Paul Saladino, author of “The Carnivore Code”, also discusses a lot of research that shows that it’s the ratio of saturated fat to omega 6’s that he thinks is actually MORE important than the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio, with higher saturated fat being protective, and higher polyunsaturated omega 6 fats causing the majority of health problems.

Why are seed oils so bad for us?

First and foremost, highly processed industrial seed oils are something our bodies do not recognize. As Chris Kresser states, industrial seed oils are an “evolutionary mismatch.” Up until the 1900’s humans never consumed industrial seed oil. However, beginning in the 70’s, the average consumption of just soybean oil went from 4 pounds per person a year to 26 pounds per person! As a result, these high levels of industrial seed oil consumption are ruining our health.

The primary reason seed oils are so detrimental, however is that they contain large amounts of linoleic acid. When we talk about omega 6 fats, we are referring primarily to the linoleic acid, or LA in those fats. LA makes up about 60% to 80% of omega 6 and is the primary ingredient that appears to spark the disease process.

Seed Oils, Covid-19 and ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome)

Seed oils are suspected to play a role in the development of ARDS, especially in Covid-19. One of the primary causes of death in Covid-19 is the development of acute respiratory distress, often brought on by an overreaction of cytokines, an inflammatory immune reaction of the body.

One of the key toxins that contributes to the development of symptoms of ARDS is called leukotoxin, and leukotoxin is made from linoleic acid by the white blood cells to kill off pathogens. However, leukotoxin is toxic to humans as well as pathogens. Leukotoxin is toxic enough to kill animals in minutes if you inject high amounts of it.

ARDS can brought on by many different pathogens, including viruses like influenza or pneumonia. You can also get ARDS from smoke inhalation or other toxic substances in the atmosphere as well.

Doctors started noticing that patients being fed liquid diets in the hospital (which are high in seed oils such as soybean oil) were developing ARDS. While the fatality rate from ARDS is generally 30% to 60%, according to one researcher, Tucker Goodrich, feeding seed oil-based liquid diets increases the rate of ARDS in patients 700%.

Seed Oils and Cancer

Each of the cells in our body contain a tiny powerhouse that generates energy, called the “mitochondria”. On this cellular level, excess linoleic acid consumption impedes the body’s ability to generate energy in our mitochondria. But, energy is necessary for most all body processes.

Depending on the body part, the cell’s mitochondria work best with specific types of fatty acids. These fatty acids can include LA, palmitic acid (another type of fat) or the fatty acid components from fish oil, such as DHA and EPA.

The appropriate fatty acids in cells can be compared to a cellular alarm system that triggers cell death when something goes wrong with the cell. If those fatty acids are full of linoleic acid, they are unable to signal, and the damaged cell is not killed. As a result, dysfunctional cells continue to grow, which then turn into cancerous cells or tumors.

Animals typically develop cancer once the omega 6 fats in their diet reaches 4% to 10% of their energy intake, depending on the cancer. In fact, scientists can actually induce cancer in animal models by feeding them seed oils.

Most humans today are eating 15% to 20% of their calories from omega 6, so you can see there can be a correlation. Our ancestral human diet is believed to be made up of only about 2% to 3% omega 6 fats, and when intake increases above that level, you will see significant health problems start to happen.

When you consume too many omega 6 fats, you make it far more susceptible to oxidative damage, which damages the cells, and in turn relates to higher risks of cancer. However there is some research showing that when the omega 6 linoleic acid is replaced with the oleic acid from olive oil, the cells become resistant to oxidative damage.

Seed Oils and Diabetes

Other research shows that mice fed a diet high in omega 6 fats, versus a high carbohydrate diet, developed diabetes. The mice became insulin resistant, leptin resistant and obese. Contrast this with mice who were fed a diet high in carbohydrates–which we generally associate with the development of diabetes. These mice did okay. On the other hand, the mice whose diet was high in omega 6 fats had a breakdown in the mitochondria in their hearts. So, the conclusion one can make here is that just by adding in seed oils, heart damage occurs because of a change in the fatty acids of the cells.

Seed Oils Age Your Skin and Increase Risk of Skin Cancer

There is even plenty of evidence showing eliminating seed oils from your diet will dramatically reduce your risk of sunburn and premature aging. People with a high intake of seed oils and omega 6 fats have increased inflammation which in turns shows up as sunburn and sun damage.

Susceptibility to UV radiation damage is controlled by the amount of omega 6 consumption in the diet. Higher omega 3 consumption and lower omega 6 consumption has been shown to control how fast or slowly one can get skin cancer. High omega 3 consumption slows down or eliminates skin cancer, while high omega 6 intake increases the risk of skin cancer.

In addition, the inflammation and oxidation from sun exposure and high omega 6 intake also increases the breakdown of collagen and speeds up the aging in the skin. Studies show people with a higher intake of saturated animal fat have less photoaging of the skin, compared to those who have a higher intake of vegetable oils in their diets.

Chronic Disease and Vegetable Oils

High intakes of omega 6 fatty acids increase the pro-inflammatory mediators associated with asthma, autoimmune diseases, infertility, macular degeneration, and osteoarthritis.

One of the most notable takeaways is that seed oils are especially harmful to the brain. Too much omega 6 fats can make people much more susceptible to depression, anxiety and dementia, due to the increased inflammation in the brain. Canola oil, which we’ve been told is ‘healthy’ is linked to poor memory, cognitive decline and a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The trans fats in vegetable oils, which are a result of the heat and processing, are also associated with a higher chance of dementia, as well as increased aggression.

Other research in mice shows that high levels of linoleic acid increases food consumption and encourages weight gain and obesity. Further research shows a diet with high intake of soybean oil in particular, brings on obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.

Even a mother’s diet high in omega 6 fats is associated with a higher risk of obesity in her children. And children who eat high levels of omega 6’s often have insulin resistance, prediabetes, and obesity when they grow up.

What About Heart Disease?

We’ve had it drilled into our heads for the past 50 or more years that vegetable oils are “heart healthy” and help us prevent heart disease. Nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, oxidized fatty acids from industrial seed oils appear to play a pivotal role in the development of cardiovascular disease.

Researcher James DiNicolantonio has been working on a theory called the “oxidized linoleic acid theory of coronary heart disease” that presents a link between consumption of linoleic acid-rich industrial seed oils and cardiovascular disease. His theory includes these points:

• Linoleic acid from our diets from gets into blood lipoproteins (triglycerides and cholesterol).
• The instability of linoleic acid causes oxidization.
• Oxidized lipoproteins activate macrophages which initiate foam cell formation, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease.

Industrial seed oils are also a causative factor in cardiovascular disease by increasing the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. This high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio creates excess inflammation and dangerous clotting effects in the heart and blood vessels. And LDL, the part of cholesterol which we’ve all been taught is the ‘bad cholesterol’ is only dangerous when it is exposed to high levels of omega 6 fats, which cause it to oxidize in blood vessels

Industrial seed oils are also harmful to our gut health, making conditions like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) much more likely. This information leads us to the conclusion that high levels of omega 6 fats can alter our gut microbiome and increase GI inflammation, contributing to the development of IBS and IBD.

Anyone with any type of inflammatory or autoimmune disease should avoid processed vegetable oils and instead consume only natural fats from olive oil, coconut oil, wild seafood, nuts and seeds, and healthy animal fats.

How to Avoid Linoleic Acid and Omega 6’s

The difficult task is to avoid omega 6’s altogether. Omega 6 fats are not just in the vegetable oil you buy in a bottle at the store. These harmful fats are in most all processed foods, salad dressings, sauces, chips of all kinds, crackers, cookies, bread and more.

Most all fried food—unless it is specifically labeled, is fried in vegetable oil (strike one!) and repeatedly heated (strike two!). Restaurants and even home cooks often reuse vegetable oil to fry foods. When vegetable oils are heated over and over again, it further magnifies the toxicity of the oil.

Repeated heating also depletes vitamin E which is a natural antioxidant. It dramatically increases the free radicals that damage DNA, proteins and lipids in the body. This helps to explain why fried foods are associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and liver damage.

Even meat, such as commercially-raised chicken which is fed high LA grains is high in this dangerous fat. And eating more foods high in omega 3 fats may help but will not avoid the problem. As noted researcher, Tucker Goodrich states, “The ratio is not really what’s important. What’s important is [totally] avoiding the omega 6 fats…”

Avoiding all processed foods, especially fried foods and chips and only eating saturated fats or monounsaturated fats like olive oil is the best way to avoid omega 6’s.

What About Olive Oil?

Yes, olive oil also contains LA, but it also has other healthy fats that help to offset this. Olive oil contains oleic acid, which is one of the best fats for your body. Oleic acid is highly resistant to oxidation, which is why olive oil is much healthier to cook with. However, olive oil can contain varying amounts of linoleic acid, and many olive oils are cut with cheaper seed oils, raising the LA content even more. So just be aware of how much olive oil you are consuming. It can be detrimental in higher amounts.

Other Healthy Fats

Beef fat—even conventionally-raised beef — is a combination of monounsaturated and saturated fats, and only has trace amounts of PUFA’s. Grass fed beef is higher in CLA (a healthy fat) and DHA (an omega 3 fat). On the other hand, chicken and pork have ten times as much omega 6/LA content of beef, bison or lamb, so if you want to be as healthy as possible, choose grass-fed RED meat instead of chicken or pork.

Coconut oil is another healthy saturated fat, and olive oil is monounsaturated, as is avocado oil and the oil from nuts. And butter, my favorite, is mostly all saturated fat, some monounsaturated fat and very little polyunsaturated fat. Grass fed butter is also very high in vitamin K-2, another essential nutrient valuable for heart health.

I hope you stuck with me on this important article. Many people underestimate the tremendous value a healthy diet has on every aspect of their lives. From health, to energy, to body composition, to your moods—diet matters. Making sense of conflicting information is the hardest part, so following the science is what matters most.

As my colleague Mike Geary says,

“…many people make statements like “just live a little and eat a donut”. And, honestly, I don’t equate “living a little” with eating donuts or chips or any other stuff that harms my quality of life. I’d rather eat a delicious steak or grass fed burger, and know I’m nourishing my body instead!

I’d rather have amazing energy, brain clarity, and LOOK & FEEL great every day instead of whatever 10 seconds of pleasure that a donut or chips might give to you. Plus, there are always better alternatives for a treat that doesn’t contain vegetable oil.”

I am 100% in agreement!

Our good friend and one of America’s top Heart Doctors, would like to share some amazing insights with you. His research over the years on heart health has lead him to this amazing find from this one food we ALL are not getting enough of.

NASA Doctor Reveals: #1 Heart-Healthy Food 89% of Americans Aren’t Eating Enough

Did you know that astronauts rarely have heart problems?

Surprisingly, it all comes down to one specific food they eat in outer space.

“This food works to clean your arteries and support your heart health by dissolving the sticky protein building up inside them,” says Dr. Sam Walters.

Dr. Sam Walters is a former nutrition consultant to NASA. He’s also a leading “heart doctor” whose natural solution has helped thousands of people enjoy a healthy heart without living on drugs.

He recommends his patients add this food as a staple in their diets… because multiple studies have shown that it can:

– SLASH your risk of heart attack & stroke by nearly HALF
– Lower “bad” LDL cholesterol & triglycerides
– Keep your blood pressure under control
– Unclog your arteries

Yet, up to 89% of Americans aren’t getting enough of it in their diets!

Fortunately, Dr. Walters has released a short video revealing the #1 heart-healthy food you should start eating today.

Watch it here:

>>> Former NASA Doctor Reveals The #1 Heart-Healthy Food 89% Of Americans Aren’t Eating Enough

References
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/12/13/linoleic-acid-health-effects.aspx?ui=91e4943fb31272c2cf6bf823f245f818b8eba68082a47a5a743f980f03272d6c&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20201213_HL2&mid=DM746090&rid=1033766169
https://chriskresser.com/all-about-the-carnivore-diet-with-dr-paul-saladino/
https://chriskresser.com/how-industrial-seed-oils-are-making-us-sick/?fbclid=IwAR29gPfOPGm2JCdif0_Npayr3aekSD8koUX82yr8lIhgoRH9U4uCd7xMjjM

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