Obviously I understand if there’s an allergy or something, and everything in moderation because oils in general can contribute to specific health conditions. I also get it if it’s for environmental reasons like palm oil.
But I’ve been seeing a lot of things about boycotting all seed oils in general, not for specific allergy/health/environmental issues.
So what’s the deal???
In: 8
This is my understanding and I could be completely wrong:
They aren’t INHERENTLY bad. The problem is that
1) they’re high in omega-6
2) they’re everywhere in the developed world
3) the average person in the developed world gets very little omega-3
4) the body needs a certain ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, otherwise all sorts of things go wrong (in either direction)
So it’s not the seed oils themselves but the CONTEXT of the seed oils. They’d be less harmful in a diet high in omega-3 but hardly ANYONE eats like that.
If any of this is BS I apologize and please correct me, I’m not a doctor or scientist.
This is my understanding and I could be completely wrong:
They aren’t INHERENTLY bad. The problem is that
1) they’re high in omega-6
2) they’re everywhere in the developed world
3) the average person in the developed world gets very little omega-3
4) the body needs a certain ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, otherwise all sorts of things go wrong (in either direction)
So it’s not the seed oils themselves but the CONTEXT of the seed oils. They’d be less harmful in a diet high in omega-3 but hardly ANYONE eats like that.
If any of this is BS I apologize and please correct me, I’m not a doctor or scientist.
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Seed oils tend to have a widespread use in food. There is nothing inherently dangerous/unhealthy/harmful about them.
After reading a few articles to make sure I understood the alleged problem, it appears that the issue is more related to social media and influencers oversimplifying and generalizing some relatively common but not super frequent cases where they are bad, but not due to these times by themselves.
It is well known that excessive heating of oils causes some not so good compounds to be formed within the oils. People will see the headlines/blurbs that say seed oils are bad when excessively heated, and spread that around. Like the kids game of telephone, the “excessively heated” part gets lost along the way.
Also, due to their widespread use, seed oils are found in foods that, as a whole, are not the best options. Rather than taking a look at their dietary habits, people like to find something in what they eat to be the blame for their issues.
In summary, there aren’t any problems with seed oils that aren’t already issues with other fats, such as overconsumption.
Seed oils tend to have a widespread use in food. There is nothing inherently dangerous/unhealthy/harmful about them.
After reading a few articles to make sure I understood the alleged problem, it appears that the issue is more related to social media and influencers oversimplifying and generalizing some relatively common but not super frequent cases where they are bad, but not due to these times by themselves.
It is well known that excessive heating of oils causes some not so good compounds to be formed within the oils. People will see the headlines/blurbs that say seed oils are bad when excessively heated, and spread that around. Like the kids game of telephone, the “excessively heated” part gets lost along the way.
Also, due to their widespread use, seed oils are found in foods that, as a whole, are not the best options. Rather than taking a look at their dietary habits, people like to find something in what they eat to be the blame for their issues.
In summary, there aren’t any problems with seed oils that aren’t already issues with other fats, such as overconsumption.
The science doesn’t support the claim that they are toxic: https://www.consumerreports.org/healthy-eating/do-seed-oils-make-you-sick-a1363483895/
They do get toxic if you heat them up too hot or if you keep reusing oil by heating it up again and again. However, for regular use, they can be healthier than other types of oils and fats to cook with.
The science doesn’t support the claim that they are toxic: https://www.consumerreports.org/healthy-eating/do-seed-oils-make-you-sick-a1363483895/
They do get toxic if you heat them up too hot or if you keep reusing oil by heating it up again and again. However, for regular use, they can be healthier than other types of oils and fats to cook with.
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