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Why vegetable oils are TOXIC

Updated: Feb 3, 2023


The term “vegetable oils” also known as “seed oils” is a big umbrella term for soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil, corn oil (the main four), cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, grape seed oil, and safflower oil. They are considered polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids... good right?? See below.


Vegetable oils?? Oils...from vegetables?? Sounds healthy to me!!


What if I told you these oils are highly industrialized, processed at high temps, refined, bleached, and DEODORIZED before consumption.. so chemically altered, they can change your DNA...


It’s not the seeds themselves that are unhealthy but it's the processing of the seeds that are toxic.


This refined, bleached, and DEODORIZED process is so common in oil prep it actually has an acronym, RBD. So what does RBD entail?

Refined = Involves crushing the plant material, to express the oil- sounds practical. But, solvents are added to extract more oil from the seed. Hexane is a very popular solvent mixed with canola oil that helps extract the oil more efficiently and also acts as a cleaning agent. What is hexane, you ask? A significant constituent of gasoline :,)

Bleached = LITERALLY MEANS BLEACHING the oil, to make it clear and free of impurities.

Deodorized = Steaming the oil at extremely high temperatures >260 F under a high vacuum. This removes all the “odors” that come with the natural oil to make it essentially, tasteless.

This process completely strips the natural color and flavor of the oil and reduces the nutrient-rich qualities they originally contained.



How do these oils affect our bodies?


Acrolein is just one toxic molecule that comes from these seed oils and this is the same toxic molecule found in cigarettes.

There have been studies that have found higher rates of lung cancer in employees who work in fast food due to smelling and inhaling the smoke of these fried oils...

Yeah, yeah, well, I don’t eat THAT much seed oil, you’re probably thinking. Well actually, 80% of America’s fat calories come from these PUFA’s in seed oils. Since these industrialized oils are so cheap and readily available, they have replaced the healthier fats America used to cook with, and are found in packaged foods and used in restaurants everywhere.

When we are eating too much of these oils, the PUFAs aren’t used for energy. Instead, they build up in our body fat and cause system-wide inflammation.. affecting our skin, brain function, and overall metabolism.



How do we avoid these toxic oils?

  • Look at your ingredient list. Next time you’re buying bread, nuts, chips, or anything in a bag really, look for soybean, canola, palm, corn cottonseed, sunflower, rice bran, grape seed, and safflower oil; and if they’re listed, DON’T BUY IT. Even if it says organic, the oil contained in the product still undergoes the same process, organic just means the product wasn’t sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.

  • Cook more at home with healthier fats.

  • Avoid dining out often, especially avoid eating fried foods at restaurants.

    • For the convenience of price, almost all restaurants (even Whole Foods cafes) cook their food with these oils.


Healthy oil and fat alternatives:

Moderate to high heat cooking

  • ghee

  • coconut oil

  • avocado oil

  • peanut oil

    • best seed oil alternative for deep frying!

      • Chick-fil-A uses it for their fried chicken and Five Guys uses it for their french fries :)

  • almond oil

  • cocoa butter

Low to moderate heat cooking

  • extra virgin olive oil

    • more susceptible to oxidation and heat damage

    • QUALITY MATTERS: buy in the green glass bottles to preserve the chlorophyll and antioxidant content- exposure to light can damage the oils. So avoid those white plastic bottles!!



References



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