
There seem to be four groups of thinking when it comes to seed oils:
· They are good for you, go ahead and eat at will
· They are fine – not really that bad
· They are terrible for you
· The jury is out – we don’t really know
I might advocate against the good for you and terrible groups, but only a little bit. Maybe it is true that they are good for you – compared to lard or feed lot butter or terrible for you compared to extra virgin olive oil. I know there are lard and butter advocates, but I think most of them are stumping for grass-fed varieties and that is a discussion for another day.
Why might seed oils be terrible, just fine or don’t really know?
Terrible:
Seed oil is extracted by crushing the seeds, mixing them with a chemical solvent, heating, centrifuging, settling and mixing with clay to get the solvents out (short story). This high processing/heating of the seeds to extract the oil changes the chemical bonds in the oil which cause it to have a much higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. Omega 6 fatty acids are alright, but we here in the US most generally get too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3.
Just Fine:
Some studies suggest that because of the makeup of the omega 6 fatty acids in seed oils, we metabolize them. A 2017 study showed that replacing saturated fat with seed oils reduced cardiovascular disease occurrence. Fine. Unfortunately, they didn’t do a third group with other plant oils like olive, avocado or nut.
Don’t really know:
It seems like you can find contradictory studies, studies that could have included more oil choices or studies that have conflicts. Looks like we need more time and more/better studies to have better information.
Guilty until proven innocent
Why start an argument over this unless you are a safflower farmer? There are a lot of great plant oils to choose from that don’t have the controversy of seed oils. And how many oils do you need? Extra virgin olive oil has a lot of taste when you want it, avocado oil has very little flavor and a high smoke point when you want or need that. And to go a little against the grain, most sesame oil (yes, a seed oil) is pressed, not chemically produced, has a great omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio and has a different flavor than olive or avocado.
Please note these three oils or nut oils are common food allergies.
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