Your Complete Guide to Seed Oils: How to Recognize and Avoid the “Bad” Ones
There are several misconceptions about seed oils. Some holistic nutritionists recommend avoiding them at all costs. At the same time, mainstream media and other medical professionals don’t see anything wrong with seed oil consumption.
But if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s this: if you pick up a cereal box or snack food from your local grocery store, it almost always contains seed oil. Canola, vegetable, and safflower oils are common ingredients in packaged foods. So it’s essential for us to understand how they impact our cells.
The History of Seed Oils
It wasn’t until the mid 1900s that industrial seed oils became popular. Back then, preliminary research studies showed a connection between animal fats and heart disease (a hypothesis that is actively being debunked). Families wanted alternative cooking oils to their traditional tallow and lard, and eventually landed on hydrogenated oils and seed oils.
What Are Seed Oils?
Seed oils are cooking oils made from the seeds of vegetables. This includes canola, corn, peanut, sunflower, soybean, grapeseed, and cottonseed oils. They’re extracted from seeds using extreme heat and chemicals (like hexane) to produce the pantry staples we know today.
When animal fats were eliminated from the mainstream diet, seed oils were introduced as a cooking alternative. Now these oils can be found in almost every processed food item from chips and cookies to granola bars and cereal.
While seed oils have been recommended as “heart-healthy” alternatives to animal fats, they’re hiding a dirty secret. And it has to do with processing and overconsumption.
Are Seed Oils Bad for You?
The short answer is, yes. But seed oils don’t start out in a toxic state. They become toxic when exposed to high temperatures and chemical solvents (which are used to extract the oil). The seed oils used at restaurants or found in grocery store snacks are already rancid due to these unstable (and unregulated) processing methods. Meaning, they’re dangerous for cells and can even damage DNA.
Another reason to avoid seed oils is their high polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) content. Again, omega-6 fatty acids aren’t inherently bad for you. When nutrients are intact (not oxidized), your body needs these fatty acids to build healthy cells. The problem with PUFAs is our high levels of consumption. Ideally, we should maintain a careful ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids (4:1).
Since PUFAs are present in almost every grocery store food, most of us consume huge levels of omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega-3 fatty acids. This can create a toxic environment for the cells.
Cold-Pressed Seed Oils vs. Industrial Seed Oils
A common misconception about seed oils is that all of them are bad for you. This isn’t entirely the case. Black pepper, castor, flax, primrose, and tangerine oils are examples of seed oils that can have medicinal benefits. The difference between a good seed oil and a bad one is the processing methods and your level of consumption.
Cold-Pressed Seed Oils
You may find seed oils in trustworthy supplement brands, skincare products, or tinctures. Why is this? Select seed oils can have positive health benefits, as long as they’re processed correctly.
You’ll want to make sure the beneficial seed oils you’re using are cold-pressed and minimally processed. Since seed oils are delicate, they easily go rancid, especially with high-heat processing. Chemical solvents (like hexane) that are used to extract the oil can also disturb the natural health benefits.
Cold-pressed seed oils are a much better option for your health. Since they aren’t exposed to high temperatures or chemical solvents, the nutrients remain intact and the oils aren’t oxidized. Cold-pressed oils have a better flavor profile and don’t need to be bleached or deodorized (this is commonly done to make industrial seed oils appear intact).
Industrial Seed Oils
Grocery store seed oils are bad for you mainly because of processing methods. Canola, vegetable, and soybean oils are delicate. When extreme temperatures and chemicals are used to extract the oil, it quickly turns rancid. Seed oils found on grocery store shelves are likely already rancid, and toxic for your cells.
Over time, consumption of these industrial seed oils can lead to free radicals in the cell, cellular damage, and even changes to your DNA.
What Makes Seed Oils Toxic?
Just because an oil is extracted from a seed doesn’t mean it’s automatically toxic. When nutrients are maintained, seed oils can be healthy and beneficial for your cells. But when the oils are oxidized, they can promote inflammation in the body.
Let’s explore three common reasons why seed oils become toxic…
Overconsumption of Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs)
We need polyunsaturated fats for brain function, skin health, and metabolism wellness (among many other essential functions of the human body). But too much of a good thing can disrupt the body’s natural processes. This is what’s happening with PUFAs (aka omega-6 fatty acids). Since seed oils are found in almost every modern food, most of us are overdosing on omega-6 fatty acids, without enough omega-3 fatty acids in our diet. This may lead to chronic inflammation.
Heat Processing
Seed oils are particularly delicate, which means they shouldn’t be heated. Unfortunately, industrial seed oil companies use high heat and chemical solvents in their oil processing. Most seed oils are rancid before they hit grocery store shelves — but the smell is hidden with deodorization and further chemical processing. These rancid oils create a toxic environment for our cells, promoting chronic inflammation, weight gain, and disease.
If you’re cooking with oil at home, it’s important to keep in mind the oil’s smoke point. Even healthy options like olive oil and tallow can turn rancid if you heat them above the recommended temperature.
Genetically Modified Plants
Most grocery store seed oils are extracted from crops that have been genetically modified and sprayed with toxic pesticides. Corn, soybean, canola, and vegetable oils are all examples of seed oils that come from modified and heavily sprayed crops.
Common Seed Oils to Avoid
Industrial seed oils were originally used to lubricate machinery. And for many years, some of these seed oils were even considered industrial waste. Here are some seed oils to completely eliminate from your diet:
Soybean oil
Canola oil
Safflower oil
Grapeseed oil
Cottonseed oil
Palm oil
Rapeseed oil
Corn oil
What to Eat Instead of Seed Oils
Animal fats (like grass-fed tallow, lard, and suet) are all much healthier alternatives to seed oils. This may feel contradictory to everything you learned about food growing up, but there’s real evidence behind the benefits of these foods. Animal fats have a high smoke point, meaning you can cook with them without worrying about oxidation.
Fats like tallow contain all of the fat-soluble vitamins your body needs to build strong skin, strengthen your immune system, and even lower inflammation levels. And due to high fat content, these fat-soluble vitamins are easy for your body to absorb.
Other healthy plant-based fats include olive oil and avocado oil. If you want to incorporate seed oils like flaxseed oil into your diet, just make sure the oil is extracted through cold pressing and not heated at home. These oils are best used as a salad dressing, homemade dip, or supplement.
There’s So Much More to Healthy Food Than Ingredients
A healthy diet is one that’s filled with whole foods, vegetables, and nutrient varieties, right? Well, sort of. When it comes to holistic nutrition, I find that food processing methods are just as important as the ingredients themselves.
For example, a farm-fresh egg is much more nutritionally dense than one from the grocery store. And garden tomatoes always taste better than those from a package.
Over the years, food processing companies have developed methods that dramatically cheapen production costs. Genetically modified plants, high-heat pasteurization, and chemical pesticides are all examples of this.
These methods are slowly changing our food. And eating a diet of whole foods sadly isn’t enough anymore. We need to understand exactly where our food comes from, what processing methods it’s exposed to, and what nutrients are intact when it reaches us.
Want to Learn More About Food Processing from a Holistic Nutrition Perspective?