Food Freedom Friday Edition 258 - Ditch The Vegetable Oils

Fat is possibly the most misunderstood macronutrient and vegetable oil specifically tops the list. Vegetable oils have long been touted as “heart-healthy” oils that are said to help “lower cholesterol” and support overall health. Sadly, this is one of the most pervasive myths in the health care world. The truth is, vegetable oils may actually be one of the most damaging and dangerous foods in your diet.

What Are Vegetable Oils?

The term vegetable oil is used for oils that have been extracted from seeds including canola oil, corn oil, soy oil, rapeseed oil and safflower oil. When you buy “vegetable oil” at the grocery store you are often buying a combination of these seed oils based on availability. The term vegetable oil is simply used to imply that the oils are not made of animal-based fats. Sadly, however, the unfortunate part is that although the term vegetable is often associated with health, vegetable oils are anything but, it is simply good marketing. In reality, these oils would be more accurately referred to as crop or seed oils as that is what they are made from.

Vegetable oils were essentially non-existent until the early 1900s when new industrial processes allowed them to be extracted. Unlike natural fats like butter or olive oil, vegetable (crop) oils cannot be extracted by pressing or separating. These oils require extensive processing to extract their fat. The process of creating vegetable oils involves chemical extraction, degumming, refining, bleaching, deodorizing and hydrogenation in the case of margarine and spreads. Many of these oils contain additives and preservatives in order to help extend shelf life.

Why Vegetable Oils Are Unhealthy

The first and most obvious problem with vegetable oils is simply that these oils are not fit for human consumption. Before industrial processing, humans consumed naturally occurring fats in the form of s butter, ghee, tallow, lard, coconut oil or olive oil to name a few. Although many people are still concerned about saturated fat, they need not be. This is a myth that has been disproven although still infiltrates the mainstream health world.  The saturation of these fats is actually their most beneficial part. The fat content of the human body is predominantly saturated and monounsaturated fat, with very little polyunsaturated fat. Your cells are made of saturated fat, and although the body requires fat in the diet, it requires the right type and amounts of fat to support the rebuilding of cells and hormones.

One of the main concerns with vegetable oils is their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, also known as PUFAs. Polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and oxidize very easily. Omega-6s are the PUFAs found in vegetable oils, and although they are essential to human health, in excess are dangerous and inflammatory. Over the past hundred years, the consumption of PUFAs has skyrocketed due in large part to the consumption of vegetable oils and products that contain them. The ideal ratio of consumption of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids is somewhere in the range of 1:1 to 4:1, however, that ratio has increased as high as 20:1 in some cases dramatically increasing inflammation and impairing gut health.

Additionally, vegetable oils are incredibly unstable and can easily be damaged by exposure to light, heat, and air, making them a poor choice for cooking oils. Unfortunately, that is exactly where they are used the most - in deep-fryers, sauté pans, and processed and packaged foods all over the world.

Furthermore, vegetable oils, specifically vegetable oil products like margarine or spreads often contain added preservatives, emulsifiers, colours, flavours and sodium. These food additives might help the oils from spoiling, but in the end, they will end up spoiling you.

A growing body of research indicates that this is no coincidence and that vegetable oil consumption may uniquely drive inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular disease in particular, rather than prevent them, through several mechanisms, including:

Promoting Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a well-established underlying cause of non-communicable disease.

Disruptions to this delicate fatty acid balance initiate inflammatory processes, including endothelial dysfunction, insulin resistance, and leptin resistance, critical elements in the development of cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, some people may experience a greater inflammatory response to dietary linoleic acid than others based on their genetics.

Vegetable oils also contain pro-inflammatory compounds produced as by-products during oil processing and cooking. Consumption of these compounds triggers a chain reaction of oxidative damage in the body that may eventually lead to LDL oxidation. Oxidized LDL plays a significant role in the development of cardiovascular disease.

Increasing Fat Accumulation

Linoleic acid, the predominant fatty acid in vegetable oils, may also be making your fat tissue more insulin-sensitive, causing it to take up more glucose from the blood. While this may sound like a good thing, it is not. This glucose is then converted into triglycerides, the primary storage form of fat in the body. Over time, these processes contribute to increased fat stores. Increased body fat, particularly in visceral fat stores, is linked to an increased risk of metabolic dysfunction. This phenomenon may explain why linoleic acid has been found to cause greater weight gain than saturated fat in animal models.

Increasing Trans-Fat Consumption

It is commonly understood that man-made trans fats directly contribute to chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Hydrogenated fats are the most significant sources of trans fats in the diet. These fats are found in items such as margarine and fried foods. What few people realize is that vegetable oils also contain trans fatty acids as a by-product of the refining process.

For every 2 percent increase in calories you consume from trans fats, your risk of heart disease is nearly doubled!!! This alone is enough to avoid vegetable oils, even if they state that they are “un-hydrogenated.”

Vegetable Oils Are Nutrient-Poor Foods

Vegetable oils are calorically dense but exceedingly nutrient-poor. The plants used to create these oils are often nutrient-poor to begin with. The refining process removes any remaining nutrients. Whilst some oilseeds, such as rapeseeds used to make canola oil, contain some naturally occurring vitamin E, most of the vitamin E is likely oxidized by heat and light exposure or removed entirely during processing.

Vegetable oils also do your health a disservice by displacing whole, nutrient-dense foods with demonstrable health benefits, including:

·       Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

·       Avocados

·       Seafood

·       Full-fat dairy

·       Nuts and seeds

What About High-Oleic Vegetable Oils?

Part of the concern with vegetable oils is their high linoleic acid content. Linoleic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid with a delicate chemical structure that is highly susceptible to heat and light damage. Oxidation of omega-6 fatty acids produces pro-inflammatory compounds that contribute to inflammation and disease in the body. The food industry has attempted to solve this problem by developing high-oleic vegetable oils.

High-oleic vegetable oils are vegetable oils where the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) to linoleic acid has been increased. MUFAs are more stable than linoleic acid and thus less susceptible to heat and light damage. MUFAs are also considered the most “heart-healthy” fatty acids. High-oleic vegetable oils have a longer shelf life and reduced tendency to go rancid or oxidize. The high MUFA content creates a further bonus for the food industry, which can label these oils as “heart-healthy.”

But are high-oleic oils truly heart-healthy?

High-oleic oils are made primarily from seeds, such as canola seeds and sunflower seeds. Most high-oleic oils were developed through strategic plant breeding. However, of soybeans have also been genetically modified to create high-oleic soybean oil. Based on the research, it is safe to say that high-oleic vegetable oils may not be as bad as their linoleic acid-rich vegetable oil counterparts but they are still far from genuinely healthy oils. high-oleic oils are still heavily processed oils. You can also easily find monounsaturated fats in whole foods including extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and macadamia nuts. These whole-food sources of MUFAs contain a host of other beneficial compounds, including phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. High-oleic, ultra-processed canola oil cannot. Begin to compare to these naturally high-oleic whole foods.

While some healthcare professionals and food manufacturers claim that high-oleic sunflower oil can form part of a well-formulated diet, it is still best to limit your consumption of these processed oils and instead focus on whole-food sources of healthy fats.

How to Avoid Vegetable Oil

Although some items will simply be labelled “vegetable oil”, others might come in a more specific format, however, they should all be avoided as much as possible:

·       Canola Oil

·       Corn Oil

·       Cottonseed Oil

·       Grapeseed Oil

·       Rapeseed Oil

·       Soybean Oil

·       Safflower Oil

·       “Vegetable” oil

·       Margarine

·       Shortening

·       Any fake butters or spreads

In addition to bottles of canola, corn, soy, safflower and rapeseed oil, vegetable oils can be found in almost every processed food product from salad dressing to granola bars. Therefore, not only is it imperative to avoid buying vegetable oils or vegetable spays for cooking, it is important to read the ingredients on everything you buy. Instead, choose natural cooking fats like butter, ghee, tallow, lard, coconut oil or olive oil for cooking and dressings. When buying liquid oils such as olive oil or avocado oil, look for versions sold in dark glass bottle as light can turn oils rancid, and ensure they are stored in a cool, dry place away from heat sources.

Vegetable oils continue to get a lot of attention for being a healthy dietary choice but research indicates they are anything but! Vegetable oils are new additions to the human diet that provoke inflammation, increase body fat, and displace healthier foods in your diet. These processes central to the development of chronic inflammation and metabolic illness. To truly support your health, focus instead on eating whole-food-based, nutrient-dense fats such as well-sourced fatty meats, extra virgin olive oil, wild-caught seafood, and fermented full-fat dairy products.