Seed oils
Let's get into it.. the debate that I feel I have non stop! Seed oils. We have none of them in our home as I feel they are just not worth the damage they can cause. After the industrial revolution, seed oils came along. Promoting better heart health and a lot cheaper than butter too! Now seed oils (the main ingredient in margarine) have become a staple in almost every packaged product. The issue with seed oils is that they are extremely high in PUFA's which are polyunsaturated fatty acids. While omega 6 PUFA's are essential for our bodies, we need to be balancing this with omega 3s. When we have seed oils in everything (margarine included) we are throwing our omega 3- 6 out of balance. This imbalance can lead to chronic inflammation, which is linked to heart diseases, autoimmune disorders and certain cancers. The other issues we fall into when consuming seed oils instead of real fats (such as butter, tallow, ghee, cold pressed olive oil + coconut oil) are that they are highly sucesptible to oxidization in our bodies. This is due to their molecular structure which contains multiple double bonds - I won't go any further into it but essentially when they are exposed to heat, light + oxygen seed oils form harmful free radicals. This process of oxidization already occurs prior to consumption. When the seeds are processed into seed oils, they are usually heated at really high temps and the oils chemically extracted from the seeds in large quantities. They are then bleached and deodorized which further oxidizes them. They then get bottle in plastic bottles and sold to us as healthy 🙃 then when we bring them home from the supermarket we use them (usually in heated cooking) which further oxidizes them. Oxidization leads to harmful free radicals which leads to cell damage which is highly linked to cancers, heart problems, strokes etc as the free radicals can build plaque in our arteries. Chronic inflammation (meaning ongoing inflammation) is usually associated with high consumption of seed oils. Studies have also shown that excess omega 6 can lead to insulin resistance, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Do you need any more reasons to ditch these toxic oils?! Some tips to help cut down: 1. When you run out of your oil then replace them with stable saturated fats such as butter, ghee, tallow, coconut oil, cold pressed olive oil 2. Check the ingredients on packaged and processed foods (most common names will be vegetable oils, canola oil, hi-oleic sunflower oil, oils) - they will also try to market it as the heart healthy alternative - please be cautious 3. Swapping out your spreads like margarine for butter 4. Looking at making your own snacks where you can control what oil is used. 5. I also ask for my food to be cooked in butter when I am out at a café if they can - if they can't it's not an issue but certainly some of the local places around me do and it tastes way better too!