Posted on 03/10/2025 3:26:03 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Until recently, most Americans had never heard the term “seed oils,” even though they’ve likely cooked with and consumed them for decades.
It’s the catchy description coined by internet influencers, wellness gurus and some politicians to refer to common cooking oils — think canola, soybean and corn oil — that have long been staples in many home kitchens.
Those fiery critics refer to the top refined vegetable oils as “the hateful eight” and claim that they’re fueling inflammation and high rates of chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health secretary, has said Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned” by seed oils and has called for fast-food restaurants to return to using beef tallow, or rendered animal fat, in their fryers instead.
In response to consumer concerns, some food-makers have stripped seed oils from their products. Restaurants like the salad chain Sweetgreen have removed them from their menus. Many Americans say they now avoid seed oils, according to a recent survey from the International Food Information Council, an industry trade group.
The seed oil discussion has exasperated nutrition scientists, who say decades of research confirms the health benefits of consuming such oils, especially in place of alternatives such as butter or lard.
“I don’t know where it came from that seed oils are bad,” said Martha Belury, an Ohio State University food science professor.
In a Senate hearing Thursday, Dr. Marty Makary, nominated to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, called for a closer review of the products.
“I think seed oils are a good example of where we could benefit from a consolidation of the scientific evidence,” he said.
What are seed oils?
Simply put, they are oils extracted from plant seeds. They include eight commonly targeted by critics: canola, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed,...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
I use olive oil and butter for recipes. For recipes calling for oil, such as baked goods, etc., I just melt butter.
I buy avocado mayonnaise for myself and my husband, and I would like to find a way to make homemade mayo without avocado oil or seed oil as a couple of family members are allergic to avocados. I think olive oil has too strong a flavor to use for that purpose.
The use of seed oils was advocated by commercial interests who demonized animal fat, ie tallow and lard, and advertised “vegetable oil” as a healthy alternative. Subsequent research has called this into question, on both sides.
“Rather, the scourge of heart disease was attributed to dietary saturated fat.”
It might be more believable if humans hadn’t been eating saturated fat for some 3 million years, but only started getting heart disease (in large numbers) only AFTER seed oils became widespread.
I ditched the seed oils and now cook with butter, lard, coconut, avocado, and some light sautéing with extra virgin olive oil. Make that grass-fed butter and beef lard. So far I haven’t lost much weight, but I feel better and the drusen growing on my macula has totally disappeared.
Seed oils are not ‘bad’. It’s the overuse of them and their contribution to inflammation that is bad; and unfortunately we get a LOT of them in our US fast and prepared foods.
I wouldn’t blame Eisenhower’s heart problems on seed oils. He died before ‘fast food’ and prepared ‘convenience’ foods became such a big part of our American diet.
He was also well known to be a chain smoker.
They brought up Eisenhower in the article, not me - I just point out the timing, but where I grew up, we always bought the largest cans of Crisco we could find, and we didn’t need McDonald’s to consume that crap.
I do not think sunflower seed oil is an issue, but canola oil is nasty.
Using a lot more olive oil. Makes your Obamas shoot out like greased torpedoes.
“ They include eight commonly targeted by critics: canola, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed,...”
Why not post all eight?
This is like CO2 is a dangerous gas.
Corn itself, and corn based products, are sprayed with round up twice a year. To keep weeds down, and to make sure the crop is ripened in the same time frame. I do not eat anything with corn in it. I try to eat no pork or pork fat, but freely eat beef or poultry fat. Corn is animal food, plain and simple.
I don’t recall ever seeing Crisco in our house. We used butter and bacon grease :-)
“I don’t recall ever seeing Crisco in our house. We used butter and bacon grease”
That’s why you didn’t follow in Ike’s shoes.
“Kennedy and influencers bash seed oils, baffling nutrition scientists”
seed oils are indeed unhealthy , soy, cotton and rape (aka canoloa) are among the worst ... unaltered animal fats and oils from fruits like olives and avocados are healthiest ...
FR is limited by consent decree to 300 word excerpts from NYT, and that’s where the 300 words ended.
We use olive and avocado oils, butter and bacon grease for our cooking.
Using store-bought mayonnaise, or the one or two times a year that I will use peanut oil for deep frying, don’t worry me, because they are such a small part of our diet.
And that's nothing compared to how triggered they get by the word "niggardly."
It’s not limited from listing the 8 oils.
chosen foods avocado oil mayonnaise uses 100% avocado oil, unlike most of the vast number of other “avocado mayonnaises” that have SOME avocado oil but the rest soybean oil, but put “avocado” in big bold green letters on their labels ...
https://www.google.com/search?q=chosen+foods+avocado+mayonnaise
costco has by far the best price on chosen foods avocado oil mayonnaise, stores like walmart carry it ...
I’m guessing the other four are soybean, safflower, sunflower, and palm oils.
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