Why Vegetable Oils are Killing You

Although vegetable oils have a healthy sounding name, trust me, they are anything but!  Furthermore, they are NOT made from vegetables. As you might already know, vegetable oils actually come from any combination of corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, safflower oil, and/or cottonseed oil. All of these are detrimental to your health.

In fact, they are downright deadly. I am not exaggerating or fear mongering here. These are my reasons why:
 

1. Vegetable oils usually contain trans-fats, even if they are labelled non-hydrogenated

 

You already KNOW that trans-fats are deadly. I don’t need to go into all of the science as to why these fats kill you and cause severe damage to the cell membranes in your body. This leads to a myriad of severe health problems ranging from cancer and obesity, to Alzheimer's, heart disease, and more.

I’m sure you have heard over and over again to steer clear of any foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. This is something I know you adhere to. What you don't know, however, is that even non-hydrogenated vegetable oils contain trans-fats due to the extremely high heat, solvents, and pressure they are exposed to during the refining process. All vegetable oils are refined, and yes, this includes so-called "expeller pressed" vegetable oils.

All of this high heat, high pressure processing with hexane solvents actually forces some of the polyunsaturated content of vegetable oils (yes, even canola oil) to be reformed into trans-fats.

According to Dr. Mary Enig, PhD, and Nutritional Biochemist, "Although the Canadian government lists the trans-fat content of canola at a minimal 0.2 percent, research at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found trans-fat levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid canola oil".

And this is the garbage that the government and giant food conglomerates are marketing to you as heart healthy fats. Don't let them fool you.

2. Vegetable oils contain oxidized ‘mutant’ fats that are even worse than trans-fats & have been directly linked to cardiovascular disease

 

Oxidized fats are present in all vegetable oils due to the refining process and reactions with the polyunsaturated fats naturally present in these oils. These ‘mutated’ fats are similar in chemical composition to trans-fats, but wreak even worse havoc in your body. They cause almost immediate damage to the delicate balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory particles in the bloodstream.

Almost all processed foods and restaurant fryers are the homes of these extra special particles are found. When trans-fats were removed, they were replaced with something even worse! In fact, French fries have been shown to create immediate changes (and not good ones) in your artetries.

The free radicals formed during the refining of vegetable oils create these oddly formed fats, which damage your cell membranes & chromosomes, and create massive inflammation in your body.

These free radicals further damage your arteries, creating a build-up of plaque which initially repairs the damage. This build up is the start of atherosclerosis which will eventually lead to a heart attack. This is not ‘just’ a long term risk of daily vegetable oil consumption. Studies show immediate dysfunction in your arteries, also called endothelial function, once these oils are consumed.

In her book Deep Nutrition, Catherine Shanahan cites a study from New Zealand showing how participants who ate French fries from a restaurant fryer displayed immediate damage and deregulation of their arterial endothelial function, going from a normal 7% dilation before eating the French fries to almost no dilation at all (only 1%) after eating the French fries. This is one of the mitigating factors in heart attacks.

If you think I’m exaggerating, please, reconsider. Dr. Shanahan also surveyed hundreds of patients that were admitted to the hospital for a having heart attacks, and discovered that every single patient that just had a heart attack had eaten vegetable oils with their last meal before the heart attack. I know this is not necessarily causation, but it definitely shows some correlation. This is scary stuff!

This is something to think about the next time you order those French fries with that sandwich on the menu (We’re going to delve into the sandwich on my next post). Yes, it really is THAT serious.  Please, always ask to replace French fries that come with most meals with side veggies, fruit, or a salad instead (beware of commercially made dressings, loaded with even more destructive vegetable oils).  This may very well make an enormous difference between living a life of your ultimate wellness, and, to put it simply, not.

3. Vegetable oils cause massive imbalances with your Omega-6 to Omega-3 fats ratio

 

The third major reason that these vegetable oils are killing you is that they are composed, predominantly of pro- inflammatory omega-6 fats, while carrying minimal anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats.

Ancestral health studies and the current literature recommend an optimal to be a ratio of 2:1 or even 1:1 for your omega-6 to omega-3.  Most vegetable oils, (present in almost anything processed and manufactured) distort your ratio as high as 20:1 or even 30:1 in favor of harmful omega-6 fats. Worse yet, these omega-6 fats are not the same as the innocent type found in nuts; they are in a mutated form, the damaged types that harm the tissues of your body.

This Omega fat imbalance is further implicated in the causes of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and many other degenerative diseases that will shorten your life significantly, and reduce life quality. Cut out the vegetable oils!


After this message of doom and gloom, there is an easy solution: incorporate healthy oils like coconut oil, olive oil, macadamia oil, avocado oil, and grass-fed butter into your meals and your lifestyle. These naturally occurring fats are so much healthier than any vegetable oil and don't cause any of the problems we've described in this section of the article. At the base of everything is my usual mantra of ‘Just Eat Real Food’

If you need some help on incorporating more real nutrition into your life, contact me for a consultation. You can create you ultimate wellness!

Michal Ofer