Over the past year or so I’ve seen a LOT more talk about the dangers of seed oils on the internet. As an admitted novice on the subject or nutrition, is there much truth to the claim that it is a major driver behind the obesity problem in the US? Or is it not as bad as people say?
Extra virgin olive oil is the ONLY oil that (a) consistently has good data/studies supporting its liberal use and (b) there is a large consensus of R1 nutritional researcher supporting its liberal use for health.
This is NOT true of coconut oil. There is pretty deep disagreement among some researchers about its overall healthfulness. In fact, most Ivy League researchers very much doubt the healthfulness of coconut oil. For example, this is the consensus of the researchers from Harvard’s School of Public Health…
>No evidence for claims of coconut oil’s health benefits
>
>Coconut oil has been touted as a healthy fat with an array of beneficial effects, but these claims lack evidence, according to Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Coconut oil—a saturated fat, like butter and beef fat—raises blood levels of artery-damaging LDL cholesterol, Sacks said in a January 4, 2021 New York Times article. Coconut oil is also known to raise blood levels of HDL cholesterol, which is thought to protect against heart disease, although no clear-cut benefit has been demonstrated. Sacks said, “It is unknown which, if any, foods or nutrients that raise HDL cholesterol do so in a way that reduces atherosclerosis and coronary events.”
Other experts quoted in the article suggested that it was okay for those who like the taste of coconut oil to use it in limited amounts.
Read the New York Times article: Does Coconut Oil Deserve Its Health Halo?
Also see another Harvard School of Public Health researcher, Karin Michels… Coconut oil is ‘pure poison’, says Harvard professor
Given that so many at the Harvard School of Public Health (including Dr Michels and Dr Sacks) do not think coconut oil is healthy, I would take any “pro-coconut oil” positions with a HUGE grain of salt. There are just too many good researchers who think coconut oil is unhealthy.
Absolutely not. Multiple researches and trials have proven again and again that seed oils are far / superior healthier than traditional animal fat when it comes to cardiovascular risks, the no. 1 killer in many developed places.
HOWEVER, seed oils are cheap, have made over consumption extremely easy. Excessive calorie intake is the root of many diseases. Oil is also not as nutritious as original whole food, so even if you could control the calorie intake, you will end up taking in less nutrient compared to if you just consumed the original seeds. Bran oil such as rice bran oil is also a possible source of nutrition if the consumption of bran is not practical.Personally, I minimize my seed oil consumption to the minimum (I minimize oil intake in general but I am not OCD about it). However given a choice for a dish cooked in seed oil and the same dish cooked in lard / tallow, I would choose seed oil 150%. The evidences are very clear
https://www.the-nutrivore.com/post/a-comprehensive-rebuttal-to-seed-oil-sophistry
The wildly popular aversion to “seed oils” is partly derived from this video in my estimation, which resurfaced on the internet and became a meme. It shows the production process of canola oil, which is pretty gross, particularly around minute 3:20.
This was picked up in circles of people who are generally pro-animal food/butter/ghee/saturated fat with the idea “how can something this processed be better than something natural like butter?”
There are also people in the nutrition world that are cited as sources for this debate with talk of the inherently pro-inflammatory nature of these polyunsaturated (PUFA) oils and susceptibility to rancidity. I haven’t looked too deep into it myself (though I plan to spend a day on it sometime soon).
Harvard claims in a meta-analysis that MUFAs/PUFAs are still better for preventing heart disease than saturated fats when the MUFA/PUFA is used instead of saturated fat. However, this debate is murkier than people are led to believe. For one, saturated fat can mean a lot of things. Source matters, and I guarantee you they aren’t only looking at butter, ghee, and coconut oil, but overall foods like donuts, bacon, etc as well.
Also, people who are more health-conscious tend to avoid certain foods high in saturated fat like bacon etc. So like with anything dose matters. The extreme axis of the bell curve may be someone eating LOTS of saturated fat from unhealthy sources, compared to someone eating more fruits, vegetables, and getting more physical activity. It’s hard to perform studies on chronic disease because of the confounding variables, along with many year studies being subject to harsh inaccuracies.
In the end, as someone else has said in this thread, extra virgin olive oil is my oil of choice. It consistently performs well in tests/research and is used in healthy populations around the world. I am not opposed to using organic butter and avocado oil either.