The omega 6/3 thing about seed oils mentioned in the article is real. It can be a big cause of inflammation. Plus, seed oils often have pretty toxic extraction procedures, especially for the cheap stuff.
But tallow and animal fats aren’t the solution. Olive oil is. And I guess avocado oil if you need something more neutral and/or with a higher smoke point.
The Atlantic article is about the marketing of shortening and hydrogenated vegetable oil. The authors are a psychiatrist and a writer for Oprah. It really says nothing about vegetable oils that don’t contain trans fats.
And most of the non-crank advice on light vegetable oils is just to avoid scorching them when cooking. Scorched oil, like any burnt foodstuff, contains free radicals that can be carcinogenic. One of the strongest pieces of science-based dietary advice is “don’t eat burnt stuff.”
I don’t quite follow. You’re saying that because not everyone can feasibly partake in healthier food, nobody should? Also, the current economic realities around certain food items aren’t fixed in stone. Taxes, tariffs, regulations, and all sorts of other policy levers can make big changes to the market.
No, I’m saying that it isn’t possible significantly shift peoples’ diets to olive oil from other fats and oils because olive oil consumption is supply-constrained.
I don’t know about avocado oil, but you’re not going to be able to solve America’s love of deep fried food with olive oil both due to the cost and due to the practicality.
Yeah, olive oil is not for deep frying. But maybe Americans shouldn’t be having quite as much fried food? (I say this as someone who just had fried food for dinner.)
As I mentioned in another comment, today’s food economics are not written in stone. There are all sorts of tax and subsidy levers in the public policy toolbox. One reason, say, soybeans and soybean oil are so cheap in the U.S. today is farm subsidies.
But humans being drawn to fatty and sugary foods is written into our DNA. Unless you find some way to ban fried food, people are still going to eat it. A lot. You would need a massive cultural shift away from fatty and sugary foods and that would take more than taxes and subsidies because things like fried chicken and waffles are now considered part of someone’s culture.
It’s about frequency and quantity. Sure, people will always have a taste for unhealthy food. But until sugar/corn was massively subsidized in the U.S., people didn’t eat nearly as much sweet junk. It took a massive cultural shift to get to where we are today. Massive cultural shifts happen.
The omega 6/3 thing about seed oils mentioned in the article is real. It can be a big cause of inflammation. Plus, seed oils often have pretty toxic extraction procedures, especially for the cheap stuff.
But tallow and animal fats aren’t the solution. Olive oil is. And I guess avocado oil if you need something more neutral and/or with a higher smoke point.
Please share your proof of any negatives of seed oil, because it’s bullshit
You can read the transcripts if you don’t want to watch the videos. Enjoy!
Yeah, that’s not a great source. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/nutritionfacts-org/
Mostly because of his bias for veganism, which those linked videos have nothing to do with. But if you prefer more mainstream sources: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/how-vegetable-oils-replaced-animal-fats-in-the-american-diet/256155/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324844#vegetable-oil
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9655691/
The Atlantic article is about the marketing of shortening and hydrogenated vegetable oil. The authors are a psychiatrist and a writer for Oprah. It really says nothing about vegetable oils that don’t contain trans fats.
And most of the non-crank advice on light vegetable oils is just to avoid scorching them when cooking. Scorched oil, like any burnt foodstuff, contains free radicals that can be carcinogenic. One of the strongest pieces of science-based dietary advice is “don’t eat burnt stuff.”
And what of that last link?
Olive oil doesn’t scale to match anything near current human consumption — a big chunk of what’s sold as olive oil is already counterfeit.
Olives, canola and soy beans are all the same thing - they are all fruits not seeds.
Canola is rapeseed
I don’t quite follow. You’re saying that because not everyone can feasibly partake in healthier food, nobody should? Also, the current economic realities around certain food items aren’t fixed in stone. Taxes, tariffs, regulations, and all sorts of other policy levers can make big changes to the market.
No, I’m saying that it isn’t possible significantly shift peoples’ diets to olive oil from other fats and oils because olive oil consumption is supply-constrained.
Okay… But it’s still a healthier solution than vegetable oil or tallow for the portion of the population that can be supplied with it, right?
I don’t know about avocado oil, but you’re not going to be able to solve America’s love of deep fried food with olive oil both due to the cost and due to the practicality.
Yeah, olive oil is not for deep frying. But maybe Americans shouldn’t be having quite as much fried food? (I say this as someone who just had fried food for dinner.)
I agree, but switching people to less unhealthy frying oil is easier than stopping them from eating so much fried food.
As I mentioned in another comment, today’s food economics are not written in stone. There are all sorts of tax and subsidy levers in the public policy toolbox. One reason, say, soybeans and soybean oil are so cheap in the U.S. today is farm subsidies.
But humans being drawn to fatty and sugary foods is written into our DNA. Unless you find some way to ban fried food, people are still going to eat it. A lot. You would need a massive cultural shift away from fatty and sugary foods and that would take more than taxes and subsidies because things like fried chicken and waffles are now considered part of someone’s culture.
https://50kitchen.com/culinary-history-chicken-and-waffles/
It’s about frequency and quantity. Sure, people will always have a taste for unhealthy food. But until sugar/corn was massively subsidized in the U.S., people didn’t eat nearly as much sweet junk. It took a massive cultural shift to get to where we are today. Massive cultural shifts happen.