Going to the Seeds?

 

The seeds of many plants are rich in oils. These oils provide plants with the energy for germination. Sunflower; soya bean; corn; grape seed; rice bran; sesame and safflower oils are marketed as 'Vegetable oils' in the UK and 'Canola' in the US. The current US Health Secretary has swallowed many of the conspiracy 'theories' about seed oils. He claims that the US population is being 'unknowingly poisoned' by seed oils. He advocates folk reverting to 'traditional' fats (butter; lard and beef dripping) for better health. He even suggests that the current obesity epidemic can be linked to increasing seed oil in the diet. These conspiracy 'theories' have claimed that hexane, used along with pressing, to extract some oils, persists in the sold products. It doesn't, as it's easily removed. It's also maintained that seed oil lineoleic acid  is 'inflammatory'. This is simply untrue. In deed, a study showed that replacing a spoon of butter by rape seed or soya bean oil, reduced death risk by 17%. This substitution also reduced cancer risk. Since the 1950's seed oils have been increasingly used in human diets. Over the last 70 years, the use of seed oils has increased 200 fold.  Claimed associations with ill health are, however, generally correlational rather than causal. There's been many changes in human diets over this period. Seed oils only appear to be problematic, when converted, by adding hydrogen, into trans-fats. This is the case in the production of some margarines and many 'ultra-processed' foods  (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/29/rfk-jr-says-they-are-poisoning-us-influencers-call-them-unnatural-but-what-is-the-truth-about-seed-oils). The elephant in the room is the distinction between saturated and unsaturated fats. The 'traditional' fats are saturated with hydrogen, making them solid at room temperature. Seed oils are unsaturated, making them liquid at room temperature. Saturated fats greatly increase the risk of arteriosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is the build up of plaque on blood vessel interiors. These occlusions interfere with blood flow, increasing the probability of clotting. Coronary heart disease and stroke risks are correspondingly increased. Replacing seed oils by butter, lard and beef dripping, will consequently increase ill-health and premature death.