Do you need to avoid seed oils?

Seed oils are....

Inflammatory?

Toxic?

Made with nasty chemicals?

Carcinogenic?

No doubt, if you have social media, you have heard all of the above.  It is a hot topic and honestly, we understand why people are confused. For many families, seeing content on social media about seed oils has led them to exclude it from their diet, but is the above true and do you actually need to avoid them?

Firstly, what are seed oils

Seed oils are the oils that are extracted from plant seeds. The most common are canola, sunflower, flax, sesame, safflower, soy, grape and cotton seed. Often they are crushed and the oil is extracted before they go through a process to refine the oil. The refining process can use heat and chemicals to get rid of the cloudiness, improve the taste, shelf life and smell. Food processing has gotten a bad rap lately, but just because something is processed, doesn't mean it is bad for us. Grains are ground to make flour- this is food processing. Milk is heated to kill bacteria so we don't get sick- this is food processing. In Australia, most of the food that ends up on our shelves at the supermarket has gone through many stages of food processing and is carefully regulated to ensure it is safe to consume.

Are they bad for us

Firstly, anything can technically be bad for us, depending on the amount we have. Water can be bad for us if we have too much. Yes, this is an extreme example but the point is, that it isn't that black and white. The same goes for seed oils.

Let's chat specifically about seed oils!

Seed oils contain three different types of fats- saturated, monounsaturated (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs). The anti seed oil crowd are particularly vocal about the PUFAs, which have Omega 3 and Omega 6 in them.

Omega 3 is what we find in nuts and oily fish. It is generally promoted as being excellent for brain and immune function as well as heart health. We have lots of good quality research that tells us that this type of fat is anti-inflammatory. Omega 3 gets a good rap as being a healthy fat to include in your diet.

On the other hand, Omega 6 is considered to be inflammatory. When people hear this, they can automatically assume that all inflammation is bad.  BUT we do need some inflammatory responses in the body! For example, if we cut our hand, we want our body to have an inflammatory response, it is protective against infection. Not all inflammation is bad. Omega 6 also plays a role in some anti-inflammatory processes in the body too.

Inflammation aside, we do actually have lots of high quality evidence that fats containing PUFAs are PROTECTIVE to health, including seed oils with Omega 6. The take home- both Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential for good health. Our bodies can't make them, which means they need to come from what we eat.

Where does the myth that seed oils are bad come from?

Often when you see people making claims about the toxicity of seed oils they will also provide references to "research". The problem is that many of the claims being made cherry pick parts of a study without giving you the total picture. We have seen this numerous times where a claim has been made but when we go to read the actual study it doesn't line up with what the content creator is claiming.

Here is one example for you with a post we recently saw about seed oils in oat milk. The post claimed oat milk is filled with junk and inflammatory seed oils which are responsible for increasing things like diabetes, depression, cancer and heart disease. That's enough to freak most people out.

They then provide a logical sounding argument and links to studies to back this up. The theory they offer is that linoleic acid (an Omega 6) in the oat milk is converted to arachidonic acid, which is a building block for inflammatory compounds in the body. This makes sense right? You increase the thing that causes inflammation in the body and you are more likely to experience health problems caused by inflammation!

BUT this is a flawed argument as:

1. Arachidonic acid makes lots of things and not all of them cause inflammation (some are anti-inflammatory)
2. We do actually need some inflammation in the body and Omega 6 in our diet to build the compounds required for responses to illness and injury
3. Only a very small amount of linoleic acid is turned into arachidonic acid (about 0.2%) and research shows that a 500 fold increase in linoleoic acid in the diet doesn't change the amount of arachidonic acid in the body. So just by eating more we don't automatically create more inflammation in the body.
4. There are no quality HUMAN studies showing it increases inflammation or disease

The truth is, we have a large volume of quality research that shows us that seed oils are not only safe but can actually be protective. Research has shown the opposite of what many seed oil haters claim- we know that linoleic acid may lower inflammation and can protect against inflammatory diseases like heart disease.

Finally: the heat debate. Can you cook with them?

If it isn't a claim about inflammation from omega 6, then it is often a claim that cooking with seed oils makes them toxic to our bodies.

If you regularly consume seed oils that have been heated to a very high temperature for long periods of time (for example deep frying) where the oil is only changed 1-2 times a week then yes, this isn't great for us. When these oils are heated repeatedly you get more free radicals forming which can he harmful. This doesn't means you need to totally avoid fried foods but once again the message of moderation comes in here. Deep fried foods also tend to be high in energy from fat and carbs and lower in other nutrients. Having them often in your family or little one's diet means they may be missing out on other important food groups and nutrients.

BUT they are safe to cook with and use at home! You do not need to worry about using seed oils for cooking or frying at home.

So, should you exclude seed oils?

At the end of the day this is a personal choice but we don't want anyone to be excluding things based on misinformation which makes them fearful of a food or ingredient. If avoiding or minimising because you are worried about them being unsafe or unhealthy- then please be assured you don't need to do this!

References and Resources:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30971107/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29566193/
• https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179509/#b18-ms111_p0041
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21663641/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9002916/
• https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/scientists-debunk-seed-oil-health-risks/
• https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/no-need-to-avoid-healthy-omega-6-fats
• https://www.unbiasedscipod.com/episodes/you-can-love-seed-oils-too-dont-you-know-theyre-non-toxic

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