If you’ve been thinking about going keto, you’ve probably heard the buzz about seed oils. Speaking of them as a giant monolith, authorities and foodies claim that seed oils cause inflammation, weight gain, and more. But is that true? What exactly are seed oils?
ContentWhat are seed oils? What are seed oils: in which products do they contain them? What are the claims made about seed oils? Should you avoid seed oils?
WomanEL decided to dispel popular myths about this product, as well as share the opinion of experts on whether we need them in our diet or not.
What are seed oils
Seed oils are oils extracted from plant seeds, sometimes called vegetable oils. Commonly found in cooking, peanut, sunflower, grapeseed, soybean, and corn oils are some of the most common on grocery store shelves and in our food. For example, grapeseed oil is obtained from grape seeds (a byproduct of winemaking), corn oil is obtained from corn germ (kernels), and soybean oil is obtained from soybean seeds. You get the idea.
One of the most famous vegetable oils, canola, or rapeseed oil, which was developed in the 1970s, was created by blending these different vegetable and seed oils to produce a low-acid oil. The Brassica plant—in the same family as cabbage, broccoli, and others—is the type of plant that food scientists worked with to germinate and create plants that produce the right kind of seeds to create canola oil.
Olive oil, while considered a vegetable oil, is not a seed oil. Olives are pressed to make the oil. And while the pits are sometimes included in the process, the ratio of olive pulp to pits is higher.
When we see seed oils in food, they tend to have a scary look to them – high in calories, highly processed, fried (the oils themselves have nothing to do with it). But since the bulk of our consumption is in foods like donuts, chips, candy bars, sugary cereal, etc., they get the blanket statement “bad for you.”
As nutrition expert Emily Schultz points out, food is more than just a source of fuel. “Every product we eat, every tool we use, every way we prepare an ingredient has its own cultural meaning,” she says. “Talking about food solely in terms of nutrition and stripping it of any context of where and why you’re eating it doesn’t move the conversation forward.”
What are seed oils: in which products are they found?
There is a fairly long list of foods that contain some amount of seed oil. Seed oils are often used as emulsifiers in sauces such as mayonnaise, ketchup, and dressings. Essentially, the fat in the oil keeps the sauce smooth and from separating, and it also gives it a great flavor and creamy texture. Chips and other snack foods are fried in some combination of seed oils.
Basically, anything that contains a significant amount of fat is likely to contain seed oil. It is more shelf-stable than, for example, butter, which requires refrigeration to extend its shelf life.
The most common fatty acid in canola oil is erucic acid, an omega-9 fatty acid. This monounsaturated (liquid at room temperature and solid when refrigerated) fatty acid is also found in mustard seeds, as well as some nuts and fish. Our bodies produce it on their own and do not need additional food from us to get the necessary daily allowance. However, it has been found to reduce insulin resistance in people with type 1 diabetes and levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Avocados (and avocado oil) also contain omega-9 fatty acids.
Another fatty acid, polyunsaturated, or Omega-6, is found in sunflower, soybean, and grapeseed oils. Omega-6s are essential fatty acids, so our bodies don’t produce them naturally. But they’re crucial for brain function, growth, and development in children, and can even help lower LDL cholesterol. Omega-6 fatty acids are also found in cashews and walnuts.
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What claims are made about seed oils?
There are many myths about the harm of seed oil on the Internet. But they do not correspond to facts and scientific data, Source: freepik.com
Many broad claims are made about seed oils. But scientific evidence suggests that, when consumed in a balanced diet, seed oils do not have any negative health effects.
- They contain a lot of Omega-6 fatty acids. It's true, but it's not bad! Omega-3s, commonly touted as the fattiest omega fatty acids to include in your diet to reduce the chance of heart disease and other heart events, have a higher percentage of improvement. But Omega-6s, which are also found in some of the same foods, such as fish, have the same benefits. Only on a slightly smaller scale. Some experts even support adding Omega-6 to your diet.
- Seed oils are high in trans fats. According to a 2015 study, trans fats were not found in oils such as canola, soybean, and sesame.
- The solvent used to extract the oils from the seeds, hexane, is bad for us. When extracting the oils from the seeds—or after the seeds are crushed and pressed, when producers need to separate the pulp from the oils they’ve extracted—they add a solvent to the mixture and let it evaporate, which is what hexane does. But it actually evaporates incredibly easily.
- When consumed, it causes inflammation in the body. Nutritionist Harissa Lim calls this the biggest myth.
There are currently no randomized controlled trials in humans that show that seed oils are worse for the human body than saturated fats. In fact, linoleic acid, another omega-6 fatty acid found in seed oils, can be converted to arachidonic acid (AA), a building block for inflammatory compounds.
However, it has only been shown to cause inflammation in studies in mice. And in the human body, AA is not metabolized or reacted in the same way.
Should you avoid seed oils?
A 2020 systematic review found that increased linoleic acid intake was associated with a modest reduction in overall mortality. In particular, from cardiovascular diseases and cancer,” says Lim. “These data suggest that the polyunsaturated fats found in seed oils not only do not cause harm or cause inflammation. They can benefit your health in the long run.”
Moderation is important in eating any food. Everything in large quantities will not benefit us, even good products. There's even research that shows that obsessing over your diet is worse for your health in the long run than simply enjoying what you enjoy, knowing that you're probably eating a balanced meal along with it.
All of this suggests that you might not believe all of the advice on giving up seed oil on TikTok.
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