Why are Seed Oils bad?
Seed oils are highly processed oils extracted from seeds such as soybeans, corn, rapeseed, cottonseed, sunflower and safflower seeds. After the seeds are harvested, they are heated to extremely high temperatures that oxidize the fatty acids creating byproducts that are harmful to our health.
High amounts of omega-6 fatty acids are found in these oils which become inflammatory compounds when used to cook and in our bodies, playing a significant role in chronic inflammatory diseases and a large variety of other skin, gut and weight issues.
Seed oils are found in most packaged foods, restaurants, grocery store food bars/prepared foods and probably your very own pantry. Everything from tortilla chips to coffee creamer.
Read about the good, the bad and the gray area along with more in depth educational videos and podcasts below. For written research, I highly recommend the documents by physician and lead researcher, Dr. Cate Shanahan.
Healthy Fats
Pyramid
The fats in our pyramid display the healthiest options which should be used most depending on how you are cooking with them.
Beef tallow is top tier, in our opinion, because of it's stability for high heat cooking. Not only is it nutrient dense, it typically can be found in very pure forms from good sources.
Ghee is not far behind with its high smoke point and delicious flavor. Another great option for just about anything you may be cooking.
Butter and Coconut oil are healthy options but better for low to medium heat cooking which is why you see them slightly higher on the pyramid.
Lastly we have Extra Virgin Olive oil which we love as long as it is sourced well and not used for high heat cooking.
Evil Eight
Bad oils
The Evil Eight, in our opinion, are the most unhealthy oils to consume. They include canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, rice bran oil and cotton seed oil.
Gray area
Everything in between
The gray area includes everything not listed in the Simple Six or Evil Eight. We recommend doing your best to stay away from any fat or oil outside of the Simple Six, but there are a few exceptions.
We do support RSPO certified palm oil, avocado oil and well-fed pasture-raised pork, chicken and duck fat, although sourcing is a major issue with these fats and can be very hard to know/find the good stuff even if the label says otherwise.