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.
Simple Six
Healthy Oils
The Simple Six, in our opinion, are the healthiest oils to consume. They include beef tallow, ghee, butter, coconut oil, well sourced olive oil and well sourced avocado oil.
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 macadamia nut oil, RSPO certified palm oil and well-fed pasture-raised pork, chicken and duck fat.
Healthy Oil Respecter's
Eliminating Seed Oils for Beginners
We highly recommend "Eliminating Seed Oils for Beginners" if you are new to learning of seed oils and need a helpful step by step guide for elimination. This short, informative read covers detailed information on the Simple Six, Evil Eight, Gray area and an easy step by step process to get you on the right path for seed oil disrespecting success!