Seed Oil-Free Company Sold for $1.2B
What’s the rage behind seed oils? Why are some doctors saying seed oils are “heart-healthy” and others are saying they’re the biggest threat to health. Today I’ll explain why this issue developed and how the core of it is about PUFA aka polyunsaturated fats.
TLDR:
1. PUFAs naturally exist in cold climates to slow metabolism of animals to survive winter
2. PUFAs are very unstable and oxidize easily due to their double bonds, meaning they’re highly inflammatory. Saturated and monounsaturated fats are much more stable and less volatile.
3. PUFAs increase oxidized LDL. Oxidized LDL and oxidized PUFA are found in high amounts in arterial plaque, atherosclerosis.
4. PUFAs increase estrogen production and decrease thyroid function
5. PUFAs are one of the biggest inhibitors of metabolic function and should be avoided as much as possible
Fats are categorized as saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) or polyunsaturated (PUFA). One of the primary functions of fats are to make up cell membranes. Plants that exist in high latitudes contain higher amounts PUFA. Their purpose is to prevent cell membranes from fracture during freezing temperatures. When insects or animals consume these plants, those PUFAs are incorporated into their cell membranes. With exception of ruminants, insects and animals in higher latitudes have higher PUFA content. The opposite is true in the tropics where the function of saturated fats is to prevent water loss by plants due to high heat.
Some parts of the plant contain higher amounts of PUFA such as nuts and seeds. Mammals like squirrels seek out higher intake of nuts and seeds during the fall in preparation of the winter. The high PUFA content slows down the metabolic rate thus making the animals less active. This phenomenon is called torpor and its akin to a low intensity hibernation.
This metabolic slowing is evidenced by lower heart-rate, longer sleep cycles, lower body temps and significantly less physical activity. Seed oils, contain the highest amount of PUFA. A human eating a high seed oil diet will exhibit metabolic slowing the same way an animal does.
No culture on earth prior to 1865 had PUFA in high amounts. But in that year the cotton industry found a new market for their waste product. Cotton seed oil which was already used as an machine lubricant became repurposed as Crisco. Since then the use of seed oils by Big Food has been parabolic.
Of course the above graph doesn’t show causation of obesity only correlation, but from what we learned earlier about animals’ metabolic rates slowing from PUFA it does seem casual. Another consideration here is that sugar is marginally higher today than in the 1950s when obesity was 12% yet our current adult obesity rate is 42%.
A person’s dietary fat intake is a metabolic signal to the cell. PUFAs signal winter and scarcity, saturated fats signal summer and abundance.
An important longevity hypothesis called the Membrane Pacemaker Hypothesis (MPH) states that fatty acid composition of membranes determines metabolic rate. The more unsaturated, the slower the rate and vice versa. And within a species, the animals with the highest metabolic rates live longer than those with the lowest metabolic rate.
The double bonds that define PUFAs are very unstable and easily oxidized. Food processing techniques like hexane extraction and deodorizing (because they stink) cause oxidation. By the time you put a seed oil into your body it is highly oxidized. This is a great way to cause systemic inflammation. Even if you managed to get unoxidized PUFA into your body, they will eventually become oxidized.
Ok so why are seed oils called “heart-healthy”?
It’s because they do lower production of cholesterol by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, the key enzyme in cholesterol production. However, the slight-of-hand used by seed oil supporters (Big Food, Big Ag, and Big Pharma) is that they don’t tell you PUFA causes oxidized LDL-c. Adding to this, oxidized LDL-c and oxidized PUFA are both found in high amounts in arteriosclerosis, not saturated fats!
Fortunately, the word is getting out about the dangers of seed oils. So much so that Pepsico just bought Siete for $1.2 BILLION. That represents a lot of people eating a lot of seed-oil free tortillas.
PUFAs break down into prostaglandins which are highly inflammatory. Prostaglandins are known to upregulate the aromatase enzyme increasing endogenous estrogen. We explored last week how elevations in estrogen are antagonistic to thyroid conversion. Prostaglandins also directly inhibit the thyroid, another way seed oils slow metabolism.
Choosing saturated and monounsaturated fat foods over high PUFA foods is one of the most important actions you can take to improve your health.
Jonathan