Seed Oils Will/Will Not Kill You

If dose makes the poison in this case, we don't consume enough to be concerned.
If we stray from good quality avocado or olive oil, it would be cold pressed canola.
I will avoid cottonseed oil as that is not a food crop and seed oil extracted with solvents like hexane.
What is the issue with hexane? You said it best: "If dose makes the poison..."

Dose DOES make the poison and hexane (though it can be found in seed oils) is at such a low level that you'd never receive a toxic dose of hexane (acute OR chronic) from use of seed oils. Realistically, what minute trace of hexane remaining in seed oils would volatilize when cooking. What doesn't volatilize would stay with the oil and the small amount of oil in the food would thus lead to an even smaller dose of hexane to the body.

One receives much higher doses of hexane when fueling a car than when eating French Fries cooked in seed oil.
 
What is the issue with hexane? You said it best: "If dose makes the poison..."

Dose DOES make the poison and hexane (though it can be found in seed oils) is at such a low level that you'd never receive a toxic dose of hexane (acute OR chronic) from use of seed oils. Realistically, what minute trace of hexane remaining in seed oils would volatilize when cooking. What doesn't volatilize would stay with the oil and the small amount of oil in the food would thus lead to an even smaller dose of hexane to the body.

One receives much higher doses of hexane when fueling a car than when eating French Fries cooked in seed oil.
I would answer your question by saying better alternatives are readily available.
Furthermore, I choose organic cold pressed canola oil if I go in that direction to avoid the practice of glyphosate spraying on grain/seed crops in order to speed up the drying process.
 
Anyone have a favorite brand of cold-pressed canola to recommend? I don't see the term "cold-pressed" on either of the bottles I have on hand, both of which are store brands (Kroger and Lidl). Is cold-pressed canola a specialty item or are some major brands cold-pressed?

But the article's point that we don't drink the stuff, we saute, etc., with it, is persuasive to me. It's health effect, good or bad, in home-cooked meals that come out to a teaspoon or less of oil per serving may be insignificant. Deep-fried and fast food may be another story.
 
So, I understand EVOO tastes good and is good for me, but shouldn’t be consumed in excess. The same holds true for my favorite alcoholic beverage (Irish Whiskey).

If I mix the 2 and have a couple every day do they cancel out each other’s negative effects?
 
So, I understand EVOO tastes good and is good for me, but shouldn’t be consumed in excess. The same holds true for my favorite alcoholic beverage (Irish Whiskey).

If I mix the 2 and have a couple every day do they cancel out each other’s negative effects?
No comment on the health effects, but the olive oil would probably lose it's virginity.
 
Besides fried foods, seed oils are everywhere in the food chain these days. Just look at the label on a Silk brand Almond milk carton and you will see soybean (or other) oil listed. Seed oils are in most butters, margarines, yogurts, salad dressing, etc.
Seed oils are in butter?? I just checked the butter I buy from Costco. Ingredients are cream and lactic acid.

My Stonyfield organic yogurt is made from milk and the added bacteria cultures. No seed oil in that.

I would think that seed oils and other additives are probably used in the fake dairy products like vegan cheese, non-fat hald-n-half, and vegan yogurt.
 
I would answer your question by saying better alternatives are readily available.
Furthermore, I choose organic cold pressed canola oil if I go in that direction to avoid the practice of glyphosate spraying on grain/seed crops in order to speed up the drying process.
You would have to define "better" alternatives in this context. If one oil is objectively "more healthy" then perhaps it's a better alternative. But, a cheaper oil is also "objectively better because more people can afford it.

We'd need a lot of ground rules in defining "better." The fact that chemicals are used in getting oils from seeds does not indicate that they are always "worse" than pressed oils. Keep in mind that pressed oils are (wait for it) chemicals.
 
We fuss over seed oils, but ignore other things that might be more damaging. Such as insulin resistance and foods that encourage it.


So, why is insulin resistance becoming so widespread and difficult to avoid? Dr. Lustig explains that ultra-processed food is one of the main culprits. In fact, a staggering 73% of grocery store items in the U.S. are spiked with added sugar, and ultra-processed foods make up 58% of the sugar in our diets.
Note: the hostess doing the interview does pitch some of her supplements from time to time. Be warned.

At about 56 minutes he discusses seed oils.

FWIW, I have found that overall Dr. Lustig's advice has worked well for me. Of course, as with all medical and nutrition advice, YMMV.
 
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You would have to define "better" alternatives in this context. If one oil is objectively "more healthy" then perhaps it's a better alternative. But, a cheaper oil is also "objectively better because more people can afford it.

We'd need a lot of ground rules in defining "better." The fact that chemicals are used in getting oils from seeds does not indicate that they are always "worse" than pressed oils. Keep in mind that pressed oils are (wait for it) chemicals.
I appreciate your critique.
I'm taking the position of less processing is 'better'.
A caveman could theoretically smash a pile of seeds with a wooden mallet and harvest the oil.
As soon as we introduce high temperatures and refined chemicals like solvents and weed killers, I prefer to look elsewhere. Just my preference.
 
I appreciate your critique.
I'm taking the position of less processing is 'better'.
A caveman could theoretically smash a pile of seeds with a wooden mallet and harvest the oil.
As soon as we introduce high temperatures and refined chemicals like solvents and weed killers, I prefer to look elsewhere. Just my preference.
I respect your choice.

To feed the world, we have most certainly taken some "short cuts" and there are surely some negative consequences.
 
…if you buy cold pressed seed oils, like cold pressed canola oil, no hexane is used…I much prefer cold pressed canola oil to olive oil for cooking.
Thanks. I did know about non-hexane-produced canola oil. I now see that Whole Foods has some, as well as similar “expeller pressed” canola, and for reasonable prices. I’ll get some for frying.
 
Anyone have a favorite brand of cold-pressed canola to recommend? I don't see the term "cold-pressed" on either of the bottles I have on hand, both of which are store brands (Kroger and Lidl). Is cold-pressed canola a specialty item or are some major brands cold-pressed?

But the article's point that we don't drink the stuff, we saute, etc., with it, is persuasive to me. It's health effect, good or bad, in home-cooked meals that come out to a teaspoon or less of oil per serving may be insignificant. Deep-fried and fast food may be another story.
You can find cold pressed canola oil on the same shelf as other canola oil in the grocery stores. It will say on the bottle.
 
Thanks. I did know about non-hexane-produced canola oil. I now see that Whole Foods has some, as well as similar “expeller pressed” canola, and for reasonable prices. I’ll get some for frying.
Yes, expeller pressed canola oil is the same as cold pressed canola.
 
We've always used EVOO and butter where appropriate. But for the longest time, our "frying" oil, like for stir-fry chicken and vegetables, has been either expeller pressed safflower or sunflower. It has always been pricier than the typical cooking vegetable oils, but since we don't use much, that hasn't been a cost issue.

We've now moved to avocado oil for cooking, which is more expensive than the expeller pressed oils.
 
I grew up on Crisco, so even seed oils obtained with hexane or other artificial means has to be a vast improvement! YMMV
 
Seed oils are in butter?? I just checked the butter I buy from Costco. Ingredients are cream and lactic acid.

My Stonyfield organic yogurt is made from milk and the added bacteria cultures. No seed oil in that.

I would think that seed oils and other additives are probably used in the fake dairy products like vegan cheese, non-fat hald-n-half, and vegan yogurt.
Made a mistake on the butter as I should have said some spreadable butters contain seed oil.
 
You can find cold pressed canola oil on the same shelf as other canola oil in the grocery stores. It will say on the bottle.
Yes, I can look on the shelf, but I asked the question here of the people who buy it regularly. So, a quick Google reveals Kroger sells Simple Truth Organic expeller-pressed canola. Whole Paycheck carries expeller-pressed canola as well.
 
Yes, I can look on the shelf, but I asked the question here of the people who buy it regularly. So, a quick Google reveals Kroger sells Simple Truth Organic expeller-pressed canola. Whole Paycheck carries expeller-pressed canola as well.
I am not home right now, doing our month long away trip, and don't know what is in my pantry. I really don't worry about the brand as long as it is expeller pressed canola, organic is better.
 
And yup, the horrors of seed oils are definitely a food fad. A meteoric rise in interest in just the last year, and unheard of before 2022.
Not really. Folks interested in nutrition and health have been concerned about seed oils for decades. I think it’s just perhaps reached a wider audience now.
 
yes crisco was bad news. My mom used it too.
But it made great pie crusts!!!!! Yes, my mom used it also. Remember for a while several groups claimed trans fats were better for human health than saturated fats. and praised their use in place of saturated fats.

Emphasis added.


Trans fats then got a boost from the medical community. In the 1980s, health authorities responded to the results of studies such as the Seven Countries study of heart disease by urging Americans to reduce their intake of saturated fat to minimize the risk of heart disease. In one of history’s greater ironies, the Center for Science in the Public Interest lauded fast food companies in the early 1980s for replacing heart disease-risky saturated fat with trans fats made from what they described as “heart-healthy” polyunsaturated fats.

By 1989 more than 10,000 food products sold in the U.S. contained trans fats. In the early 1990s, 95 percent of prepared cookies and 100 percent of crackers manufactured in the U.S. contained trans fats, according to FDA estimates.
 
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