Social media suggest that seed oils – like rapeseed – hurt for you. More science is saying differently
This story is part of the second opinion of CBC Health, a weekly analysis of health news and medical sciences sent to subscribers on Saturday morning. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do it Click here.
There is a soreing debate on social media on seed oils, with some people who categorically claim to be unhealthy.
But New researchThat expands on previous studies in this sector, discovers that they could reduce the risk of early death.
The addition of fuel to disputes on social media is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States, who also has I targeted myself to seed oils.
In October, he published Social Media platform Xarguing that seed oils are poisoning Americans and are a leading cause of obesity.
Health experts continue to reject, saying that seed oils are not, in fact, not toxic. And they say they are transformed foods, not the oils themselves, this is the problem.
According to a vast majority of research, says Richard Bazinet, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, seed oils “are not as bad as everyone says they are.”
And it indicates a large new study as another example of research that says that vegetable oils are linked to better long -term health. But before immersing you in this, let’s break down some disputes.
What are seed oils?
Often known as cooking oils or vegetables, seed oils come from plants seeds such as Canola, corn, soybeans or sunflowers.
THE Oils have a high concentration of omega-6 fatty acids and low concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids. Both are polyunsaturated fats, which can help reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood – Reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
In comparison, animal base oils or fats have saturated fats, which can increase bad cholesterol levels.
What are social media.
In a video by Tiktok, a man is in the middle of a grocery store corridor with a bottle of Canola oil and says that if you want to be more healthy, you must “completely remove the seed oils” from your diet.
It is not the only one. A rapid search pulls on dozens of similar videos, one with different clips cut together with a person in the navals of the grocery store, grabbing food from the shelves and appointing the type of seed oil it contains.
All these posts have a similar message: seeds or vegetable oils are toxic and can cause several health problems.
Some people on social media affirm that the chemical process of extraction of the Esano leaves, an organic compound, behind the final product. They care that it is harmful to their health.
Another topic against seed oils: High levels of omega-6 fat The acids in seed oils are transformed into harmful toxins that cause headache, weight gain or inflammation when cooked.
How are they prepared?
Commercial processing usually extracts oil from the seeds mechanically pressing.
Whatever the seeds remains mixed with a chemicals called Esano.
That mixture is heated to extract the remaining oil – usually what has remained behind is a combination of oil and esano. That substance is distilled to remove the chemical.
The oil is processed before being packaged. Despite further treatments, small tracks of Esano can sometimes remain in the final product – But the research said that these levels are “well below the safety limits”.
In large quantities or with long -term exposure, Esano can cause health problems, including numbness in the hands or feet, in muscle weakness, in the blurred vision and in fatigue.
The Health Canada regulations affirm that the limits of maximum permitted residues of the Esano in vegetable fats e The oils are 10 parts per million.
What does research say?
A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) this month expands on previous research, which notes that vegetable -based oils can possibly reduce the risk of early death.
The researchers came to their conclusion after examining the answers to the questionnaire from over 220,000 US men and women for over 33 years. During that period, the participants shared information on their diet every four years.
Many fashion detoxification and products promise to purify the toxins system, reduce inflammation or help with weight loss. However, some doctors say that detoxchors tend to be ineffective, expensive and, in some cases, risky.
According to the study, the people who consumed 2.5 to three teaspoons of butter every day increased the risk of dying for any cause of 15 %, compared to the consumption of little or no butter.
The more teaspoons of butter a person had a day, the more probably he died of cancer.
In the meantime, those who consumed high quantities of vegetable -based oils, in particular Canola, soy and olive oil, had a lower risk of dying for any cause. And having higher quantities of canor oil and soy oil seemed to reduce the risk of the person to die from cancer.
In addition, he discovered that the use of two teaspoons of vegetable -based oil every day, instead of two teaspoons of butter, lowered the risk of death of 17 %.
Even if the study cannot demonstrate a causal link, which is a common trap of nutritional research because it is difficult to control other confounding factors, the Professor Bazinet of the Bazinet nutritional sciences says that he samples a large number of people in a prolonged period, which makes the results more robust.
“I think this study should influence people’s behavior,” he said.
“Lately we have had a lot of rejection on seed oils, and this is another test that shows that in reality they are protective.”
But he has still expressed some caution on the results.
In particular, he stressed that people who consume vegetable oils had slightly healthier lifestyles than the people who ate butter.
The study states that the participants who had a higher butter consumption consumed even more calories and had a higher body mass index. They were also more likely to smoke actively and less likely to exercise and use multivitamins.
Although the researchers made their best to explain these differences, Bazinet said, they could have had a greater impact on the general health of the person than the butter.
Other disadvantages listed in research include people who erroneously report margarine as butter in the questionnaire.
“People will often lie or do not fill part of a form and only forget what they were eating, so those questions about the frequency of food are not super accurate,” said Abby Langer, dietician recorded in Toronto.
The study also states that most participants were mainly white health professionals, which means that the results are not necessarily representative of all.
But what about the statements of toxic chemicals?
When asked about Esano left in the final product, Bazinet said that the amount is “widely accepted to be trivial, if detectable”.
He added that the remaining levels are “well below any set safety limit”.
It is due to the chemicals used in the extraction of seed oils during the heating process that some people indicate cold oils, such as avocado or olive oil, as a better option.
Critics also say that seed oils are often in transformed foods, which can make you feel slow or increase in weight. But Langer says that this is not due to seed oils.
Rather, he said, only eating many transformed foods can make people fat more quickly – and this is not necessarily because of the oils, but rather from the way the food has been cooked or other ingredients.
As for the concerns about inflammation in the body, the experts who talked to CBC News claim not to be aware of the tests that indicate semi oils.
A 2017 analysis Published in the magazine Food and Function has examined 30 high quality studies relating to inflammation. He discovered that the consumption of omega-6 fatty acid, in particular Linoleic-Ci acid is found in semi-non oils “has a significant effect on the blood concentrations of inflammatory markers”.
The only area that needs further research, Bazinet said, is the way in which seed oils can change when they are reused and heated, as in the restaurant fryers. He said that oils can break and possibly become harmful, but observes that in these cases you can usually taste that the oil has gone badly.
So what should you do?
It is important to have a balanced diet with “a variety of fats”, says Langer.
As for the fact that cold oils are better, Langer said that “they could have more antioxidants in them … in the end it is the totality of your diet that really matters”.
