Seed oils are the single most processed food on the planet — "Seeds, nuts, [and] beans can only be made into an oil in a factory. It needs to go through so many industrial steps in order to create the oil," explains Nina Teicholz, Ph.D., the author of New York Times bestseller, "The Big Fat Surprise." Saladino adds that the process involves heating... See more

Crisco marked the beginning of industrial oils as food — The first major shift came in 1911 with the release of Crisco, which was sold as fake lard but made entirely of vegetable oils, originally cottonseed oil. "Butter and lard, and even tallow, began to be replaced and supplanted, and this is what took off in the 20th century," Dr. Chris Knobbe... See more

How Does Excess LA Impact Your Health? The shift toward industrial seed oils has caused a sharp increase in dietary LA, now the most abundant fat in the modern diet. Understanding what happens after LA enters the body reveals how this one ingredient quietly erodes your health over time

What Replacing Animal Fats with Seed Oils Really Did to Public Health The widespread adoption of vegetable oils is one of the most consequential dietary shifts in modern history, yet their impact on public health remains deeply controversial. For decades, experts have debated whether these oils are truly beneficial or if they have fueled the very... See more

Stored LA contributes to mitochondrial injury — Mitochondria use a special fat called cardiolipin to help generate energy. As LA dominates the diet, it becomes a major building block of cardiolipin, making it fragile and prone to oxidation. The result is impaired energy production, increased oxidative stress, and higher vulnerability to chronic... See more

Clean out your cooking oils — Many homes still stock common seed oils like canola, sunflower, and safflower. Toss them out and replace them with traditional fats such as butter, ghee, and coconut oil for cooking. They're stable, naturally rich in fat-soluble vitamins, and don't contribute to oxidative stress the way seed oils do.

Oxidized LA metabolites (OXLAMs) drive systemic oxidative stress — When LA is heated, stored, or metabolized in excess, it forms OXLAMs, damaging breakdown products that are biologically active. OXLAMs like 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) are generated during lipid peroxidation and damage DNA, proteins, mitochondria, and even stem cells. These oxidized... See more

Early warnings ignored: The Rose Corn Oil Trial — This is one of the earliest clinical trials to examine seed oil effects on heart health and was conducted in 1956. Participants were given 19 teaspoons of corn oil daily and followed for three years. The study was stopped early because the group consuming corn oil experienced significantly more... See more

Crisco replaced traditional fats through marketing, not merit — In 1913, two years after Crisco was introduced, a book titled "The Story of Crisco" was published to describe how quickly the product took over American kitchens. This book was written by the former vice president of the American Heart Association (AHA), with messaging that implied... See more