If you are confused about whether or not seed oils are actually bad for you, click here.
- Michelle Adams
- Mar 31
- 27 min read
You can listen to the video version of this article here.
Today, I will be doing another fact check of things that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said as he campaigns to “Make America Healthy Again.” If you haven’t read the first fact check article, which was about artificial food dyes, click here. The corresponding YouTube video can be found here.
RFK Jr. claims that seed oils are unhealthy and are giving us all “body-wide inflammation,” as you can hear for yourself in the above clip. He is not alone in the chorus singing against seed oils, either. There are lots of videos on YouTube of people, some of them medical professionals, saying the same thing. So, what’s the deal? Are seed oils really damaging our organs by causing head to toe inflammation?
Also, is beef fat really the better option between the two?
This is a question worth asking given RFK Jr.'s fixation with beef tallow.
Before I get into the research, let’s make sure that we are on the same page about what seed oils even are.
What are seed oils?
Seed oils come from – as the name implies - the seeds of plants. Here are some examples:
Canola oil
Soybean oil
Sunflower oil
Cottonseed oil
Corn oil
Safflower oil
Rice bran oil
Grape seed oil
Sesame oil
Peanut oil
Seeds don’t give up their oil easily. If you tried to squeeze a seed just with your fingers, you wouldn’t get anything out of it. You see, making seed oils takes a ton of processing.
I recommend that you check out this throwback video (shown above) from the Discovery Channel about how canola oil is made to give you a sense of how seeds get transformed into cooking oil. To summarize the process, the seeds are cleaned, passed throw a screw press, crushed and mixed with a solvent, heated to evaporate the solvent, washed in another solvent to remove impurities, cooled to remove waxes, bleached, and heated again to remove any off odors.
Where are seed oils found?
Seed oils can be found in many common foods such as salad dressings, ice cream, crackers, cookies, mayonnaise, and breakfast bars. Foods fried in seed oils are, as you could have guessed, also a source of seed oils. Unless you exclusively eat food that you make from scratch yourself, I can guarantee you that you have some seed oils in your fridge or in your cabinet right now.
What makes them different from oils derived from animals?
The main distinguishing factor between animal and plant fats is the amount of saturated and unsaturated fats that they contain. For example, beef tallow, which is fat derived from cows, contains a lot of saturated fat and very little polyunsaturated fat, while seed oils generally contain very little saturated fat and much more polyunsaturated fat. There are exceptions to this rule, but most seed oils have less than 20% saturated fat. Saturated fats are usually stiff and solid at room temperature, while polyunsaturated fats tend to flow at room temperature.
What does the data say about saturated vs. unsaturated fat for health?
RFK Jr. is bothered by the displacement of animal fats by seed oils in the diets of many people in this country. According to him (and the anti-seed oil crowd), the former is way better for our health. So, what do the data say?
Drumroll, please?
The data from large studies where hundreds of thousands of people were observed for years to see how their diets affect their health overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that seed oils are superior to saturated fat for health.
In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 studies which had over 300,000 participants between them, it was found that intake of linoleic acid (which is more abundant in seed oils) was associated with a 15% lower risk of heart disease. What makes this evidence even stronger is the fact that there was a dose-response relationship; as saturated fat intake went down and linoleic acid intake went up, the risk of having heart issues or dying from heart disease went down significantly. These results are especially compelling given the fact that people in this study were followed for between 5 and 30 years – not weeks, YEARS.
We have data from an even larger study which supports the same conclusion. In this paper, the authors analyzed data from over 800,000 people across 44 different studies who were followed for 5-30 years, and they found that:
“… higher linoleic acid intake …was associated with a modestly lower risk of mortality from all causes, [heart disease], and cancer.” - Li et al 2020
In another sizable research study of over 500,000 people who were followed for a median of 16 years, researchers found that:
“…butter consumption was positively associated with cancer mortality. Substituting corn oil, canola oil, or olive oil for equal amounts of butter and margarine was related to lower all-cause mortality and mortality from certain causes, including [heart disease], diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease, and Alzheimer's disease.” - Zhang et al 2021
Again, this is data from over 500,000 people - nothing to sneeze at.
There is a clear scientific consensus from long-term studies (and there are more papers - see one, two, and three). For my fellow research nerds out there, don’t worry – I have evidence from clinical trials, too. In this Cochrane Review of 15 randomized controlled trials with over 56,000 participants between them, the data showed that reducing intake of saturated fats in favor of polyunsaturated fats or carbohydrates after at least 2 years was associated with a 17% lower risk of heart attack or stroke. There is also clinical trial evidence that when compared with polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat is more likely to promote fat accumulation in the liver, aka fatty liver, which in turn is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
A high intake of saturated fat has also been linked to:
An increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease
And dementia
So, RFK Jr. can stop acting as though beef tallow, which is high in saturated fat, is a panacea. In the clip above, he talks about how fast food isn't something that he has an issue with, but the fact that fries aren't fried in beef tallow is; Such a statement is incongruent with the research.
The need to not overdo it with saturated fat is something that scientists have been alluding to for decades. I’m publishing this article in 2025, but I love history so I must take you back in time for a second. There are studies that were published several decades ago, some of which were very small I will say, which gave us insight into which type of fat is linked to better health and longevity. Here are several small studies from the 1950s (see one, two, three, and four). We also have data from the 1970s. In this study, 412 men with a history of heart attack were randomly assigned to either a high saturated fat diet or a high polyunsaturated fat diet. Just a reminder: polyunsaturated fats are more common in seed oils. Their diets were tracked for 5 years, and the high polyunsaturated fat diet led to lower cholesterol and a lower risk of heart attack. What’s more is that these benefits were not just evident during the study. When researchers followed up with the men 6 years later, they found that those following the high polyunsaturated fat diet had fewer deaths from heart attack than the high saturated fat group. There are more studies, but I don’t want to bore you so, I’ll move on.
But, we aren’t done analyzing this question of which type of fat is better, so don’t leave just yet.
Despite this overwhelming evidence, there are still people out there promoting the message that seed oils are worse for your health than saturated fat. As I was doing the research for this post, I found quite a few videos with the same “seed oils are poison” message. If you have been exploring this topic, you have likely come across the videos that I have embedded below:
To be fair, I get why some people may think that animal fats are healthier than seed oils and that seed oils, being as highly processed as they are, are bad for us. The idea of doing things the “old-fashioned” way can be appealing. This may have something to do with the current trends of tradwives and cottage core; doing things the way that your parents or grandparents used to do them feels somewhat comforting. However, we have to remember that people of the past did things a certain way based on the knowledge and wherewithal that they had at the time; the fact that they did things a certain way says nothing about whether or not those methods were actually better.
I will give the anti-seed oil crowd some credit when it comes to understanding the reseach, too. If you look up studies on saturated fat, you WILL find some that indicate that saturated fat may be better for you than seed oils. Nevertheless, these studies don’t really PROVE that - for multiple reasons. The first reason, is that these studies that make saturated fat look better than seed oils are often too short to really prove that. People don’t get heart attacks from following a bad diet for two weeks; heart attacks are the result of many years of bad eating (among other things).
To bring this example home, let’s look at some studies that I took from this video by Paul Saladino:
I’ll quickly summarize the five studies that he uses to "justify" why seed oils are harmful, then I’ll explain why they don’t provide evidence that saturated fat is better than seed oils for your health.
This study included just 13 subjects, lasted 8 weeks, and found increased oxidation with the type of fats primarily found in seed oils. This study included just 26 subjects, each of whom was placed on a diet that was either high in monounsaturated fat or polyunsaturated fat for 12 weeks each, and found the same thing – more oxidation with a high polyunsaturated fat diet. These three papers (one, two, and three) pretty much fall in line with the previous two – they show that more polyunsaturated fat in the diet is linked to more oxidation/inflammation.
In the video, Dr. Saladino cites these papers as evidence for polyunsaturated fat, which again is abundant in seed oils, being bad. However, these papers don’t actually PROVE that. What these studies DO show is that in the short term, consuming more polyunsaturated fats may increase some markers of oxidation in the blood. Oxidation is generally considered to be “bad” because it is associated with cell and tissue damage and inflammation. However, this is an incorrect conclusion. Oxidation happens in the body all the time. You are experiencing oxidation right now, you just can’t tell. Oxidation is a normal biochemical process, and fortunately, it is something that our bodies have ways of addressing. Ever heard of anti-oxidants? Our bodies may produce more oxidants in response to seed oils, but they also produce antioxidants to combat those.
These studies all lasted around 2-3 months, which is not unusual for a clinical trial that is designed to measure acute changes, but they really cannot tell us anything about what eating more saturated fat than seed oils does to your body after 10, 20, or 30 years. It’s entirely possible that after following these experimental diets for several years that these acute changes would disappear. Another thing I must mention is that these studies do not prove that polyunsaturated fats cause heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or any other disease for that matter. They just show an acute increase in one measure, oxidation. Any associations with disease are theoretical, not factual. The last point I will make is that these studies all had very small sample sizes, between 10 and 150 people . That doesn’t make this data useless, but it doesn’t really compare to the data that we have from the large meta-analyses that I presented earlier, which included measurements from hundreds of thousands of people. Yes, the study designs are different, but the amount of people included in a study still tells us a lot about how well those findings can be applied in the real world.
There are a few larger studies, mentioned in videos by What I've Learned and Nina Teicholz, that seem to point to seed oils as a cause of cancer or heart disease, but that evidence is not that strong either.
Let’s talk about why.
The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) was designed to compare the effects of polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat by controlling the percentages of each type of fat in the diets of almost 13,000 men. This clinical trial had a follow up period of 16 years. Notably, diet modification was not the only intervention in this trial - smoking cessation was also included for the special intervention group that was instructed to reduce intake of saturated fat and increase intake of polyunsaturated fat. The results of this study were surprising: there was a higher rate of lung cancer in the group that ate less saturated fat. If you stopped here in your analysis, you would be tempted to think that this must mean that reducing intake of saturated fat and eating more polyunsaturated fat causes cancer, but there is more to the story here. When researchers looked not just at what group the participants were in, but specifically the fats in their blood, which is the most accurate reflection of how their bodies were metabolizing what they were eating, they found that higher levels of polyunsaturated fat in the blood were NOT associated with an increased risk of cancer.
The Oslo study gets brought up in this debate, too. This was a study of over 1,000 men who were randomly assigned to either change their diets as well as their smoking habits or do nothing. Those in the dietary change group were instructed to lower saturated fat and increase polyunsaturated fat in their meals, and also increase their intake of fish, fruits, and vegetables. The results of this study actually favor polyunsaturated fat - the group that consumed less saturated fat and ate more polyunsaturated fat (among other changes to their diet) had lower rates of cancer for the first 25 years of follow up for this study. After that, there was no significant effect of the intervention.
The LA Veteran’s Study (see here, and here) is another study that people use to support the argument that seed oils are poison, however, there were a couple of issues with this study. In this study, 846 male veterans were randomly assigned to high or low linoleic acid diets and were followed for about 8 years. Curiously, the researchers did find a trend of increased deaths from cancer in the group consuming more seed oil, however, this difference between groups was not statistically significant. What the authors did find that was statistically significant, was that the group consuming more saturated fat had more deaths due to atherosclerosis.
In terms of study design, there were two glaring issues with this study:
The two comparison groups were not identical at the start of the study. There was an uneven distribution of smokers between groups from the very beginning of the study.
Twice as many people in the seed oil group dropped out of the study before it was over compared to those that dropped out of the saturated fat group, which muddies the data. With long-running studies like these, it’s not uncommon for some participants to drop out before the study is over. In this study, more people dropped out of the seed oil group mainly because the people assigned to that group had to eat less eggs, which they did not like having to do, and they were also given a “filled milk prepared from specially deodorized and deflavored soybean oil.”
Soybean oil milk - delicious!
The researchers eventually changed the milk formula, but at that point they had already lost many of their research subjects. By the end of the study, there were twice as many drop outs from the seed oil group than there were from the saturated fat group. Still, data from these people that pulled out of the study was still included in the final analysis.
These next two studies seem to legitimately show negative outcomes associated with increased intake of seed oils, and they deserve a closer look. The Minnesota Coronary Experiment was a large clinical trial with thousands of participants which showed that replacing saturated fat with seed oils was associated with an increased risk of death. Lastly, in the Sydney Diet Heart Study, researchers found that that seed oils may actually increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease after 5 years.
So, how can we make sense of this data?
We have overwhelming evidence that seed oils are fine to consume, but we also have some evidence that seed oils may not be good for your health. How can we make sense of this? Here is my opinion - it comes down to looking at fat ratios. As the old saying goes, “the dose makes the poison.” You see, this whole time I have been saying “seed oils” as if all seed oils are the same, but the truth is that seed oils are not all created equally. Seed oils are actually blends of different types of fat, and the ratios can vary widely. The two fats that you need to know about for this section are omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. As an example, sesame oil has far more omega-6 than omega-3 with a ratio of 138:1, whereas canola oil has a ratio of 2:1.
In studies that showed a negative effect of seed oils, the participants increased their intake of oils that have a high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Soybean oil was used in the LA Veteran's Study, which has an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 7.3:1. It's not terribly high, but it is still more than three times higher than the ratio of canola oil. The Minnesota Coronary Experiment employed corn oil, which has a ratio of 58:1, and the Sydney Diet Heart Study utilized safflower oil which has a ratio of 77:1. As you can see, the latter two in particular are very imbalanced, and I do not think that it’s a coincidence that those are the two that were shown to cause harm. When it comes to the balance between omega-6 and omega-3, the data is clear - increasing this ratio can put you on a path to illness, especially because the average American’s diet is already imbalanced in favor of omega-6.
You see, back when we were primarily hunter gatherers, our diets used to look very different.
Human diets 10,000 years ago are thought to have included similar amounts of omega-6 and omega-3, in a ratio of about 2:1. This is kind of a guesstimate, because obviously, no one that was around back then is around now to tell us how much of which type of fat they ate. On top of that, it’s tough to account for all the many different historical dietary patterns of every single culture on the globe. Still, the idea is that we ate similar amounts of omega-6 and omega-3.
Fast forward to the 1900s, and intake of omega-6 crept up, while intake of omega-3 started to take a nosedive. People started eating more grains and less greens. In the 20th century, seed oils took off in popularity as technological advances made them cheaper to produce. Food manufacturers started including more of these oils in their products – palm oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil were among the most widely used. Farmers also started feeding their livestock more grains instead of their normal diet of mostly grass, which led to a higher amount of omega-6 in the animals’ tissues. What animals eat literally becomes a part of them, and then a part of us, when we eat those animals. Grass-fed beef contains not only more omega-3, but also less fat overall, less saturated fat and more monounsaturated fat per serving. It really is better for you than grain-fed meat, because again, the tissues of the animals are different.
This applies to the milk and eggs produced by farm animals too. Milk from grass-fed cows contains more omega-3 than the milk of cows fed the conventional way, and chickens that eat their normal diet of grass and bugs produce eggs with more omega-3.
Taking all of these changes into consideration, we started consuming more omega-6 through almost everything that we eat. Scientists estimate that per capita intake of soybean oil in the United States increased by more than 1000 times during the 20th century (1909-1999). Linoleic acid as a percent of total calories significantly increased from 2.8% to 7.2%, and the ratio of linoleic acid to alpha-linolenic acid (omega-6 to omega-3), increased from 6.4 to 10.0. This change in our diet is reflected in our body tissues, specifically, our fat tissues. Over the course of about 50 years, the concentration of omega-6 (linoleic acid) in our tissues increased from about 9% to about 22%.
While eating omega-6 is critical for your health, eating a high amount of omega-6 relative to omega-3, a shift that has been happening in this country for over a century now, does appear to be bad for your health. This, right here, is a problem.
The importance of the ratio between omega-6 and omega-3
While much more research is needed in this area, the data that we have so far suggests that we should be eating less omega-6 and more omega-3 to produce a ratio between the ancestral and current estimates. The “best” ratio varies depending on what health outcome you are looking at, but there is evidence that a lower omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is associated with better:
management of rheumatoid arthritis
mental health (specifically with regards to depression)
as well as a lower risk of developing:
and a reduced chance of death from cancer or heart disease.
So, it is a good idea to eat less seed oils that are high in omega-6 and low in omega-3, and to choose ones that have a ratio that is closer to 2:1. Keep in mind that the overall ratio of your diet is what matters at the end of the day, and this value is computed not just from the oils that you choose to cook with, but also the foods that you consume that contain fats either naturally or through manufacturing.
Using this Wikipedia article, you can get a general idea of which oils have the highest and lowest omega-6 to omega-3 ratios. Some examples of oils with very high omega-6 to omega-3 ratios include grape seed oil, safflower oil, Brazil nut oil, sesame oil, and sunflower oil. The following oils have very low ratios, all of which approximate the ideal: walnut oil, hemp seed oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, and flaxseed/linseed oil. Canola oil is really popular - it’s what I have in my kitchen cabinet - so it’s nice to see that it has a low ratio.
Earlier on in this article, I mentioned that intake of soybean oil has gone through the roof. That is not because people are adding soybean oil to their food at home; It’s because soybean oil is added to a lot of popular snacks and beverages.
Here is a slide show of common packaged foods that contain soybean oil.
As a reminder, salad dressings, ice cream, crackers, cookies, mayonnaise, and breakfast bars may all contain soybean oil (it depends on the brand). So, if you limit your intake of ultra-processed foods and have more whole foods instead, you will also be shifting your diet to contain less omega-6. I want to reiterate that omega-6 fatty acids are not bad. You need to eat omega-6 fatty acids to survive, as these fats are essential for your bodily functions and your body cannot make them on its own. Remember, balance is key – you can eat omega-6, omega-3, and saturated fat and live to 100 years old, once you balance them.
Did I just say that it’s okay to eat saturated fat?
Yes, you heard me correctly.
Including some saturated fat in your diet is fine, too, but if you are like the average American, you are already getting more than enough saturated fat in your diet. Americans consume about 12% of their calories from saturated fat, which is above the recommended limit of 10%. There is no evidence that we need to be eating more saturated fat – we could actually stand to cut back a little as a nation. What the evidence does say is that we need to be eating more omega-3 – fatty fish, walnuts, flaxseeds, etc.
Most people in the US would benefit from eating more fish, not more beef.
Refined versus unrefined oils
Even though the data mostly shows that people who consume more polyunsaturated fats, including seed oils, are healthier, I still think that we need to talk more about how seed oils are made. Refined oils get heated several times during the extraction and refining processes, and exposing polyunsaturated fats to high heat facilitates the formation of trans fats, free fatty acids, and oxidation products like aldehydes. Heat exposure also reduces the amount of polyphenols, a class of plant antioxidants, found in the oil. For this reason, it is ideal to choose oils that have gone through as little processing as possible. At the top of my list is extra virgin olive oil.
Extra virgin olive oil is different from refined seed oils because it is made by simply pressing the olives without applying heat or chemicals. This minimal processing allows the oil to retain more of the polyphenols that make it an antioxidant- and nutrient-rich product. Check out the video below to see how olive oil is made.
This high-quality oil has also been shown to benefit heart health. Olive oil is not great for deep frying though, so when you want to enjoy some juicy deep fried food or desserts, it’s best to choose an oil with a higher smoke point like canola oil.
Summary
We covered a lot today, so here is a quick summary of the key takeaways for today's post:
Seed oils are fine to include in your diet, in moderation
Saturated fat is also fine to include in your diet, in moderation
When choosing an oil to cook with, it is best to choose unrefined oils as those have the most nutrients, and an oil with a low ratio of omega-6 to omega-3
Most people would benefit from eating more foods rich in omega-3 like fish, nuts, and seeds
Most people would also benefit from limiting refined, ultra-processed foods which tend to be high in sugar, salt, and oil
If you enjoyed this analysis of seed oils, please leave a comment down below and also share it with your friends and family.
Take care!
References
References listed (mostly) by appearance. Otherwise, they are grouped by heading.
Clips used throughout:
Americans ‘can’t trust what’s on the ingredient label’: RFK Jr
Channel: Fox News
24 ago 2024
Make Frying Oil Tallow Again
29 oct 2024
Channel: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr
Caption: Happy Thanksgiving
28 nov 2024
Seed oils
16 ago 2024
Channel: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
How It's Made - Canola Oil
Channel: Panos Egglezos
11 mar 2012
This Is How Canada Convinced You To Eat Engine Lubricant
Channel: Paul Saladino MD
24 abr 2024
Do NOT Cook with This!!!
Channel: Dr. Eric Berg DC
25 may 2024
The $212 Billion Dollar Food ingredient poisoning your Brain
Channel: What I’ve Learned
1 oct 2024
The $100 Billion Dollar Ingredient making your Food Toxic
Channel: What I’ve Learned
19 sept 2021
The history and health effects of seed oils by Nina Teicholz
Channel: Swiss Re
6 nov 2023
THESE Oils In Your Food Are Slowly Killing You
Channel: Max DeMarco
14 dic 2023
Seed Oils: Why You Shouldn’t Touch This Stuff Anymore
Channel: High Intensity Health
2 mar 2024
How It's Made Olive Oil
Channel: How It's Made
1 sept 2024
Wikipedia articles on fats:
Things in your cabinet that contain seed oils
Research articles on saturated fats vs. polyunsaturated fats/linoleic acid/seed oils
Farvid MS, Ding M, Pan A, Sun Q, Chiuve SE, Steffen LM, Willett WC, Hu FB. Dietary linoleic acid and risk of coronary heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Circulation. 2014 Oct 28;130(18):1568-78. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.010236. Epub 2014 Aug 26. PMID: 25161045; PMCID: PMC4334131.
Li J, Guasch-Ferré M, Li Y, Hu FB. Dietary intake and biomarkers of linoleic acid and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Jul 1;112(1):150-167. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz349. PMID: 32020162; PMCID: PMC7326588.
Zhang Y, Zhuang P, Wu F, He W, Mao L, Jia W, Zhang Y, Chen X, Jiao J. Cooking oil/fat consumption and deaths from cardiometabolic diseases and other causes: prospective analysis of 521,120 individuals. BMC Med. 2021 Apr 15;19(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s12916-021-01961-2. PMID: 33853582; PMCID: PMC8048052.
Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JHY, Appel LJ, Creager MA, Kris-Etherton PM, Miller M, Rimm EB, Rudel LL, Robinson JG, Stone NJ, Van Horn LV; American Heart Association. Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017 Jul 18;136(3):e1-e23.
Jakobsen MU, O'Reilly EJ, Heitmann BL, Pereira MA, Bälter K, Fraser GE, Goldbourt U, Hallmans G, Knekt P, Liu S, Pietinen P, Spiegelman D, Stevens J, Virtamo J, Willett WC, Ascherio A. Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 May;89(5):1425-32. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27124. Epub 2009 Feb 11. PMID: 19211817; PMCID: PMC2676998.
Li Y, Hruby A, Bernstein AM, Ley SH, Wang DD, Chiuve SE, Sampson L, Rexrode KM, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB. Saturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015 Oct 6;66(14):1538-1548. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.055. PMID: 26429077; PMCID: PMC4593072.
Hooper L, Martin N, Jimoh OF, Kirk C, Foster E, Abdelhamid AS. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Aug 21;8(8):CD011737. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3. PMID: 32827219; PMCID: PMC8092457.
Rosqvist F, Kullberg J, Ståhlman M, Cedernaes J, Heurling K, Johansson HE, Iggman D, Wilking H, Larsson A, Eriksson O, Johansson L, Straniero S, Rudling M, Antoni G, Lubberink M, Orho-Melander M, Borén J, Ahlström H, Risérus U. Overeating Saturated Fat Promotes Fatty Liver and Ceramides Compared With Polyunsaturated Fat: A Randomized Trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Dec 1;104(12):6207-6219. doi: 10.1210/jc.2019-00160. PMID: 31369090; PMCID: PMC6839433.
Luukkonen PK, Sädevirta S, Zhou Y, Kayser B, Ali A, Ahonen L, Lallukka S, Pelloux V, Gaggini M, Jian C, Hakkarainen A, Lundbom N, Gylling H, Salonen A, Orešič M, Hyötyläinen T, Orho-Melander M, Rissanen A, Gastaldelli A, Clément K, Hodson L, Yki-Järvinen H. Saturated Fat Is More Metabolically Harmful for the Human Liver Than Unsaturated Fat or Simple Sugars. Diabetes Care. 2018 Aug;41(8):1732-1739. doi: 10.2337/dc18-0071. Epub 2018 May 29. PMID: 29844096; PMCID: PMC7082640.
Other studies on saturated fat
Hantikainen E, Roos E, Bellocco R, D'Antonio A, Grotta A, Adami HO, Ye W, Trolle Lagerros Y, Bonn S. Dietary fat intake and risk of Parkinson disease: results from the Swedish National March Cohort. Eur J Epidemiol. 2022 Jun;37(6):603-613. doi: 10.1007/s10654-022-00863-8. Epub 2022 Apr 13. PMID: 35416636; PMCID: PMC9288363.
Ruan Y, Tang J, Guo X, Li K, Li D. Dietary Fat Intake and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. Curr Alzheimer Res. 2018;15(9):869-876. doi: 10.2174/1567205015666180427142350. PMID: 29701155.
Historical evidence which hinted at seed oils being better than saturated fat for health
BRONTE-STEWART B, ANTONIS A, EALES L, BROCK JF. Effects of feeding different fats on serum-cholesterol level. Lancet. 1956 Apr 28;270(6922):521-6. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(56)90592-x. PMID: 13320793.
KEYS A, ANDERSON JT, GRANDE F. Prediction of serum-cholesterol responses of man to changes in fats in the diet. Lancet. 1957 Nov 16;273(7003):959-66. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(57)91998-0. PMID: 13482259.
AHRENS EH Jr, INSULL W Jr, BLOMSTRAND R, HIRSCH J, TSALTAS TT, PETERSON ML. The influence of dietary fats on serum-lipid levels in man. Lancet. 1957 May 11;272(6976):943-53. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(57)91280-1. PMID: 13417651.
MALMROS H, WIGAND G. The effect on serum-cholesterol of diets containing different fats. Lancet. 1957 Jul 6;273(6984):1-7. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(57)90568-8. PMID: 13450312.
Dayton, S., Pearce, M., Hashimoto, S., et al. A Controlled Clinical Trial of a Diet High in Unsaturated Fat in Preventing Complications of Atherosclerosis. Circulation. 1969 July; Volume 40, Number 1s2.
Leren P. The Oslo diet-heart study. Eleven-year report. Circulation. 1970 Nov;42(5):935-42. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.42.5.935. PMID: 5477261.
Turpeinen O, Karvonen MJ, Pekkarinen M, Miettinen M, Elosuo R, Paavilainen E. Dietary prevention of coronary heart disease: the Finnish Mental Hospital Study. Int J Epidemiol. 1979 Jun;8(2):99-118. doi: 10.1093/ije/8.2.99. PMID: 393644.
Miettinen M, Turpeinen O, Karvonen MJ, Pekkarinen M, Paavilainen E, Elosuo R. Dietary prevention of coronary heart disease in women: the Finnish mental hospital study. Int J Epidemiol. 1983 Mar;12(1):17-25. doi: 10.1093/ije/12.1.17. PMID: 6840954.
Research articles from Paul Saladino video
Reaven P, Parthasarathy S, Grasse BJ, Miller E, Steinberg D, Witztum JL. Effects of oleate-rich and linoleate-rich diets on the susceptibility of low density lipoprotein to oxidative modification in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. J Clin Invest. 1993 Feb;91(2):668-76. doi: 10.1172/JCI116247. PMID: 8432867; PMCID: PMC288008.
Berry EM, Eisenberg S, Haratz D, Friedlander Y, Norman Y, Kaufmann NA, Stein Y. Effects of diets rich in monounsaturated fatty acids on plasma lipoproteins--the Jerusalem Nutrition Study: high MUFAs vs high PUFAs. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991 Apr;53(4):899-907. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/53.4.899. PMID: 2008870.
Jenkinson A, Franklin MF, Wahle K, Duthie GG. Dietary intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids and indices of oxidative stress in human volunteers. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1999 Jul;53(7):523-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600783. PMID: 10452406.
Kim M, Kim M, Lee A, Yoo HJ, Her JS, Jee SH, Lee JH. Impact of 8-week linoleic acid intake in soy oil on Lp-PLA2 activity in healthy adults. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2017 May 8;14:32. doi: 10.1186/s12986-017-0186-2. PMID: 28503188; PMCID: PMC5422895.
Silaste ML, Rantala M, Alfthan G, Aro A, Witztum JL, Kesäniemi YA, Hörkkö S. Changes in dietary fat intake alter plasma levels of oxidized low-density lipoprotein and lipoprotein(a). Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2004 Mar;24(3):498-503. doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000118012.64932.f4. Epub 2004 Jan 22. PMID: 14739118.
Research articles from What I’ve Learned and Nina Teicholz videos
Shaten BJ, Kuller LH, Kjelsberg MO, Stamler J, Ockene JK, Cutler JA, Cohen JD. Lung cancer mortality after 16 years in MRFIT participants in intervention and usual-care groups. Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial. Ann Epidemiol. 1997 Feb;7(2):125-36. Doi: 10.1016/s1047-2797(96)00123-8. PMID: 9099400.
Simon JA, Fong J, Bernert JT Jr, Browner WS. Serum fatty acids and the risk of fatal cancer. MRFIT Research Group. Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Nov 1;148(9):854-8. Doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009710. PMID: 9801015.
Botteri E, de Lange T, Tonstad S, Berstad P. Exploring the effect of a lifestyle intervention on cancer risk: 43-year follow-up of the randomized Oslo diet and antismoking study. J Intern Med. 2018 Sep;284(3):282-291. Doi: 10.1111/joim.12765. Epub 2018 May 22. PMID: 29790221.
SEYMOUR DAYTON, M.D., MORTON LEE PEARCE, M.D., SAM HASHIMOTO, M.S., WILFRID J. DIXON, PH.D., and UWAMIE TOMIYASU, M.D.
A Controlled Clinical Trial of a Diet High in Unsaturated Fat in Preventing Complications of Atherosclerosis. Circulation
Originally Published 1 July 1969
Volume 40, Number 1s2
INCIDENCE OF CANCER IN MEN ON A DIET HIGH IN POLYUNSATURATED FAT
Lee Pearce and Dayton
March 06, 1971
The Lancet, Volume 297, Issue 7697, 464 – 467
Ramsden CE, Zamora D, Majchrzak-Hong S, Faurot KR, Broste SK, Frantz RP, Davis JM, Ringel A, Suchindran CM, Hibbeln JR. Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73). BMJ. 2016 Apr 12;353:i1246. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.i1246. Erratum in: BMJ. 2024 Jun 28;385:q1450. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.q1450. PMID: 27071971; PMCID: PMC4836695.
Ramsden CE, Zamora D, Leelarthaepin B, Majchrzak-Hong SF, Faurot KR, Suchindran CM, Ringel A, Davis JM, Hibbeln JR. Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis. BMJ. 2013 Feb 4;346:e8707. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8707. Erratum in: BMJ. 2013;346:f903. PMID: 23386268; PMCID: PMC4688426.
Research articles on the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio theory
Simopoulos AP. The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. Biomed Pharmacother. 2002 Oct;56(8):365-79. doi: 10.1016/s0753-3322(02)00253-6. PMID: 12442909.
Kuipers RS, Luxwolda MF, Dijck-Brouwer DA, Eaton SB, Crawford MA, Cordain L, Muskiet FA. Estimated macronutrient and fatty acid intakes from an East African Paleolithic diet. Br J Nutr. 2010 Dec;104(11):1666-87. doi: 10.1017/S0007114510002679. Epub 2010 Sep 23. PMID: 20860883.
DiNicolantonio JJ, O'Keefe J. The Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio for Reducing the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases, Asthma, and Allergies. Mo Med. 2021 Sep-Oct;118(5):453-459. PMID: 34658440; PMCID: PMC8504498.
Nogoy KMC, Sun B, Shin S, Lee Y, Zi Li X, Choi SH, Park S. Fatty Acid Composition of Grain- and Grass-Fed Beef and Their Nutritional Value and Health Implication. Food Sci Anim Resour. 2022 Jan;42(1):18-33. doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2021.e73. Epub 2022 Jan 1. PMID: 35028571; PMCID: PMC8728510.
Benbrook CM, Davis DR, Heins BJ, Latif MA, Leifert C, Peterman L, Butler G, Faergeman O, Abel-Caines S, Baranski M. Enhancing the fatty acid profile of milk through forage-based rations, with nutrition modeling of diet outcomes. Food Sci Nutr. 2018 Feb 28;6(3):681-700. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.610. PMID: 29876120; PMCID: PMC5980250.
Karsten HD, Patterson PH, Stout R, Crews G. Vitamins A, E and fatty acid composition of the eggs of caged hens and pastured hens. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2010;25(1):45-54. doi:10.1017/S1742170509990214
Blasbalg TL, Hibbeln JR, Ramsden CE, Majchrzak SF, Rawlings RR. Changes in consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the United States during the 20th century. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 May;93(5):950-62. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.006643. Epub 2011 Mar 2. PMID: 21367944; PMCID: PMC3076650.
Guyenet SJ, Carlson SE. Increase in adipose tissue linoleic acid of US adults in the last half century. Adv Nutr. 2015 Nov 13;6(6):660-4. doi: 10.3945/an.115.009944. PMID: 26567191; PMCID: PMC4642429
M. Cao, F. Yang, Y. Guo, R. Liu, M. Chang, Y. Wang, W. Wei, Q. Jin, X. Wang. Are the ratio and amount of n-6 and n-3 fatty acids associated with cardiovascular outcomes?—a GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials,
Food Bioscience,Volume 59, 2024, 104066, ISSN 2212-4292.
Maes M, Smith R, Christophe A, Cosyns P, Desnyder R, Meltzer H. Fatty acid composition in major depression: decreased omega 3 fractions in cholesteryl esters and increased C20: 4 omega 6/C20:5 omega 3 ratio in cholesteryl esters and phospholipids. J Affect Disord. 1996 Apr 26;38(1):35-46. doi: 10.1016/0165-0327(95)00092-5. PMID: 8735157.
Shetty SS, Kumari N S, Shetty PK. ω-6/ω-3 fatty acid ratio as an essential predictive biomarker in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nutrition. 2020 Nov-Dec;79-80:110968. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2020.110968. Epub 2020 Aug 7. PMID: 32919185.
Abdollahzadeh S, Riasi A, Tavalaee M, Jafarpour F, Nasr-Esfahani MH. Omega 6/Omega 3 Ratio Is High in Individuals with Increased Sperm DNA fragmentation. Reprod Sci. 2023 Dec;30(12):3469-3479. doi: 10.1007/s43032-023-01313-w. Epub 2023 Aug 10. PMID: 37563480.
Zhang Y, Sun Y, Yu Q, Song S, Brenna JT, Shen Y, Ye K. Higher ratio of plasma omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids is associated with greater risk of all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality: A population-based cohort study in UK Biobank. Elife. 2024 Apr 5;12:RP90132. doi: 10.7554/eLife.90132. PMID: 38578269; PMCID: PMC10997328.
Maillard V, Bougnoux P, Ferrari P, Jourdan ML, Pinault M, Lavillonnière F, Body G, Le Floch O, Chajès V. N-3 and N-6 fatty acids in breast adipose tissue and relative risk of breast cancer in a case-control study in Tours, France. Int J Cancer. 2002 Mar 1;98(1):78-83. doi: 10.1002/ijc.10130. PMID: 11857389.
Talaei M, Sdona E, Calder PC, Jones LR, Emmett PM, Granell R, Bergström A, Melén E, Shaheen SO. Intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in childhood, FADS genotype and incident asthma. Eur Respir J. 2021 Sep 2;58(3):2003633. doi: 10.1183/13993003.03633-2020. PMID: 33509958; PMCID: PMC8411098.
Brigham EP, Woo H, McCormack M, Rice J, Koehler K, Vulcain T, Wu T, Koch A, Sharma S, Kolahdooz F, Bose S, Hanson C, Romero K, Diette G, Hansel NN. Omega-3 and Omega-6 Intake Modifies Asthma Severity and Response to Indoor Air Pollution in Children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Jun 15;199(12):1478-1486. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201808-1474OC. PMID: 30922077; PMCID: PMC6580674.
Furuhjelm C, Warstedt K, Larsson J, Fredriksson M, Böttcher MF, Fälth-Magnusson K, Duchén K. Fish oil supplementation in pregnancy and lactation may decrease the risk of infant allergy. Acta Paediatr. 2009 Sep;98(9):1461-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2009.01355.x. Epub 2009 Jun 1. PMID: 19489765.
Dunstan JA, Mori TA, Barden A, Beilin LJ, Taylor AL, Holt PG, Prescott SL. Fish oil supplementation in pregnancy modifies neonatal allergen-specific immune responses and clinical outcomes in infants at high risk of atopy: a randomized, controlled trial. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003 Dec;112(6):1178-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2003.09.009. PMID: 14657879.
Best KP, Gold M, Kennedy D, Martin J, Makrides M. Omega-3 long-chain PUFA intake during pregnancy and allergic disease outcomes in the offspring: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jan;103(1):128-43. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.111104. Epub 2015 Dec 16. PMID: 26675770.
Palmer DJ, Sullivan T, Gold MS, Prescott SL, Heddle R, Gibson RA, Makrides M. Effect of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy on infants' allergies in first year of life: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2012 Jan 30;344:e184. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e184. PMID: 22294737; PMCID: PMC3269207.
Kostoglou-Athanassiou I, Athanassiou L, Athanassiou P. The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Rheumatoid Arthritis. Mediterr J Rheumatol. 2020 Jun 30;31(2):190-194. doi: 10.31138/mjr.31.2.190. PMID: 32676556; PMCID: PMC7362115.
The intake of saturated fat in the USA
Shan Z, Rehm CD, Rogers G, Ruan M, Wang DD, Hu FB, Mozaffarian D, Zhang FF, Bhupathiraju SN. Trends in Dietary Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat Intake and Diet Quality Among US Adults, 1999-2016. JAMA. 2019 Sep 24;322(12):1178-1187. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.13771. PMID: 31550032; PMCID: PMC6763999.
Benefits of extra virgin olive oil
Gorzynik-Debicka M, Przychodzen P, Cappello F, Kuban-Jankowska A, Marino Gammazza A, Knap N, Wozniak M, Gorska-Ponikowska M. Potential Health Benefits of Olive Oil and Plant Polyphenols. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Feb 28;19(3):686. doi: 10.3390/ijms19030686. PMID: 29495598; PMCID: PMC5877547.
Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Gómez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Lamuela-Raventos RM, Serra-Majem L, Pintó X, Basora J, Muñoz MA, Sorlí JV, Martínez JA, Fitó M, Gea A, Hernán MA, Martínez-González MA; PREDIMED Study Investigators. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts. N Engl J Med. 2018 Jun 21;378(25):e34. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1800389. Epub 2018 Jun 13. PMID: 29897866.
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