Heart Healthy Oils: Which Oils to Use

WHAT ARE “HEART HEALTHY” OILS?

January 20, 2019

The oils that deserve the “heart healthy” label are traditional fats. These are heat-stable olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil, plus pastured lard, butter and ghee. Industrial seed oils such as canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower and safflower are not heart healthy. Their oxidized omega-6 fats drive metainflammation.

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Not all oils are created equal in a healthy diet. The American Heart Association keeps endorsing vegetable oils as “heart healthy.” That is a manipulation of science and a violation of patient trust. And it is all to make a private industry more profitable. Many people think of the American Heart Association as a nonprofit public interest group.

https://www.canolainfo.org

We start with canola oil. But this covers all refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) oils and industrial seed oils (vegetable oils).

Is canola oil heart healthy?

Canola comes from “Canada” and “ola,” meaning oil. It is the second-largest oil crop in the world. It was created by crossbreeding rapeseed plants. Then it was genetically modified (GMO) to resist herbicides, to improve oil quality and to help the plant tolerate herbicides. It was then used to make canola oil and canola meal. It was also used as a fuel in place of diesel and as a part of items made with plasticizers.

Processing canola to oil: Canola oil is a “vegetable oil” made from the canola plant with high heat and chemicals. It is an industrial seed oil. This industrial process is called refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD). It is used for canola, soy, corn, and palm oils.

Seed cleaning: Canola seeds are sorted and cleaned to remove plant stalks, dirt and other impurities.

Conditioning and flaking: Seeds are pre-heated to about 95℉(35℃). Then roller mills “flaked” them to break open the seed’s cell wall.

Cooking: The seed flakes are cooked in a series of steam-heated cookers. This heating usually lasts 15–20 minutes at 176–221℉(80°–105°C).

Pressing: The cooked canola seed flakes are pressed in a series of screw presses or expellers. This removes 50–60% of the oil from the flakes. The rest is pulled out by other means.

Solvent extraction: The leftover seed flakes still hold 18–20% oil. A chemical called hexane breaks them down further to get the rest of the oil.

Desolventizing: The hexane is then stripped from the canola meal by heating it a third time with steam, at 203–239℉(95–115°C).

Bleaching and Deodorizing: The oil is refined in different ways. These include steam distillation, exposure to phosphoric acid, and filtering through acid-activated clays.

At this point we have liquid vegetable oil. To make it solid takes one additional step:

Hydrogenation: Canola oil made into margarine and shortening goes through more processing. Hydrogen molecules are pumped into the oil to change its chemical structure. This makes the oil solid at room temperature and extends shelf life. But it also creates artificial trans fats

Canola is not a good source of nutrients. Refining markedly lowers the nutrients in oils, such as essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.

One tablespoon (15 ml) of canola oil delivers:

Calories: 124

Vitamin E: 12% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)

Vitamin K: 12% of the RDI

Fatty acid breakdown of canola oil

Saturated fat: 7%

Monounsaturated fat: 64%

Polyunsaturated fat: 28%

21% linoleic acid — more commonly known as omega-6 fatty acid

11% alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 fatty acid

Canola is no different from any of the other industrial seed oils. None of them are truly “heart healthy,” and they all lead to metainflammation:

Canola oil

Soybean oil

Safflower oil

Sunflower oil

Corn Oil

Cottonseed oil

The history of industrial seed oils:

Olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, and lard are traditional fats. Industrial seed oils are not. They are a recent addition to the human diet, brought into the American diet in the early 1900s.

Industrial seed oils were classed as hazardous waste from cottonseed processing. They were often dumped illegally into rivers and sometimes added illicitly to animal feed. Their omega-6 fatty acids oxidized fast in air and created a significant stench. This became a problem in the 1800s after the cotton gin came along and cotton fiber was mass-produced. Every 100 pounds of fiber processed then produced 162 pounds of cotton seeds.

In the 1870s, William Procter and James Gamble began cashing in on this hazardous byproduct. They used it for soap making and cosmetics.

Later, Procter & Gamble got a patent to hydrogenate liquid cotton seed oil into a solid. This created a shortening-like product called Crisco (Crystallized Cotton).

Procter and Gamble began marketing Crisco to housewives as a lard alternative. They used free cookbooks, baseless health claims, and endorsements.

Then, in the late 1940s, Procter & Gamble gave a $1.5 million donation to a small group of cardiologists. These cardiologists had formed the American Heart Association. The American Heart Association then endorsed industrial seed oils. The term “vegetable oil” was created to use instead of industrial seed oil. This set the product apart from animal based products and made it look healthy. Other vegetable oils followed. Soybeans were introduced to the United States in the 1930s and into the 1950s.

Around the same time, an industry-sponsored researcher, Ancel Keys, introduced the diet–lipid hypothesis. It suggested that the fat we eat becomes the fat in atherosclerotic plaques (the fatty buildup in artery walls), and that this causes heart attacks. The data he presented suggests a link between eating saturated fat and cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. Keys’ conclusions matched what the industrial seed oil industry wanted: to get people to eat more seed oils. Animal fats, a rich source of dietary saturated fat and cholesterol, were quickly shunned. The food industry answered by pushing vegetable oil and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) even harder. Ads for “heart healthy” margarine (a solid form of vegetable oil) and other seed oils became common. Traditional saturated fats were despised. The food industry and the federal government also began a campaign to reduce how much fat we eat. They put manufactured carbohydrates in its place. These were flavored artificially to fake nutrient density.

Unfortunately, none of this diet-lipid hypothesis was true. The data had been purposely manipulated. A 2014 meta-analysis found no benefit to overall health from eating less saturated fat or more PUFAs from vegetable oils. The evidence does not support today’s dietary guidelines that tell people to swap saturated fats for vegetable oils. In fact, most non-industry sponsored research indicates that eating industrial seed oils has a significant adverse effect on health.

This also calls into question the value of statins, which lower circulating cholesterol. Your body needs this cholesterol to make hormones. Patients placed onto statins are much more likely to get type 2 diabetes. Many of these statins also seem to disrupt the energy production pathways in human mitochondria (the power plants of your cells). This causes unintended secondary side effects.

The fast oxidation of Omega 6 PUFA vegetable oils and oxidized linoleic acid seems to be the common pathway for metainflammation. Oxidized linoleic acid from Omega 6 PUFA vegetable oils is what shows up in high amounts in the foam cells of atherosclerotic plaques. It is not the saturated fat you eat. In rat cancer models, it is very hard to trigger cancer in rats that are not first exposed to linoleic acid, which oxidizes quickly.

The conspiracy side of my brain wonders if the American Heart Association’s ongoing support of vegetable oil might not be self-serving. It drives up rates of severe cardiovascular disease, statin use, and stent procedures. It pairs nicely with the American Diabetes Association’s push on diabetes type 2 not being a choice. It also pairs with the ever rising cost of insulin and the complications of diabetes.

Reasons industrial seed oils are unhealthy:

Derived from genetically modified crops and are an evolutionary mismatch.
Contain harmful additives and repeated heating creates toxic byproducts.
Unstable and oxidize easily.
Raises the omega-6-to-omega-3 fatty acid ratios.
Derived from genetically modified crops and are an evolutionary mismatch.
The standard American diet is high in refined carbohydrates and industrial seed oils. It works against our ancestral biology and creates a mismatch between our genes and the modern world. We had millions of years to evolve. But our diet has changed in less than 100 years. Our genes and metabolism simply can’t adapt fast enough. Until the 1900s, humans did not eat industrial seed oils. From 1970 to 2000, the average intake of soybean oil alone rose from four pounds per person per year to 26 pounds per person per year. Linoleic acid is the main fatty acid in industrial seed oils. It now makes up 8 percent of our total calories. In our hunter-gatherer ancestors, it was 1 to 3 percent of total calories.

Industrial seed oils come from genetically modified plants. In fact, the plants used to make industrial seed oils are the top genetically modified crops: 88 percent of corn, 93 percent of soy, 94 percent of cotton, and 93 percent of rapeseed. Few studies have looked at the long-term safety of eating genetically modified foods. These genetic changes are made to lower the kill ratio of the plant to herbicides. They also make the plant resist being eaten by insects.

Contain harmful additives and repeated heating creates toxic byproducts.
These oils also contain harmful additives, and repeated heating creates toxic byproducts. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in industrial seed oils are very unstable. So makers add synthetic antioxidants to keep the oil from oxidizing and going rancid. Sadly, these synthetic antioxidants, BHA, BHT, and TBHQ, have endocrine-disrupting (hormone-disrupting), carcinogenic, and immune-disrupting effects. Also, TBHQ has been found to increase the IgE (immunoglobulin E) response to food allergens. This sets off a release of antibodies. It may thereby promote the development of food allergies.

Many restaurants frequently reheat industrial seed oils over and over, which magnifies the harmful effects. Reusing industrial seed oils (typically in large deep-fryers) cuts costs. But the result is an oil full of toxic byproducts. These cause free radicals to form, raise oxidative stress, and damage DNA. Repeated heating of industrial seed oils also uses up vitamin E, a natural antioxidant. These effects explain why repeatedly heated industrial seed oils are associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and intestinal and liver damage.

Unstable and oxidize easily.
The polyunsaturated fatty acids in industrial seed oils are highly unstable. They oxidize easily when exposed to heat, light, air and the chemicals used in manufacturing. When industrial seed oils are exposed to these factors, trans fats and lipid peroxides are created. Trans fats are known for their role in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. A 2 percent increase in calories from trans fats doubles the risk of heart disease. Lipid peroxides are toxic byproducts that damage DNA, proteins, and membrane lipids throughout the body. As lipid peroxides build up in the body, they promote aging and the development of chronic disease.

Raises the omega-6-to-omega-3 fatty acid ratios.

Essential fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that we cannot make ourselves. We must get them from our diets. They come in two types: omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-6 fatty acids feed the arachidonic acid pathway. This pathway makes potent metabolites that are mainly pro-inflammatory. These include prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4.

Omega-3 fatty acids such as ALA, EPA, and DHA, on the other hand, give rise to anti-inflammatory derivatives.

A balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids promotes optimal health. The ancestral ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is 1:1. The standard American diet tilts the balance. Its omega-6 to omega-3 ratios are in the range of 10 to 1 to 20 to 1. High omega-6 intake plus low omega-3 intake throws pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators out of balance. This produces a state of chronic inflammation called metainflammation. Industrial seed oils are the most significant contributor to the excess omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio.

Mechanism related to disease processes:

Metabolic Inflammation (Metainflammation)

A high omega-6 intake from industrial seed oils promotes chronic systemic inflammation. It is associated with higher C-reactive protein, TNF-alpha, and interleukin-6. Osteoarthritis is associated with high levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the joint synovium (the membrane that lines joint cavities). On the other hand, more omega-3 fatty acid intake has been tied to less cartilage loss in the knee as indicated by MRI. Industrial seed oils add a large amount of omega-6 fatty acids to the diet. So avoiding these oils may be beneficial for those with or at risk of osteoarthritis.

Omega 6 content increased inflammation and oxidative stress

Compounds formed during the heating of canola oil increase inflammatory markers.

Chronic exposure to a canola-rich diet resulted in significant harm to memory and substantial weight gain. In a year-long human study, 180 older adults were randomly assigned to either a control diet rich in refined oils, including canola, or a diet that replaced all refined oils with 20–30 ml of extra virgin olive oil per day. The olive oil group had better brain function than the others.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775590/

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions: high blood sugar, excess belly fat, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Eating Omega 6 industrial seed oil makes it worse. That runs against the industry sponsored marketing of “heart healthy.”

This 2018 study directly contradicts industry-funded studies. Those studies claimed canola oil intake is good for heart health by decreasing cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746113/

In another study of 458 men, some of the men replaced saturated fats with unsaturated vegetable oils. They had lower “bad” LDL cholesterol levels. But they had significantly higher rates of death, heart disease, and coronary artery disease than the control group.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23386268

Swapping saturated fats for vegetable oils is unlikely to reduce heart disease, death from heart disease, or overall mortality

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28526025

Infertility

About 9 percent of men and 11 percent of women in the United States have impaired fertility. Infertile men have a significantly higher omega-6-to-omega-3 fatty acid ratio than fertile men. Male impotence is also significantly associated with eating omega-6 industrial seed oil. The prevalence of impotence mirrors the rise in consumption of industrial seed oils.

Asthma

Industrial seed oils contain pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids relative to anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. These seem to dramatically increase the risk of asthma. Omega-6 fatty acids produce the arachidonic acid cascade. Steroids used in asthma attacks suppress it.

Autoimmune Disease

Industrial seed oils promote autoimmunity by increasing oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.

Cognition and Mental Health

Industrial seed oils predispose people to depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and dementia. Canola oil consumption is specifically linked to worse memory and impaired learning in Alzheimer’s disease. Trans fats come from the chemical and heat processing of industrial seed oils. They are associated with higher risks of dementia and, interestingly, aggression.

Diabetes and Obesity

Industrial seed oils increase overweight, obesity, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. In mice, eating high levels of linoleic acid, like the standard American diet, alters neurotransmitter (brain chemical) signaling. This makes the mice eat more and gain fat mass. In mice, a diet high in soybean oil induces obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Animal research also suggests that canola oil may directly cause insulin resistance. Human studies also suggest that industrial seed oil consumption is associated with insulin resistance, prediabetes, and obesity. A mother’s diet high in omega-6s compared to omega-3s is associated with a higher risk of obesity. Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes in children.

Heart Disease

The American Heart Association has told us otherwise for the last 100 years. But industrial seed oils are not good for our hearts. In fact, oxidized fatty acids from industrial seed oils appear to play a pivotal role in how cardiovascular disease develops. Oxidized linoleic acid appears to be the critical link between atherosclerosis formation and the local immune response with acute coronary plaques:

Dietary linoleic acid from industrial seed oils is built into blood lipoproteins (the particles that carry fat in the blood).
Unstable linoleic acid quickly oxidizes the lipoproteins
Their own receptors can no longer recognize the oxidized lipoproteins
Activated macrophages (immune cells) see oxidized lipoproteins as foreign and start foam cell formation. This causes atheroscleritis, an acute inflammatory change.

The high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of industrial seed oils is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. High omega-6 has pro-inflammatory and prothrombotic (clot-promoting) effects on blood vessels. Canola and soybean oils also block vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 clears excitotoxic ionized calcium from the blood stream.

IBS and IBD

Industrial seed oils may harm gut health. They may aggravate or cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Mice fed a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil had more pro-inflammatory gut bacteria. Human studies also suggest a link between industrial seed oils and GI (gut) conditions. Women with IBS have significantly higher levels of arachidonic acid than healthy controls. Arachidonic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid found in large amounts in industrial seed oils. These women also have higher levels of pro-inflammatory PUFA metabolites.

First avoid industrial seed oils.

The first step is to clean out your pantry. Get rid of any bottles of canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, or peanut oils in your kitchen. These oils are not “healthy,” despite misleading claims that may appear on their labels.

Next, stop eating processed foods. They are a significant source of industrial seed oils.

Eat less restaurant food. It is sometimes cooked in repeatedly heated industrial seed oils.

Avoid eating grain-fed meat, which may store up the toxic byproducts of industrial seed oils. Industrial seed oils are so good at increasing obesity that they are often added to animal feed. This raises fat content and grows the animal fast.

Omega-6 from whole foods is not a problem when eaten as part of a balanced, real-food diet with omega-3 fatty acids from seafood. Whole-food sources of omega-6 fatty acids include nutrients that protect omega-6 from oxidizing. They also skip the chemicals and industrial treatments that make industrial seed oils so toxic.

What are safe alternatives to vegetable oil?

Alternatives to “vegetable oil” which are heat-stable:

Olive oil: Olive oil is rich in anti-inflammatory compounds. These include polyphenol antioxidants, which may prevent heart disease and mental decline.
Coconut oil: Coconut oil is one of the best oils for high-heat cooking and may help increase “good” HDL cholesterol.
Avocado oil: Avocado oil holds up to heat. It contains carotenoid and polyphenol antioxidants, which may benefit heart health.

Alternatives to vegetable oil which can be heated, but are not stable at high temperature:

Pastured Lard: Lard is mostly made of monounsaturated fat, like olive oil. Lard, the fat rendered from pigs, is high in saturated fat. It is a good substitute for butter in recipes if you can’t tolerate dairy.

Butter and Ghee: Butter and ghee from grass-fed animals contain conjugated linoleic acid. This type of fatty acid has anti-cancer properties and promotes metabolic health. Butter may contain traces of milk proteins. But ghee is usually a safe option even for dairy-sensitive people, because all milk parts are removed when it is made.

Alternatives to “vegetable oil” which are for salad dressings and other uses that don’t involve heat:

Flaxseed oil: Flaxseed oil may help reduce blood pressure and decrease inflammation.
Walnut oil: Walnut oil has a rich, nutty taste and has been shown to reduce high blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Hempseed oil: Hempseed oil is highly nutritious and has a nutty flavor perfect for topping salads.

Frequently asked questions

What oils are not heart healthy?

Industrial seed oils are not heart healthy: canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower and safflower oil, sold under the friendlier name “vegetable oil.” They are refined, bleached and deodorized with high heat and the solvent hexane. Their omega-6 fats oxidize easily. They push the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio from the ancestral 1:1 to between 10:1 and 20:1. That imbalance drives metainflammation.

Which oil does not clog arteries?

Plaque starts with oxidized linoleic acid from omega-6 seed oils, not with the saturated fat you eat. Linoleic acid is built into blood lipoproteins and oxidizes them. Immune cells treat those damaged particles as foreign and turn them into the foam cells found in plaques. Pick the heat-stable oils that do not feed that chain: real olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.

What is the healthiest oil for high-heat cooking?

Coconut oil is one of the best oils for high-heat cooking. Olive oil and avocado oil are heat-stable too. Pastured lard, butter and ghee can be heated but are not stable at high temperatures. Save flaxseed, walnut and hempseed oil for salad dressings and dishes you do not heat. Never reuse seed oil in a deep fryer. Repeated heating fills it with toxic byproducts.

Is olive oil good for your heart?

Yes, when it is real olive oil. It is rich in polyphenol antioxidants and other anti-inflammatory compounds that may prevent heart disease and mental decline. In a year-long study of 180 older adults, a group replaced refined oils, including canola, with 20 to 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil a day. That group had better brain function than the group that kept eating refined oils.