Aside from whole grains, vegetable oils are one of the most misunderstood and over-recommended foods in the health community. Why wouldn’t you think this is a better choice?
They are “heart healthy” and they are a way healthier choice than the “artery-clogging saturated fats.”
They help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, increase weight loss, and somehow improve overall health – right?  WRONG.….

• Vegetable oil is cheap, has low fat, made from vegetables (hence the name) and lasts forever.
• Coconut oil is high in saturated fats, more expensive and changes from liquid to solid
• Olive oil & Butter – well those are just bad for our heart.

Myth busting 4 Better Health

Starts with learning the truth about what these products are made of, how they are made and truth in research that backs the marketing or media claims.

Let’s start with Vegetable oils:

• Refined vegetable oils start from the seeds of various plant & legume sources (typically from GMO plants). Such as rapeseed (canola), soy, corn, Palm, safflower, sunflower & peanut (this as you know is a legume, not a nut).
• Unlike butter or coconut oil, these vegetable oils can’t be extracted just by pressing or separating naturally. The only way to get the oil from the vegetable is to chemically remove, deodorize, and alter the ‘vegetable’ for oil.
• The fats from plant seeds are polyunsaturated =  they are always liquid
• Refined cooking oils are made by highly intensive mechanical and chemical processes to extract the oil from the seeds. Unfortunately, this means fewer nutrients and more oxidization on your body = more risk of cellular changes which increases the risk of cancer, vascular damage, and autoimmunity.
• Some refined vegetable oils are also hydrogenated =  solid at room temp (margarine and shortening).  Hydrogenation makes trans fats = Extra fun damage for your vessels!
• This article offers deeper details and a great visual for your oil manufacturing

So what’s the big deal?

Well, all of the above = high inflammation in the body.  The Functional Medicine approach for wellness (and reversing illness) is to remove the root cause of a dysfunction in the body and Inflammation is the ROOT CAUSE of all chronic conditions (ie: diabetes, cancer, heart disease, autoimmunity, and hormone imbalances).

How is your “Vegetable” oil made?

1. High GMO, pesticide seeds from plants
2. Seeds are husked, cleansed, crushed
3. Seeds are heated up to 180 degrees to extract oils
4. They then go through a high volume press to press oil to the pulp
5. Pulp (and any oil) then take a ‘hexane s’ solvent bath(refined petroleum oil) and steamed again for more oil
6. Seed & oil is spun w/ phosphate in a centrifuge to separate well
7. Oil is separated and the solvent is evaporated and oil is put through a ‘degumming’ process
8. It goes through the neutralization process
9. Then goes through a bleaching process
10. And lastly goes through a deodorization process

So… as you can see- a little different than just taking a vegetable and pulling the oil for ‘healthy’ oils… it’s a process of damaging the good and chemically treating/altering it. This process increases the risk of rancid oils increasing free radicals, making trans fats and increasing inflammatory conditions in your body.

Vegetable oils are found in practically every processed food, from salad dressing to mayo to conventional nuts and seeds.  Reading ingredients is #1 4 Better Health.

Live 4 Better Health- Dump the vegetable oils and switch to Coconut oil, Olive oil, and Butter.