We live in a modern fast-paced world, where quick food options have become necessary. The food industry would have you believe they’ve created solutions for you, with healthy, on the go sustenance to meet your needs and the demands of your busy life. In fact, the food industry rarely has your health in mind. Just like most modern industries, money has become the driving force.
If the food comes in a package or is prepared by a commercial food supplier, then we can safely assume the manufacturers don’t maintain your health as their highest priority. They’ll use ingredients that are inexpensive and increase their profits. Most of the time these products are scientifically engineered to be hyper-palatable and designed to trick your tastebuds. Just like man-made sweeteners, man-made oils are in this category. These are the industrial processed seed oils, otherwise known as vegetable oils. They are not natural. Do you eat at restaurants, buy pre-made foods at grocery stores, enjoy quick packaged snacks, or have ready-to-eat foods delivered? Then, with 100% certainty, you’re getting foods prepared with industrial processed seed oils.
Around 150 years ago the first commercial seed oil was created from the cotton industry. Cottonseed oil was a waste product derived from production processes. They concocted a brilliant yet diabolical plan to market it as a “healthy” fat replacement. This became the primary ingredient of Crisco, and the marketing of improperly labeled “healthy fats” began.
This moment in history changed the trajectory of our health forever. Prior to the year 1900, Americans only consumed 1% to 2% of their daily calories from omega-6 fats. The primary omega-6 fat is linoleum acid (LA). Like omega-3 fats, LA is a polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), but unlike omega-3, LA when consumed in excess, becomes a metabolic poison! If LA is consumed at a higher level than 4% of your daily food intake it increases inflammation, which can lead to major health issues in your body. The problem is LA is found in virtually all processed and prepared foods nowadays, so it’s nearly impossible to avoid. As a result, the average American consumes 10 times the amount of omega-6 fats than they should. Many have stopped cooking whole foods for themselves and grab everything on the go, to save time.
There are six industrial seed oils you should limit your consumption of, or eliminate altogether (cottonseed oil, canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil). If you read the nutrition label of your foods, you’ll see one or more of these oils listed.
Better alternatives to omega-6 fats/oils are avocado oil and olive oil. These oils were historically used by our ancestors, along with animal fats.
Our team at fasteatlive.com recommends swapping all the overly-processed industrial seeds oils listed above to coconut oil, olive oil, organic grass-fed butter, tallow (fat from cows), or ghee. These sources of fats and oils are very stable and won’t oxidize when exposed to high heat while cooking, unlike seed oils that break down, and lead to inflammation in our bodies.
