If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably heard that seed oils are toxic, inflammatory, and the root of all our health problems. Is this really true?
First: What are seed oils?
Seed oils are simply oils made by extracting oil from the seeds of plants. They’re commonly found in packaged foods and restaurant cooking, but also in ordinary cooking oils used at home.
Common examples include:
- Canola oil
- Soybean oil
- Sunflower oil
- Corn oil
- Peanut oil
- Grapeseed oil
Not every plant-based oil is a seed oil, as some oils are extracted from the fruit of the plant rather than the seed, such as olive oil and avocado oil.
Most seed oils contain primarily unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They also provide essential fatty acids, including omega-6 fatty acids and in some oils even omega-3 fatty acids.
Fiction: “Omega-6 fats cause inflammation.”
This is probably one of the most common things I’ve heard in the recent seed oil controversy.
Seed oils tend to contain omega-6 fatty acids, like linoleic acid. Both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats, meaning our bodies can’t make them and we need to obtain them from food. You’ve likely heard all about how omega-3 fats can benefit your heart. Although omega-3 fats have well-established health benefits, most Americans don’t eat enough of them! (We do, however, eat plenty of omega-6 fats.)
Research shows that consuming typical amounts of omega-6 fats does not automatically cause inflammation, but eating only omega-6 fats without any omega-3s may increase metabolic disorders or inflammation. Rather than spending a lot of energy worrying about the omega-6 fats in seed oils, it’s better to make sure you are regularly eating omega-3-rich foods like salmon, sardines, walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.
While we’re on the topic of inflammation, an anti-inflammatory diet includes lots of fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, too!
Importantly, evidence supports the role of unsaturated fats, including seed oils, as part of a heart-healthy dietary pattern, particularly when they replace saturated fats.
Fact: The type of fat you replace matters.
Instead of asking, “Is this food healthy or unhealthy?”, we dietitians often ask a different question: “Compared to what?”
Replacing a food high in saturated fat with a source of unsaturated fat can be better for cardiovascular health. Seed oils are generally much lower in saturated fat than fats such as butter, lard and beef tallow. That doesn’t mean butter is “bad” or that you can never eat it – just that different fats have different benefits, and the overall pattern matters.
Another common social media claim is that Americans have had worsening health in recent decades alongside an increase in the intake of seed oils. While it’s true that Americans have been eating more seed oils, the increase has generally come from the increase in ultra-processed foods, which are frequently high in sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat and other ingredients of concern. It’s hard to place the blame squarely on seed oils alone!
Finally, some food companies are taking advantage of this controversy to sell you more of their food products! If an ultra-processed food like a cheesy cracker reformulates its recipe to swap out seed oils for a non-seed oil… does the new recipe of cheesy cracker become significantly healthier? Most dietitians would say “no”; the healthiness of the cheesy cracker is basically the same before and after reformulation – but that doesn’t stop the food companies from labelling the new crackers as “seed oil free” to try to convince you to buy more of it.
A Well Balanced Plate might still include those cheesy crackers on occasion, but will typically focus on a variety of fruits, vegetables, healthy proteins, whole grains, and legumes to nourish your body and mind.
Fiction: “Seed oils are toxic.”
There is a lot of scary language surrounding seed oils online, including claims that the extraction process makes them toxic. But the reality is much less dramatic.
Some seed oils are extracted using solvents, such as hexane, which is separated from the oil during processing. Although hexane can be harmful at high levels of exposure, that doesn’t mean that eating commercially produced seed oils exposes you to harmful amounts.
Seed oils may also go through refining processes that improve their flavor, stability, and shelf life. Refining can remove some naturally occurring compounds, such as polyphenols and tocopherols, but it doesn’t automatically make an oil toxic or unhealthy.
In other words, “processed” doesn’t automatically mean “dangerous.” Processing exists on a spectrum, and the fact that something has been processed doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about whether it’s nutritious or should be avoided.
So, should you avoid seed oils?
You don’t need to fear seed oils or eliminate every food that contains them to eat well!
Seed oils are not inherently toxic, and eating omega-6 fats does not automatically cause inflammation. Seed oils’ unsaturated fats can be part of a heart-healthy routine, particularly when they replace saturated fats. You certainly can choose to use less seed oil if you prefer olive oil or avocado oil for cooking – there’s nothing wrong with having preferences!
Summer has a way of loosening our routines.
Breakfast might happen a little later. Lunch could be whatever you can find between activities. Dinner might be a last-minute decision after a long day at the pool. And honestly? That’s okay.
But then fall rolls around. School starts. Work schedules pick back up. Activities fill the calendar. Bedtimes get a little more predictable. And suddenly, we’re expected to remember everyone’s schedule and figure out what’s for dinner.
The good news is that fall can actually help us get back into a rhythm.
Rather than trying to overhaul your eating habits completely, use this change in season as an opportunity to get a little more prepared.
Because when we’re prepared, we’re much less likely to find ourselves scrambling for food at the last minute or realizing at 4 p.m. that we’ve had three cups of coffee and nothing resembling lunch.
If getting back into a routine feels a little harder than you’d like, here are three places to focus on.
1. Regular, Balanced Meals
When your schedule gets busy, it’s easy to skip meals or push them off until you’re absolutely starving.
One of the best things you can do is create a loose rhythm for meals and snacks that works with your day.
You don’t need to eat at exactly the same time every day. But having a general plan can make it much easier to avoid the “I have no idea what I’m eating” feeling.
What makes a meal balanced?
A simple place to start is:
Protein + carbohydrate + produce + fat
You don’t necessarily need to measure or calculate anything. Just think about including a few different food groups.
For example:
- Eggs + whole-grain toast + berries
- Greek yogurt + granola + fruit + nuts
- Turkey sandwich + vegetables + fruit
- Chicken + rice + roasted vegetables + avocado
- Pasta + chicken or beans + vegetables + olive oil
Make regular meals easier with small prep steps.
No need to spend all weekend prepping. Instead, look for a few small ways to make future-you’s life easier:
- Keep a few easy breakfast options on hand.
- Wash and prep fruit when you get home from the grocery store.
- Cook extra protein at dinner to use for lunch.
- Keep frozen vegetables and other quick meal ingredients available.
- Have a few “emergency meals” you can make when the day doesn’t go according to plan.
The goal isn’t to perfectly plan every meal. It’s to have enough of a plan that you’re not starting from zero every day.
2. Add More Plants and Fiber
Summer produce is plentiful and can make it easy to get a variety of natural colors in your diet.
As fall routines return, keep that variety going!
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds provide fiber and a wide range of nutrients that support digestive health and overall health.
If you aren’t getting a lot of plants in your diet, try making plants part of the meals you’re already eating.
- Add berries or a banana to breakfast.
- Toss spinach into eggs, pasta, or a smoothie.
- Add beans to tacos, soups, salads, or grain bowls.
- Choose whole-grain bread, oats, brown rice, or whole-grain pasta more often.
- Keep easy-to-eat fruits and vegetables where you can see them.
- Add one extra vegetable to dinner.
- Add a mix of seeds to your yogurt or nut butter.
One of our favorite approaches at Well Balanced Nutrition is to add before you subtract.
Instead of asking, “What should I stop eating?”
Ask:
“What could I add to this meal to make it a little more nourishing and satisfying?”
That’s a much easier place to start.
3. Make Hydration Part of Your Routine
When the days are hot and we’re sweating more, it’s usually pretty obvious that we need to drink.
But once fall arrives, it can be surprisingly easy to forget about hydration.
You’re busy. You’re in meetings. You’re driving kids to activities. Suddenly it’s 3 p.m., and you realize your water bottle hasn’t moved from your desk.
Rather than worrying about hitting a perfect number of ounces, focus on making hydration easier to remember.
Connect drinking water to things you already do.
For example:
- Fill your water bottle when you make your morning coffee.
- Keep water at your desk or in the car.
- Drink a glass of water with meals.
- Take your water bottle with you when you leave the house.
- Refill it before afternoon activities or workouts.
And remember, hydration comes from more than just water. Milk, sparkling water, tea, coffee, fruits, vegetables, and other beverages all contribute to your fluid intake.
If plain water isn’t your favorite, make it more appealing. Try sparkling water, lemon or lime, or a fun water bottle you actually enjoy carrying around.
Food for thought:
Start by asking yourself:
Where could a little preparation make my week easier?
Maybe it’s planning a few breakfasts.
Maybe it’s keeping easy lunch ingredients on hand.
Maybe it’s adding a fruit or vegetable to one meal each day.
Maybe it’s finally remembering to fill your water bottle before you leave the house.
You don’t have to do everything at once.
Pick one place to start, make it easier on yourself, and build from there.
That’s what getting back into a routine is really about not perfection, but creating a little more structure to support the life you’re actually living.
