How Scientists and Dishonest Media Bury The Evidence of Seed Oil Harms
Table of Contents
New study examines how different fats affect fat cells. Reporters and scientists hide the data on seed oil harms.
I’m often asked, “If seed oils are so harmful, why aren’t there more studies?” The truth is, there are more studies. The problem isn’t a lack of evidence. It’s how that evidence gets distorted. Study authors, universities, and media outlets seem to work together to downplay the risks, putting a spin on the results that makes seed oils look harmless, or even healthy. This article is a perfect example of how that happens.
A new study is making headlines for suggesting that olive oil might promote weight gain — a claim that sounds surprising, even controversial. The researchers reported that oleic acid, a major fat in olive oil, caused fat cells in mice to grow and multiply. But when you dig into the details, it’s clear that the headlines miss the real story. In fact, the way this study is being presented is a perfect example of how everyone’s attention is steered in the wrong direction.
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Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.
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Lauren Smith
Saved my life
I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine.
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This Study Doesn’t Look at Olive Oil in the Context of Normal Human Diets
The mice in this study weren’t fed balanced meals. They were put on high-fat diets designed to make animals fat. Imagine drinking 1.5 cups of olive oil a day or eating 12 sticks of butter — that’s the scale we’re talking about. Nobody eats like that. So it’s no surprise that the olive oil diet made animals fat. In fact, all the diets studied made the animals fat.
Here’s the distraction:
We’re supposed to read that and think: What, olive oil makes you fat? That’s the one fat everyone seems to agree is healthy. How can that be bad? And then we dismiss the study as ridiculous and move on.
Don’t be fooled by the distraction. That’s part of the distortion.
Let me explain.
A Sign of Adaptation — Not a Danger
Their data doesn’t actually show olive oil doing anything harmful. What the study actually suggests is that the body was adapting to an unbalanced, calorie-heavy diet by making more fat cells — a smart move to safely store all that excess energy.
The effects seen in this study could be:
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A normal defense mechanism, not a sign of disease
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Something that only happens under unnatural eating patterns
In short: this study doesn’t come close to proving that using olive oil to cook dinner or dress your salad causes weight gain.
Making These Wild Claims Prevents Other Scientists From Seeing The Evidence of Seed Oil Harms.
The Real Story Is About Seed Oils — Not Olive Oil.
What’s far more important, and more relevant to real life, is what the study shows about PUFAs (polyunsaturated fats) found in seed oils like soybean oil. These are the oils most people actually overconsume today. (When I say seed oils, I’m referring to The Hateful Eight.)
In the study, PUFA-rich diets didn’t trigger fat cell growth the way oleic acid did. At first glance, that might seem like a good thing. But I see it as a sign of serious trouble.
Here’s why.
If fat cells can’t grow when needed, the body may lose its ability to safely store extra calories. Instead, fat builds up in places it doesn’t belong — like the liver, muscles, and around internal organs. (Citation 1, Citation 2) This is called visceral fat. And it’s widely known that visceral fat is associated with inflammation, insulin resistance, and metabolic disease.
So you see, by having us focus on the ridiculous claim that olive oil makes us fat, the researchers prevent us from realizing that in the context of a high-fat diet, we need fat cells to divide. And that’s how they bury the evidence that seed oils promote inflammation, insulin resistance, and metabolic disease. [I published my own paper about this, called the Energy Model of Insulin Resistance]
Additional Strange Data Omissions Should Raise a Red Flag About Researchers’ Integrity
You might think I’m being overly accusatory. But check this out. The authors failed to report how much oleic acid was in the so-called “olive oil” diet. That’s a major omission, given how central that claim is to the headlines.
Also don’t forget that these researchers study obesity for a living. They know darn well that fat cells need to divide to store fat. But they fail to mention that. Instead, they encourage us to believe that we don’t ever want our fat cells to divide. This is wildly irresponsible, in my opinion.
And then the lay media takes the misdirection even further. For example, a New York Post article suggests we’ve been eating more olive oil during the obesity epidemic, implying that olive oil is to blame. That’s not just misleading — it’s classic spin doctoring.
Conclusion (TLDR): Seed Oil Harm Gets Buried — Again
This study and its coverage offer a master class in distraction. While readers are told to worry about olive oil, the real data quietly suggest that seed oils may be the bigger problem. The animals fed seed oils were less able to store fat where it belongs: under the skin. When fat cells can’t store fat where it belongs, harmful visceral fat accumulates.
That’s not just a missed story — it’s a glimpse into how the disinformation campaign to protect seed oils really works.
So the next time you hear someone say there’s no real evidence that seed oils are harmful, remember this post, and bring it to their attention. The literature is full of similar examples of data distortion, misleading conclusions, and irresponsible oversights. If you’d like me to report on more of them, please let me know in the comments.
