Should You Be Obsessing Over Seed Oils?

The MAHA folk like to think they’re doing things differently, but stripped bare, it’s just another fussy, rules-obsessed wellness movement, with two typical lists: stuff they like (red meat, cold plunges, grounding) and stuff they don’t (sunscreen, oat milk and 5G).

Subject yourself to the trenches of a comments section, and you’ll find they’re pretty passionate about all of the above — but nothing draws their ire quite like seed oils, which have steadily become public enemy number one. Per usual, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on the topic is the community’s north star. Last fall, he tweeted: “Seed oils are one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods. We need to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again.” In a separate post, he said to consume seed oils is to be “unknowingly poisoned.”

Over the last six months, anti-seed oil sentiment has swept across social media. Wellness influencers are performing “seed oil audits” at restaurants, and sometimes bringing along a chosen replacement for the chef. (Imagine pulling that shit on Carmy Berzotto.) So, social media stunt or sincere concern? Unclear — although the difference doesn’t really matter anymore.

Smaller restaurants have gotten bad reviews because customers can “smell” seed oils; news ones are emerging based entirely on the seed oil-free concept; and larger chains, from the healthy (Sweetgreen) to the decidedly unhealthy (Steak n’ Shake) have capitulated to the movement in their own ways. The former has slapped “NO SEED OILS” all over its branding. The latter is now frying its food in beef tallow, which, as you’ve likely gathered by now, is MAHA’s chosen ingredient for restoring metabolic health, reclaiming masculinity and saving the country. One greasy French fry at a time.

What on earth is going on here? Is any of this worth taking seriously? We break down what seed oils actually are, where the backlash came from and what the science says about their place in your diet.

What Are Seed Oils, Anyway?

There are eight: canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran. The seed oil that’s most commonly found in your kitchen pantry is canola oil (think Crisco, Pam, Wesson), while fast-casual chains and food factories rely on large jugs of soybean oil. It’s a hallmark of the industrial food complex. These oils are extremely cheap (in some cases, five times cheaper than extra virgin olive oil, which is not a seed oil) and very predictable to cook with: they’re neutral in flavor, high in smoke point (they don’t burn easily) and shelf-stable.

But it’s true, seed oils are extracted from seeds, using heat, pressure and chemicals. That makes them ultra-processed. They’re also stuffed with polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-6 fatty acids.

The Omega Battle

You’re likely familiar with omega-3s — the good fats we don’t get enough of — which can be found in salmon, tuna, walnuts and flaxseed, among other ingredients. On the other hand, we get plenty of omega-6 fatty acids, considering they’re in seed oils…which are almost every not-so-great product that comprises the average American diet: chips, crackers, dressings, frozen meals, protein bars.

Seed oil-obsessives often cite a poor consumption ratio between omega-6s and omega-3s as a definitive health predictor. They claim that omega-6s are “toxic,” that they lead to inflammation and illness. But this reaction is overblown. As Dr. Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, told the American Heart Association: “It’s so odd that the internet has gone wild demonizing these things. They are not to be feared.”

Gardner has studied the impact of dietary changes on health for decades, and points out that omega-6s get unfair treatment because they aren’t as adept at reducing cardiovascular risk as omega-3s — but that doesn’t mean they’re inherently unhealthy, or “pro-inflammatory.” In fact, the AHA recommends omega-6 intake as part of a healthy diet. Your body makes use of polyunsaturated fats. It just doesn’t need them in large portions of ultra-processed foods…which often come accompanied by a heavy dose of sugar and sodium.

How About Beef Tallow?

Beef tallow didn’t come from nowhere. (The weird skincare angle is new.) The rendered fat of butchered cows, it was once the frying agent of choice in early 20th-century America. McDonald’s used it for decades. But by the 1990s, as obesity rates climbed and public health campaigns took aim at saturated fat, fast food chains came under pressure. Nutrition experts warned that diets high in saturated fat could increase the risk of heart disease, and beef tallow was officially phased out — replaced, in many cases, by seed oils.

Now, it’s back. In MAHA circles, beef tallow is hailed as a natural, nutrient-rich fat that our ancestors would recognize. But here’s the thing: from a cholesterol perspective, saturated fats like tallow, butter and lard are still considered less heart-healthy than unsaturated fats like canola or sunflower oil, the very seed oils they’re rallying against.

Should You Care?

It’s always worthwhile to consider what you’re putting in your body, and especially when so much of the Western diet is ultra-processed. But you shouldn’t invest this sort of energy, investment or ire into seed oils, full stop. That misses the forest for the trees.

Again: seed oils themselves aren’t inherently toxic, inflammatory or dangerous. The real issue lies in the overall quality of our collective diet. If you’re eating lots of takeout, packaged food or frozen fare, then, yeah, it’s time to rethink your dietary choices — but for a lot of reasons, not just because you spotted a seed oil in the ingredients list. The narrow-minded, “gotcha” wellness fueling the seed issue oil is beneath us. It’s a tactic intended to flatten nuance, erode trust in institutions and sell easy, lazy answers to invented problems. But that’s the wellness world of 2025, which too often meets at the fulcrum of politics and personal decision-making. Hard to get more charged than that.

If you’re looking for some simple lines on what you should do, here you go: Cook with extra virgin olive oil when you can. Butter’s fine in moderation. Eat fewer things that come in a wrapper. And if you go to a restaurant, eat the food the restaurant makes — however they make it.