Omega-6 Linoleic Acid Is Not What Makes Seed Oils Bad
Table of Contents
Introduction: Busting a Big Food Myth About Omega-6 Linoleic Acid in Seed Oils
You might have heard that seed oils, like soybean or corn oil, are bad because of a fat called omega-6. People say omega-6 causes health problems like diabetes or heart trouble because it’s “inflammatory.” That’s a myth we need to bust! Omega-6 isn’t the real villain. The problem is how certain seed oils are made. Let’s learn about the eight unhealthy oils—I call them the “hateful eight”—and why they hurt your body. This simple story will show you the truth.
What Are the Hateful Eight?
The “hateful eight” oils are all made from seeds: soybean, corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, and rice bran. You find them in snacks like chips, cookies, or fried foods. They’re in salad dressings and so-called health food, too. These oils are cheap, so companies use them a lot. But they can make you sick, and it’s not because of all the omega-6 fat they’re loaded with The trouble comes from a different place. It comes from oxidation.
I explain what oxidation is in my book Dark Calories, Chapter 1, right in the beginning. It’s really fascinating, and it ties in to the history of planet Earth and how humanity came to be.
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I love your Fatburn Fix! Has helped me so so much! I have had the dreaded weight all my life – 20 or so pounds I could never shed. I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils. It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn. I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!
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Dismantles the lie
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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Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.
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Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!
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Brought seed oil issue front and center
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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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Let’s get back to busting that myth.
The Omega-6 Myth
The main Omega-6 fat in seed oil is called linoleic acid (pronounced Lin-o-lay-ic). That’s an important word to know, and I’m going to be using it a lot.
The “hateful eight” oils contain the omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid. But good foods like nuts and sesame seeds contain this particular fatty acid, too. Some people think it is bad. They say it causes swelling or sickness. But that’s like blaming a good cook for a bad meal! Linoleic acid isn’t harmful by itself. For example, sesame seed oil has omega-6, but it’s safe. So, why do people blame omega-6? They’re missing the real problem: the way oils are changed in factories.
The Real Problem: Harsh Extraction and Refining Make Oils Toxic (Damaging Fragile Fats, Including Omega-6 Linoleic Acid)
The “hateful eight” oils are made in big factories using harsh processes. The result is nothing like the nutritious seeds nature made. It’s like turning fresh fruit into dried-up, stale powder. But it’s worse—it destroys nutrients and creates toxins.
This process starts with extraction—taking the oil out of seeds—and ends with refining, which tries to clean it. Both steps make the oil harmful.
Factories heat and crush seeds to remove the oil. This heat breaks fragile fats, like the omega-6 linoleic acid, into tiny bits of poison called lipid oxidation products, or LOPs. LOPs are toxic.
LOPs are like sparks that start a fire in your body. They form because of heat and pressure, not because omega-6 linoleic acid is bad.
These tiny, toxic LOPs are the real bad guys. They multiply, increasing in numbers on their own.
Refining and Cleaning the Oil
Factories refine the oil to remove some LOPs, metals, waxes, and broken fats that make it spoil faster. Refining gets rid of bad-tasting toxins but leaves tasteless, odorless ones behind. It also removes up to 90 percent of the important nutrients, like phospholipids, lecithin, choline, and antioxidants.
More Toxins Form After Leaving the Factory
Fragile fats like omega-6 must be protected from oxygen. Nature puts abundant antioxidants in the seeds, but processing removes them. Without protection, oxygen attacks the fragile fats, and more LOPs form.
What Happens When We Eat LOPs? Inflammation Happens!
When you eat “hateful eight” oils, LOPs get into your gut and bloodstream. They cause a problem called oxidative stress, which can burn up the antioxidants your cells need to generate energy and survive. This can make your tummy hurt, which is why many people feel better after avoiding these oils.
LOPs also attack your body’s cells, triggering inflammation—a kind of swelling that makes you sick. This isn’t caused by linoleic acid but by LOPs spreading damage. LOPs mix with oxygen and attack other fats in your cells, including omega-6 and omega-3 (another good fat). This makes more LOPs, like a chain reaction.
So it’s not the linoleic acid triggering inflammation. It’s the LOPs. This is what most people who are talking about why seed oils are bad are mixed up about.
Why Sesame Seed Oil Is Okay
Sesame seed oil has lots of linoleic acid, but it’s safe because it’s usually virgin oil, meaning unrefined except for removing seed husks. It’s made gently, like squeezing fresh orange juice. This avoids creating LOPs. Sesame oil also has antioxidants that protect linoleic acid from damage. In fact, sesame oil resists LOP formation almost as well as olive oil. This is real-world evidence that linoleic acid isn’t the problem—harsh processing is.
Why Do People Blame Omega-6?
Years ago, scientists suspected that too much omega-6 compared to omega-3 could cause problems. Many experts started recommending omega-3 fish oils based on this theory. Decades later, human clinical trials have failed to show fish oils help with most of the problems tested for, including weight loss, asthma, and heart disease. (They do help with rheumatoid arthritis and dry eye.)
In spite of scant evidence, most people talking about seed oils focus on omega-6. They don’t look at the bigger picture or the details of how factory extraction and refining make oils toxic. It’s like blaming a car for crashing when the road was bad. Refining is the broken road, not omega-6.
Omega-3 in Fish Oil is Worse than Omega-6!
There’s a reason fish oils do not do very much. Fish oil is even more fragile than linoleic acid. So, some fish oil brands, those refined with harsher methods, contain unacceptable levels of toxic LOPs. If seed oils happened to be higher in omega-3 than omega-6, they would be even more toxic than they already are!
What Can You Do?
You can stay healthy by avoiding the “hateful eight.” Try these easy steps:
- Read Labels: Check food packages. Skip anything with soybean, corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, or rice bran oil.
- Pick Good Oils: Use olive oil, coconut oil, or butter for cooking. These are safer.
- Eat Real Food: Choose fruits, veggies, nuts, or meats instead of snacks with seed oils.
- Try Sesame Oil: Use unrefined sesame oil for salads or cooking. It’s a safe choice.
Why does it matter that you know this?
Knowing linoleic acid is innocent helps you in two big ways:
Benefit One: You can ignore “health experts” who say omega-6 is safe based on flawed studies. These studies often miss the truth about LOPs. I explain one flaw in this article, and more will come in future pieces!
Benefit Two: You can enjoy a varied diet. People who think linoleic acid is bad avoid healthy foods like almonds, chicken, or olive oil. That limits your choices. Knowing the truth lets you eat these foods without worry.
The idea that omega-6 linoleic acid is bad is a myth. Harsh extraction and refining of the “hateful eight” oils create toxic LOPs that cause inflammation and health problems, not linoleic acid. Refining also removes nutrients like lecithin and antioxidants. Choose unrefined oils like sesame, flax, hemp, or peanut instead. By picking better oils and real foods, you keep your body strong. Tell your friends and family the truth about seed oils. Let’s make healthier choices together!
