Food For Thought: The Bad Seed

Misinformation Weather

William Shakespeare penned his famous play Richard III  (who, by the way got a lot of bad Tudor press) somewhere between 1592 and 1594, in which he wrote the much-quoted line: “Now is the winter of our discontent.” A phrase that feels apt for our current moment—except I’d amend it slightly: Now is the winter of our misinformation. And on that subject there is certainly plenty of food for thought. Today I want to look not at politics or the environment but at something closer to the plate: the great seed oil controversy.

My Instagram and Facebook feeds have been especially eager to rescue me from the “toxicity” of plant-based oils such as sunflower, corn, rapeseed (marketed as canola in its GMO and non-GMO versions), peanut, safflower, and soybean. While this is a hot topic in the U.S., it’s curiously absent in the EU. Since I use sunflower seed oil  along with olive oil, and have happily used walnut and hazelnut oils as condiments for years—I wondered why seed oils have become such a noisy health issue south of the 49th parallel.

Meat & Maybe Potatoes

The denigration of seed oils really took off in the early 2000s with the popularity of the Paleo Diet. According to the Mayo Clinic (my sturdy and unflappable source for medical sanity), the Paleo Diet pioneered by Mark Sisson, who also marketed Paleo-branded food products on his now-defunct website is:

“An eating plan based on foods humans might have eaten during the Paleolithic Era, roughly 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. A modern paleo diet includes fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds—foods available through hunting and gathering. It excludes foods that became common with farming about 10,000 years ago, including grains, legumes, and dairy products.”

While Sisson promoted eating nuts and seeds, he drew the line at oils produced from them. He also raised alarms about ultra-processed foods, which often contain industrially extracted seed oils—along with eyebrow-raising amounts of salt, sugar, trans fats, and unpronounceable additives. His message was amplified by social media, celebrity endorsements, and podcasts. Perhaps the most famous is Joe Rogan’s interview with Paul Saladino, a psychiatrist-turned-wellness influencer who argued further that seed oils are inherently toxic.

The toxicity argument has two main prongs:

1. Fatty acid ratios. Seed oils tend to contain higher amounts of omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid) compared with omega-3s. Both are polyunsaturated fats essential to human health, since our bodies can’t produce them. But wellness influencers warn that omega-6 can convert to arachidonic acid, which in excess may contribute to inflammation—linked to arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. They claim an “ideal” omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is 1:1 (with 4:1 deemed acceptable). Most U.S. diets come in closer to 15:1 or even 20:1. Pretty scary, if taken at face value.

2. Industrial processing. Critics argue that refining, bleaching, and deodorizing seed oils produce harmful byproducts, especially when the oils are heated.

Let’s look at the history. Influencers often cite two mid-20th-century studies: the Minnesota Coronary Experiment (MCE) and the Sydney Diet Heart Study (SDHS). Both focused on cholesterol rather than overall health outcomes and were riddled with flaws: high dropout rates, reliance on margarines containing trans fats, failure to account for lifestyle factors like smoking, and use of unstable oils that may have oxidized. These limitations make their results shaky at best. More importantly, nutrition science has moved on. Real scientists now rely on meta-analyses of dozens of higher-quality trials across multiple populations. And the consensus from modern, well-designed clinical studies? The fears about seed oil toxicity simply don’t hold up.

By contrast, the consistent use of beef tallow, lard, and other animal fats (yes, including butter—one of my favorites) has been shown to raise cholesterol levels in ways that increase cardiovascular risk. A widely cited example is the 2020 Cochrane Review, which analyzed 15 randomized controlled trials with over 56,000 participants. It found a 21% reduction in cardiovascular “events” when saturated fats were replaced with a mix of unsaturated fats, including seed and other plant oils.

Unfortunately, careful long-term studies written in dry scientific prose can’t compete with slick videos, controversial pronouncements, and enviable six-packs. Clickbait is easier to digest than data.

Now, I do agree with the influencers on one point: the massive rise in American consumption of ultra-processed foods is alarming. According to the CDC, over 60% of calories consumed by children (ages 1–18) and more than 50% for adults now come from ultra-processed products. Rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease reflect this trend. And yes, industrial-scale production of corn and soybean oil raises plenty of environmental and agricultural concerns. But to single out seed oils as the toxic trigger in processed foods feels like a stretch—unless, of course, you happen to be selling an alternative diet, product, or book.

Of course, ultra-processed foods are a rich brew of health hazards. Beyond seed oils, they come loaded with staggering amounts of sodium, added sugars, hydrogenated fats, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and stabilizers. All of these have been linked to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic disease. Yet curiously, wellness influencers rarely dwell on those very real culprits Because it’s hard to build a viral post around “don’t eat too much salt and sugar.”  They are both so yesterday… You sound like your mother or your doctor. Demonizing a single villain—in this case, seed oils—makes for an intriguing, scarier narrative, and a far easier product pitch.

And speaking of diet pivots: Mark Sisson himself has backed away from his once hard-core carnivore leanings “due to digestive issues” and now promotes a new “Carniflex” plan that includes plant foods, pasta, and dairy. Paul Saladino, meanwhile, has admitted that his strict carnivore regimen lowered his testosterone, caused heart palpitations, sleep disturbances, and muscle cramps.  So even these photogenic gurus evolve when their theories meet their bodies. I think I’ll stick with with the tenets of the Mediterranean Diet

Finally, my unscientific confession: while I happily cook with olive oil and seed oils, nothing beats French fries made in beef tallow (with just a touch of bacon grease). They are superb. I also love a proper Southern biscuit made with lard—never Crisco. And I’m firmly with Julia Child, who reminded us that “with enough butter, anything is good.” She also counseled, wisely, that if you’re afraid of butter, “use cream,” and most importantly: “Everything in moderation—including moderation.”