What do glue, cleaning products, inks, varnishes, and seed oils all have in common?

They contain a specific solvent called hexane.

Hexane is used to extract oils from seeds and refine those oils.

To understand why seed oils are so prevalent in foods today, let’s take a look at why we started using seed oils in the first place.

The Turning Point

In the early 1800s, animal fats like lard (pig fat) and tallow (beef or mutton fat), were commonly used for a variety of things like soap making and cooking because they have high smoke points, making them suitable for frying and sautéing.

However, they were expensive.

During the Industrial Revolution a company manufacturing soap and candles was struggling to make ends meet, so they began searching for more cost-effective ingredients.

They discovered a way to use cottonseed oil. Cottonseed oil was a much cheaper alternative to animal fats, which made their profits go up.

They were sold, time to sell the consumer.

Through the power of marketing, they urged people to move away from buying soaps that used animal fats, claiming that cottonseed oil was a ‘cleaner’ alternative.

(Prior to using cotton seed oil in soaps, they were used as lubricants for machinery and equipment.)

The company was booming from their soap-making profits and they wanted to expand so they decided to experiment with using seed oils for cooking.

Crisco was born.

The name crisco is short for crystalized cottonseed oil.

^{"What was garbage in 1860}

^{was fertilizer in 1870,}

^{cattle feed in 1880,}

^{and table food and many things else in 1890."}

^{— Popular Science, on cottonseed oil.}

The success with cottonseed oil led to the production of many other seed oils.

Much like their uses, the classification of seed oils has also evolved over time.

They transitioned from being referred to as Toxic Industrial Waste to Industrial Seed Oils, then to Vegetable Oils, and finally to what we know them as today: Seed Oils.

The Most Commonly Used Seed Oils:

• Cottonseed

• Corn

• Soy Bean

• Canola/Rapeseed

• Safflower

• Sunflower

• Grape-seed

• Rice Bran

Research continues to unveil how seed oils are the cause of so many ailments.

These oils contain toxins like Erucic acid and Gossypol, which was once considered as a potential male contraceptive drug.

Seed oils are oxidized from exposure to high heat and pressure, making them extremely inflammatory.

Corn, prior to undergoing the extraction process, is genetically modified and heavily sprayed with glyphosate (a.k.a Roundup).

(Even the world health organization classifies glyphosate as a carcinogen.)

The following article states seed oils are the leading cause of macular degeneration.

Seed oils have also been linked to infertility.

The polyunsaturated fats contained in seed oils turns into a varnish-like substance in the intestines.

The list can go on and on — and on.

Often times, seed oils are referred to as vegetable oils, but do not be fooled, these oils are not made from vegetables, they are made from seeds and not vegetable seeds.

These oils are not natural like animal fats, they must go through extensive processing to make them consumable. As a result, producing all sorts of toxins.

These toxins end up being stored in all of our tissues and even in our brain.

In the food industry, seed oils are commonly referred to as RBD oils — refined bleached and deodorized, to cover up their harsh and bitter flavors.

Many of these oils even contain high amounts of trans fats.

In 2004 Crisco changed its recipe, cutting the amount of trans fats in one serving to less than 0.5 grams. That allowed Crisco's label to state that it contains zero trans fats.

Still in the US today, if a food has less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving, the food label can read 0 grams trans fats.

It is also possible that products made before the FDA ban of artificial trans fats (in 2015) might still be found on grocery store shelves, so check to see if a food's ingredient list says partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

The main issue with seed oils is that they are everywhere and in almost anything processed.

Even foods claiming to be ‘health foods’.

Seed oils have replaced dietary fats in most of our foods within the last 40 years.

They are in products you would not consider, like toothpaste.

They are even in most baby formulas.

So are there any oils that are safe to consume?

The answer is, yes:

• Olive oil

• Avocado oil

• Coconut oil

These oils have many beneficial properties, but that is a different article for a different day.

The takeaway:

Limit seed oils as much as possible.

What you eat today may not directly affect you tomorrow but consider the compounding effect over time.