Seed oils are oils extracted from the seed, rather than the pulp or fruit, of a plant.
Seed oils have been accused to be the root cause of most diseases of affluence, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and liver spots.
These claims are not based on evidence, but have nevertheless become popular.
Critics cite eight oils that constitute “seed oils”: canola, corn, cottonseed, soy, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran.
Consumer vegetable oils are generally recognized as safe for human consumption by the United States FDA.
Seed oils are oils extracted from the seed, rather than the pulp or fruit, of a plant.
Industrial processes are used to extract the oil from the seed and have a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
Seed oils consist of canola, corn, cottonseed, soy, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran oils,.
They are created by industrialization processes.
Cottonseed oil was developed as the creamed shortening Crisco, being extracted and partially hydrogenated to give a solid at room temperature and thus mimic natural lard, and canned under nitrogen gas.
Seed oils critics often point to the health hazards of the solvents used in the industrial process of generating vegetable oils.
Hexane, which can be neurotoxic, is extremely effective at oil extraction, and is often implicated as a danger when consuming vegetable oils as it can be found in finished oils in trace amounts:The United States Environmental Protection Agency studied the toxicity of hexane and found in industrial processes , it was safe for consumption and did not cause nerve damage.
Oils from seeds have the lowest percentage of saturated fat, and range widely in their composition of omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9.
Sunflower, corn, and soybean oil have a higher proportion of omega-6 fatty acids than oils from fish, walnuts, flaxseed, and rapeseed (canola).
Omega-6 fatty acids constitute a growing proportion of Americans’ fat intake and have been hypothesized to contribute to several negative health effects, including inflammation and immunodeficiency.
In humans, most cardiovascular health researchers believe omega-6 fatty acids are safe and healthy.
Omega-6 fatty acids are significantly associated with a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, and the American Heart Association has stated that a reduction in omega-6 fatty acids could lead to an increase, not reduction, in cardiovascular disease.
Consumption of omega-6 fatty acids has little effect on inflammatory bowel disease.