Seed Oils & Heart Disease: Oxidized LDL, Cholesterol, Fat & Cardiology | Tucker Goodrich | 244

Aug 7, 2025

Tucker Goodrich, an engineer and independent researcher dedicated to nutrition and metabolic health, dives deep into the controversial impacts of seed oils and polyunsaturated fats. He critiques the traditional view linking high LDL cholesterol to heart disease, arguing that oxidized LDL from seed oils drives plaque formation and inflammation instead. The conversation touches on the flawed reliance on animal studies and highlights how reducing seed oil intake can be more beneficial than merely lowering cholesterol. Historical dietary patterns and their health impacts are also key topics in this insightful discussion.

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INSIGHT

What Are Atherosclerosis Plaques?

Atherosclerosis plaques contain cholesterol and fats including dead and inflamed cells.
Macrophages, white blood cells, ingest damaged fat and cholesterol causing inflammation and plaque.

INSIGHT

Dietary Cholesterol's Limited Role

Dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis in humans.
Rabbits and chickens differ; they exhibit atherosclerosis when fed cholesterol unlike humans.

INSIGHT

LDL Levels & Heart Disease Complexity

LDL particles mostly contain fats rather than cholesterol.
LDL levels poorly predict heart disease; oxLDL is more important for pathology.

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Overview and alternative interpretation to the mainstream view on how dietary fat and cholesterol relate to cardiovascular disease.

Episode Summary: Tucker Goodrich is an engineer by training who has become a prominent independent researcher and blogger on nutrition and metabolic health, focusing on the harms of seed oils and polyunsaturated fats.

About the guest: Nick Jikomes and Tucker Goodrich explore atherosclerosis and heart disease, critiquing the standard model that blames high LDL cholesterol while highlighting how oxidized LDL—driven by dietary linoleic acid from seed oils—plays a key role in plaque formation and inflammation; they discuss historical shifts in heart disease rates, genetic factors like familial hypercholesterolemia, the limitations of animal studies, and why reducing seed oil intake could prevent issues more effectively than just lowering cholesterol.

Discussion Points:

Atherosclerosis involves plaque buildup in arteries, often leading to heart attacks, but plaques contain oxidized fats and cholesterol, not just native cholesterol.
Dietary cholesterol has little impact on blood levels or heart disease in humans, unlike in rabbits used in many studies.
High LDL may not be inherently bad; oxidized LDL from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like linoleic acid causes macrophages to overeat and form harmful foam cells.
Familial hypercholesterolemia patients only show higher heart disease rates in modern, industrial diets high in seed oils, not historically.
Populations like the Kitavans and Tsimané have high apoB but no heart disease on traditional diets low in industrial foods.
Fried foods are oxidized seed oils, explaining why they're unhealthy despite omega-6 fats being labeled "heart-healthy."
Omega-3 fats can displace omega-6 in cells, reducing oxidation risk.

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