Seed oils come from seeds like soybean, canola, corn and are often refined, unlike extra virgin olive oil.
Their fatty acid profiles vary; many seed oils are high in polyunsaturated linoleic acid while olive and avocado are high in monounsaturated oleic acid.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Choose Linoleic-Rich Oils To Lower LDL
Use polyunsaturated-rich seed oils to lower LDL cholesterol if you have high LDL.
Clinical trials show linoleic acid reduces LDL and does not increase inflammation in humans.
insights INSIGHT
Omega-6 Fear Lacks Human Evidence
The omega-6/omega-3 inflammation theory exists but human trials don't support linoleic acid causing inflammation.
Benefit of linoleic acid lowering LDL outweighs the unproven inflammation risk in humans.
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Seed oils have become a target of wellness influencers and high-profile public officials. They say that these widely used and relatively inexpensive oils, which include canola, soybean and sunflower oil, are toxic. But do we really need to panic? Host Kendra Pierre-Louis speaks with food science expert Eric Decker to unpack what seed oils actually are, how their fats compare with those from other sources and whether claims about their toxicity hold up to scientific scrutiny.
E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
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Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
