Take a look at this chart. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
In case you aren’t sure what you’re looking at, this is a chart that shows average annual consumption of various fats for the period of 1909 to 2009.
One thing that stands out is the fact that, since the beginning of the 1970s, vegetable fats (oils, shortening, and margarine) have increased significantly, and animal fats (butter and lard) have decreased also dramatically.
Now take a look at this chart.
Notice anything similar between the two charts?
How about this one, too.
Vegetable oils were invented in the early to mid 20th century (depending on the oil), and they made a pretty big splash as a way to use excess agricultural products (corn, soy, and others) that would otherwise have gone to waste. They were cheap to make and easy to sell. And when the chemical companies zapped them with massive amounts of hydrogen atoms, they became shortening and margarine.
They are also horrible for your body.
Now, before anyone accuses me of the classic post hoc fallacy, let me be clear, just because these three charts show a possible correlation between the use of vegetable oils and the increase of obesity and diabetes does not make it so. If fact, it’s pretty well documented that the removal of fats and substitution of those fats with sugars and other refined and processed carbs is the real culprit.
However, the real thing I want to draw your attention to is not the increase in the use of vegetable oils, but the decrease in butter and lard, the good fats.
The removal of these gorgeous fats from our Standard American Diet (SAD) was a harbinger of a movement that set healthy nutrition back several decades. Animal fats, coconut oil, palm oil, and butter have been shown to reduce blood triglycerides, stabilize hormone levels, decrease fat absorption, and help tremendously with cholesterol.
Vegetable oils are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, too many, actually. Omega-6 is notorious for causing inflammation. Omega-3 fats (from fish and some nuts) are known for reducing inflammation and helping reduce vascular illness. Historically, native populations that have not been influenced by a Western diet (sugar, flour, white rice, molasses, vegetable oils, etc.), have had a diet with a ratio 1:1 Omega-6 to Omega-3. It’s safe to extrapolate that most cultures, before the advent of processed foods, had a similar ratio. The current ratio for SAD folks is closer to 20:1 Omega-6 to Omega-3. That’s 20 times the amount of a particular nutrient than we need. Also, in the past 30 years, as the charts show, the consumption of vegetable oils (soybean oil in particular) has increased faster than any other FOOD. Not “oil”, but “food”. Think about that. Our consumption of soybean oil has increased faster than any other FOOD you can see in any grocery store in any city in the United States. That’s a lot of soybean oil.
And as the two bottom charts indicate, the rates of some diseases have also increased significantly.
In fact, all these known inflammatory diseases have increased at statistically higher rates that previous decades (when we didn’t eat vegetable oil, but we ate butter, lard, tallow, and other good fats.
- Cardiovascular disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
- Metabolic syndrome
- Irritable bowel syndrome & inflammatory bowel disease
- Macular degeneration
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Psychiatric disorders
- Autoimmune diseases
One last chart:
That chart sells my point a little better. It shows a statistically relevant correlation between the amount of Omega-6 in body tissue and the number of deaths from coronary heart disease. That’s hard to ignore.
So my suggestion to you is to get rid of all the vegetable oils (except olive oil…that’s a good one), and go back to your roots. If you aren’t already, start using butter, coconut oil, and any and all of the other good fats.
You’ll feel better, because you’ll be healthier.