July 31, 2025 • 51 mins
In this episode of The Aging Well Podcast, Dr. Jeff Armstrong and Corbin Bruton explore one of the most debated topics in modern nutrition: the role of fats in our health and longevity. From the controversy surrounding seed oils to the ongoing debate about saturated fat, this episode seeks to bring clarity to a conversation often clouded by conflicting advice and outdated dietary guidelines.Drawing on evidence from metabolic health research, historical dietary shifts, and real-world examples, Jeff and Corbin examine how different fats influence inflammation, heart health, and the aging process. With curiosity and a shared commitment to practical wellness, they ask the critical questions many listeners are wondering: Which fats support healthy aging—and which may be undermining it?If you've ever felt confused about what oils to cook with, how much saturated fat is too much, or whether "heart-healthy" really means healthy, this episode offers the context and clarity you need to make more informed, confident choices.Takeaways• Aging well is more about living better than living longer.• Seed oils have been vilified by social media influencers.• Inflammation is a complex issue influenced by diet.• Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for reducing inflammation.• The American diet is heavily reliant on processed foods.• Balancing omega-3 and omega-6 intake is crucial for health.• Cooking methods can significantly impact the healthiness of oils.• Quality of oils matters; not all oils are created equal.Please, support The Aging Well Podcast by hitting the ‘like’ button, subscribing/following the podcast, sharing with a friend, and….BUY the products you need to… age well from our trusted affiliates and support the mission of The Aging Well Podcast*.The Aging Well Podcast merchandise | Show how you are aging well | Use the promo code AGING WELL for free shipping on orders over $75 | https://theagingwellpodcast-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/AGINGWELLRebalance Health | products created by hormone health experts to lower cortisol, improve sleep, and minimize the impact of stress on the body and mind | Use promo code AGINGWELL for 20% discount at https://rebalancehealth.comProlon | The Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) is a revolutionary five-day nutrition program scientifically formulated to mimic the effects of a prolonged water fast while still allowing nourishment - supporting the benefits of fasting without the challenges and risks that come from water-only fasts. | For the best available discount always use this link: https://prolonlife.com/theagingwellpodcast
L-Nutra Health | The medical division of L-Nutra, focused on helping people manage and potentially reverse chronic health conditions, like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, insulin resistance, and obesity, using personalized, lifestyle-based programs grounded in evidence, not prescriptions. | Use this link: https://l-nutrahealth.com/theagingwellpodcastThrive25—Your personal longevity advisor | https://www.thrive25.com/early-access?via=william-jeffreyFusionary Formulas | Combining Ayurvedic wisdom with Western science for optimal health support. | 15% off Code: AGINGWELL | https://fusionaryformulas.com/Jigsaw Health | Trusted supplements. “It’s fun to feel good.” | Click the following link for 10% off: https://www.jigsawhealth.com/?rfsn=8710089.1dddcf3&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=8710089.1dddcf3Auro Wellness | Glutaryl—Antioxidant spray that delivers high doses of glutathione (“Master Antioxidant”) | 10% off Code: AGINGWELL at https://aurowellness.com/?ref=1957Dr Lewis Nutrition | Fight neurodegeneration and cognitive decline with Daily Brain Care by Dr Lewis Nutrition—a proven daily formula designed to protect and restore brain function. | 10% off code: AGINGWELL or use the link: https://drlewisnutrition.com/AGINGWELL*We receive co
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Seed oils have become one of themost controversial ingredients
in modern nutrition, demonized by influencers, questioned by
headlines, and even replaced by butter and beef tallow at some
fast food chains. But what does the actual science
say? Welcome to the Aging Well
podcast where we explore the science stories and strategies
behind living a longer, healthier and more purposeful
(00:23):
life. I am your host Doctor Jeff
Armstrong with my Co host CorbinBruton.
In this episode we explore the seed oil backlash, the evolving
science around fats, and what really matters when it comes to
your health and aging well. The Aging Well podcast is for
general informational purposes only and does not constitute the
(00:46):
practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare
services, including the giving of medical or mental health
advice. Doctor Armstrong is a PhD
exercise physiologist and no Doctor sharp patient
relationship is suggested. The use of information on this
podcast or materials linked fromthis podcast is at the user's
(01:07):
own risk. The content of this podcast is
not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment. Users should not disregard or
delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition
they may have and should seek the assistance of their
healthcare professionals for anysuch conditions.
Hey Doctor Armstrong, recently there's been a lot of chatter
(01:29):
online and even policy shifts around seed oil.
What do you think is driving this controversy?
It's a good question. I think there's a lot of things
that are really driving it. One is you have a lot of these
social media influencers and Wellness figures that have on
one hand vilified the seed oils,calling them toxic.
And then on the other hand, you have people that are really in
(01:52):
support of it and there's a pretty decent balance in terms
of the literature that is out there.
You see political figures like Health and Human Services
Secretary Robert Kennedy Junior,He's really amplified this
message. He's pretty anti seed oils.
And in turn, you're starting to see a lot of restaurants and one
(02:14):
in particular was Steak and Shake that recently moved back
to using butter and beef tallow in starting to branding it as
taking back health. And so there's a lot of
controversy out there and it's really an issue that's less
about evidence and more about what's become more of a cultural
sediment. You know, there's a lot of
(02:36):
distrust in institutions. We're also seeing a lot of
dietary nostalgia where people are kind of pushing back against
many of the dietary changes thatwe've seen over the last several
decades. What are your thoughts on what's
going on? Well, I, I actually am a
believer. You can call me a conspiracy
theorist or what not, but I I dobelieve that there are a lot of
(03:01):
seed oils that we have in our lives that do.
Can be depremental when it hits a
(03:35):
certain temperature. Like you're not supposed to cook
with olive oil at a certain temperature because the thermal
threshold isn't that high. That's really true for all oils.
You know, it's and that's what we want to dive into today is a
little bit more the science behind these arguments because
again, a lot of this is based onemotions and like you said, you
(03:57):
know, conspiracy theory. I mean, there's it's important
for our listeners, our viewers and and S S host to be
addressing this scientifically and addressing it from the
evidence that's out there and from a regional reasonable
approach to what is healthy and what is practical for aging well
(04:20):
all. Right man.
Well, before we get too far intothe weeds, can you explain what
seed oils are and how they differ from other oils?
Yeah. So I mean, obviously seed oils
come from plants and we see themcoming from plants like
soybeans, corn, sunflower, canola oil.
Those are all considered to be seed oils.
These are oils that are rich in polyunsaturated fats, so we see
(04:45):
them being especially heavy in the Omega 6 fatty acids like
linoleic acid. And we'll get into a little bit
more about Omega 6 versus omega-3 and where that kind of
factors into the whole argument.But seed oils have a high
preference for cooking oils, youknow, so seed oils have a high
(05:07):
smoking point. Yeah, you mentioned olive oil
not being good for cooking. I don't think that's really a
scientific study. That's just a practical cooking
approach that most chefs will tell you that, you know, you're
not going to be frying things inolive oil.
It's just not an appropriate oilfor frying things in.
Frying requires a very high heat.
(05:29):
So when we have high heat cooking methods like frying,
sauteing, roasting, seed oils are more appropriate for this
because they're able to add flavor and richness to the
dishes. Now, again, that doesn't mean
that they're healthy. And I would, you know, argue
early on in today's conversationthat we should be trying to
avoid fried foods. And if we're avoiding fried
(05:53):
foods and the whole argument about whether to fry in beef
tallow or corn oil is no longer really an argument because we're
eating healthier by eating baked, broiled, those kinds of
meats and foods instead of frying things, you know, get an
air fryer to make your French fries.
And you don't have a problem there as well.
(06:16):
I would probably make the argument should you be eating
French fries in the 1st place. So there's different from fruit
based oils like olive oil and avocado oil and more tropical
oils like coconut, which by the way, coconut oil is a high
saturated fat. But again, these are typically
used in cooking oils. They're a little bit better for
salad dressings, which again, I would argue probably olive oil
(06:39):
is a little bit better when you get into something that's not
being cooked. So it's salad dressings.
And I think the big issue when we start looking at the seed
oils is how they are used in processed foods and and the
issues that come along with that.
OK, let's just dive right in. Let's let's, let's talk some
more because there are a lot of critics that often say that seed
(07:03):
oils are inflammatory or unnatural.
What? What the heck's going on there?
Is this scientific base or is this is this just an opinion
bias, you know? Well, that's a challenge because
when you look at the evidence, you know, it's on both sides of
the argument and there's not anysolid evidence to support report
(07:24):
that it's necessarily inflammatory.
The whole idea of it being unnatural.
I mean, these are natural oils. They're in in they're in foods.
It's not like they're being processed in a made in a lab
might be processed kind of in a laboratory.
And then there are, you know, a little bit different processes
that are involved in extracting the oil from the the vegetable
(07:46):
or the plant base. But let's first kind of look at
what linoleic acid is. That is the acid that is in seed
oils. This can convert to arachidonic
acid, which is involved in inflammation.
And it's important to realize too, that inflammation is a very
(08:07):
broad term. There's inflammation that is
essential for tissue repair, theacute inflammation that you
know, we find in muscle damage that occurs with exercise, you
know, so that needs to be repaired.
Will arachidonic acid plays a very critical role in that in
terms of producing prostaglandins that are both pro
(08:28):
inflammatory and anti-inflammatory.
And so they kind of balance it'sit's a very important process
for tissue repair and muscle hypertrophy.
So arachidonic acid is necessaryin the body in certain
situations. Where it becomes more of an
issue is where it is more we have the more chronic
(08:49):
inflammation and that's where some of the beliefs that
linoleic oil, linoleic acid and seed oils can have an effect of
increasing our chronic inflammation.
The thing to consider, though, is that how that is measured is
a bit questionable. I've seen, you know, scientists
that have talked about how, you know, we measure it in the
(09:12):
blood, but we don't really measure it in the tissue.
And it's a very hard thing to kind of wrap our heads around.
But the most important thing to really consider is that the
conversion of linoleic acid to arachidonic acid is really
minimal. And most of the arachidonic acid
that comes is going to come fromanimal products, not seed oils,
(09:35):
which is quite interesting, you know, when we really are kind of
pushing that whole inflammation thing, you know.
So part of the inflammation argument might be, you know, the
amount of fat in in general thatwe are having in our diets.
And there have been multiple studies that showed that
linoleic acid doesn't significantly increase
inflammatory markers and in somecases may even show
(09:58):
anti-inflammatory markers. So one of the real issues that
needs to be talked about is not so much about what's in the oil,
you know, whether there's a Mega6 or Mega 3 or whatever.
The real issue is probably that we have an imbalance in too many
Omega sixes and too few Omega threes.
(10:19):
You know, when you look at the studies, the thing that really
sways whether Omega sixes are damaging or beneficial is
looking at it in respect to the amount of Omega threes that we
were actually getting in the diet.
As Omega threes and Omega 6 fatty acids are both essential
polyunsaturated fats, this meansthat our bodies can't produce
(10:42):
them. So we need to get them in our
diet. And they differ primarily in
their chemical structure and their effects on the body.
So we know that Omega threes arepretty much known for their
anti-inflammatory properties. They're well known to have
benefits, benefits for health and for the heart and brain
health. But Omega 6 is though also
(11:07):
essential, can produce more of apro inflammatory effect when
they're in excess and so that may contribute to health issues
if they're not balanced for appropriately with Omega threes.
So what I'm thinking right now is I'm recalling back when we
interviewed Dr. Farrow as far asalmost anything we eat has an
(11:30):
impact on our body. Now we may not recognize it, but
there is something that is happening on a lower, lower
cellular level that there could be inflammation there.
Do you think that the seed oils have more of an impact on that
micro on that micro cellular inflammation then say beef
(11:53):
tallow or ghee would? I'm not really following your
questioning there. You know how they're how you're
saying that there's a lot of literature out there, but
there's there's no evidence thatseed really impacts or causes
inflammation. No, there's evidence that it
does, but there's also evidence that it doesn't.
(12:14):
What I said was it really depends a lot on that balance
with the Omega threes. When you look at the literature,
and the literature is not entirely complete.
It's been, you know, decades of studies that have not been
really well formulated, well designed.
And so we're basing a lot of this decision off of poor
(12:36):
information. And the same goes for animal
fats. I mean, you look at nutritional
science studies, they're very susceptible to bias, whether
intentional or not. If the studies are not really,
really well designed and we're not measuring what we intend to
be measuring, or, you know, we're measuring on one hand what
(12:58):
we want to measure, but the other side isn't quite getting a
fair analysis, then it really leaves us kind of with a lack of
information. Well, and then we've also, we've
talked about the importance of Omega threes on this podcast.
We actually had a specialist that had come on and they talked
about the benefits of supplementing Omega threes and
(13:19):
how just take Omega threes and you can even watch your liver
heal itself. So there are a lot of benefits
of taking Omega threes, but I don't know if they'll
counterbalance the this the seedoil, you know, even.
If why not? Proper.
I don't know. I just I don't know.
I don't have enough information on that.
(13:41):
I just I feel. Like, see, that's, that's the,
the problem is we're basing a lot of these decisions on not
having enough information. Go to totally.
And I think that's why we're this is a good conversation have
it's a hot topic right now. And I think if we could provide
information to individuals this they can, we can either spark
something in them to do their own research or hopefully we can
(14:03):
provide as a much a better approach on the the topic, you
know? OK, well, let's kind of keep
moving forward because again, I,I think it's important that we,
we give it a balanced analysis of really what is going on.
And I, I would probably make an argument as well that the whole
idea of supplementing Omega threes is a little bit over the
(14:27):
top as well, especially because we, we can get these oils
through our natural foods that we eat.
And so it's much more about eating a diet that is going to
be more balanced in regards to Omega threes and Omega sixes as
opposed to taking a pill. Because most of the supplements
that are out there when it comesto Omega threes are not really
(14:51):
that valuable because they're capsules that are sitting on a
shelf for a long period of time are much more likely to get
rancid. They're much more likely to lose
their effectiveness over time. And for many people who are
spending a lot of money on a Mega 3 supplementation, if
they're not buying the right product, they're wasting a lot
of money. And again, we can get these oils
(15:13):
through our diet. Totally.
If you're enjoying the Aging Well podcast, be sure to like,
subscribe or follow on your favorite platform so you will
never miss an episode. And if you find our
conversations helpful, please share the podcast with a friend
because aging is something we'reall doing and we're better at
doing it together. And support our guests in this
podcast financially by visiting the affiliate links in the
(15:34):
episode description below and use the links or codes provided
for discounts on products we have vetted and feel comfortable
recommending to our valued viewers and listeners.
Thank you. And now back to the podcast.
Yeah, well, almost. I feel like we're getting too
much of those oils because, you know, living in a western
culture where it's you don't always have the luxury of, you
(15:58):
know, cooking your meals. Now, most of us will most of us
will meal prep, but some people just want to grab and go.
And even those healthy option ofthose granola bars even have
seed oil. And then so I just part of me
thinks I feel like we're taking in way too much of the seed oil,
the seed oil intake versus the omega-3 intake doesn't really
(16:20):
balance each other out. Well, again, that that's a diet
issue, not necessarily an issue of the type of the oil.
It's, it's what kind of foods are we eating?
And, you know, how are these things processed?
And yeah, how much fat are we actually consuming in our diet?
And when are we consuming that fat in?
Gotcha. OK.
So what about the processing concerns?
(16:43):
You know, people are worried about the hexane and refining.
What would you say about that? For those that might not know
what hexane is, it's basically what is used in the oil
extraction. So it's a little bit different
when we got the seed oils. You can't just squeeze a seed
and get the oil out. You know, it's an olive,
avocado. You're basically pressing the
(17:05):
fruit and getting that oil out. Hexane is a process that's used
in oil extraction that generallyit only present maybe a small
trace of non-toxic amounts. So it's what is used in the
processing is probably lower than we're breathing in on a
daily process. Now, one hand, you know, what
(17:27):
does processing does is it allows for an improved shelf
life and again, improving the smoking point so that they're
better for frying and cooking. But yes, it does strip some of
the nutrients. There are some cold pressed
options that are available for some of these oils, but that
generally makes the oil much more expensive and it also makes
it less heat stable. So this is a real concern, but I
(17:52):
think to a greater extent it is very much overstated.
What are your thoughts? I just think it's really weird
with like canola oil is vegetable oil and I don't know
that many vegetables that have oil in them.
Like when I eat, when I when I think oil definitely from
peanuts. You can.
(18:12):
You can feel it on your fingers.I don't.
I don't really know. So if if they don't have oil,
then where they get where are they extracting them?
If it if the plant itself does not have the oil, what do you
think? It just magically appears, dude,
come on. I don't know if they can extract
the oil. There is oil in it.
I mean, corn has oil, you know, a lot of vegetable soybean.
(18:35):
So there, there are oils that just need to be extracted, you
know, so there is a certain amount of fat in foods that we
eat. And that's another reason, you
know, it's like if I can eat thevegetable and that oil is in it,
then am I not getting the Omega sixes, Omega threes that my body
might need to be able to make your arachidonic acid or
(18:56):
linoleic acid. Yeah, you're probably also
getting more, you know, vitaminsand minerals to actually absorb
everything as well. So you're not just getting the
concentration of that Omega 6. You know, you're probably
getting everything. Like you were saying, if you're
just eating a more natural way and you're eating the vegetable
(19:17):
by itself, it's going to be way better than the actual oil,
right? So I guess what I want to know
is, does the science support thehealth claims against seed oil?
I think I kind of mentioned thisa little bit earlier, that there
is decades of research that has shown that replacing saturated
fats with unsaturated fats like those in seed oils can lower LDL
(19:41):
cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.
And the American Heart Association for many, many
decades has recommended more polyunsaturated fats as opposed
to saturated fats. There have been meta analysis
that have been done that have shown.
About a 30% reduction in heart disease, which is comparable to
(20:06):
statins. But again, I you know, with that
argument that it's comparable tostatins, you know, when you
really look at the statin evidence, how much the statins
really reduce heart disease is pretty minimal as well.
I think I heard a statistic thatstatins maybe add 3 days to your
life if you're prescribed statins.
So again it's it is a rather insignificant difference.
(20:30):
I think there's a many other factors in variables that
contribute to heart disease and our risk of heart disease and
it's the combination as we'll talk about it, the oils with the
other products that we are consuming them with.
But there is a lot of newer research that is exploring
saturated fat in Whole Foods. But because there's research
(20:51):
being done and there is some evidence one way or the other,
this doesn't necessarily mean that seed oils are harmful.
And I think it's important for us, you know, as a responsible
scientists and educators, that we emphasize that demonizing 1
ingredient really oversimplifiesthe complexity, complexity of
(21:13):
dietary patterns. You know, how, what are we
eating? Changing one small thing can
have some effect, but it's really not that big of effect if
there's all these other negativefactors in our diet.
And so we really need to consider the broader sense of
how seed oils fit into the Western, you know, the American
(21:34):
diet. So with the crave of, you know,
social media and all these trends and there's a lot of a
lot of people we even respect, you know, that say that seed
oil's bad. It's not necessarily seed oils
are evil per SE, but it's more of the processed food that
(21:54):
they're in. Is that a fairpoint?
Yeah, the processed food they'rein or how we're using them in
our diets. You know, if we're frying a lot
of food and we're getting a lot of Omega sixes because we're
using the seed oils, then that throws that balance out between
the Omega threes and the Omega sixes.
We're getting extra amount of fat in the diet.
(22:15):
We're typically consuming it along with carbs that are not
the healthiest of carbs. You know how often you have
people frying broccoli? I don't know of any unless
you're breading it and all that.And then you're just again,
you're making the food worse by,you know, adding a lot of other
things to it. Now, if you're occasionally
(22:35):
using a little bit of vegetable oil to say stir fry vegetables,
you know, if you're going to stir fry, you need, you need a
certain amount of oil in that tokeep it from sticking to the
pan. You know, you're using a limited
amount and using it in the rightcircumstances is probably not
that harmful to our health. It's where we are consuming
(22:56):
massive amounts of it that make it unhealthy.
And even if we make the argumentthat, you know, animal fats are
the healthier of fats to go withconsuming large amounts of
animal fat, you know, with the exception of being in a
ketogenic diet where you're making probably healthier fat
choices, it's it's not a healthyapproach to living.
(23:18):
You know, we're better off eating more vegetables that are
not fried, maybe steamed, as opposed to having an argument
whether or not we should be cooking those vegetables in seed
oil or animal fat. So how would you explain, say
you and your wife, do you guys go out for a date night and
you're going to either a Chineseor Japanese restaurant where
(23:42):
they're utilizing a lot of stir fry, They're using that sesame
oil. And then, oh man, you're eating
it. Everything's good.
And then the next morning you wake up and you're like, dude, I
am swollen. I'm so puffy.
How would you explain that effect?
Well, it doesn't happen to me, so no, I don't get all puffy
(24:04):
eating Chinese food. And so maybe, you know, again,
this is where when we're making decisions about dietary science,
we have to factor in the individual.
You know, I was listening to a episode of the Huberman and
Huberman's podcast recently, hada nutritionist on there and he
(24:25):
was a nutritional scientist and he was talking about the studies
that were done. In so many of these studies,
when they are really well constructed, you're not going to
see any results because you havepeople who are going to respond
one way and people who are goingto respond the other way just
because that's how their systemsare.
(24:46):
Some of that might go into our genetics or epigenetics.
Some of it might just be our owndietary history.
Like for myself, if I eat Chinese food, it's not that I'm
going to get all bloated and puffy and everything from eating
it. I am going to have a GI response
that is rather quick and it's generally much more associated
(25:10):
with the pork products that are cooked along with the foods that
I might be eating. And so everybody is an end of 1
when it comes to nutritional science.
And you may have somebody you put on a certain diet, they're
going to gain weight, somebody else is going to lose weight.
You may have somebody who has a very negative response to seed
(25:32):
oils, other people that maybe don't.
So our bodies respond differently.
Now, if you have an inflammatorytype of disease or if you are,
you know, under conditions of a lot of stress, which a lot of
Americans are, and chronic stress is elevating inflammation
in our body, then limiting thoseseed oils is going to be much
(25:54):
more critical than somebody who doesn't have those issues.
And so not all oils are the same, just like not every
individual that's consuming thatoil is going to be the same.
And we have to also consider thecircumstances under which we are
consuming the oils, how is it being used, how much are we
using and that kind of stuff. I'm.
(26:14):
Glad you mentioned that all oilsare the same and not at all
specific oils are the same. I just found out that there's a,
there's some weird marketing scheme in America that depending
on what olive oil brand you get,you may not be getting pure
olive oil. You may just be getting olive
(26:35):
oil that's like cut with canola oil, or you may be getting olive
oil that's, that has a differenttype of seed oil in it.
And the best approach is to lookfor the olive oils that are in
the glass bottles that have the Italian flag on there that
apparently is a pure form of olive oil.
(26:57):
So I don't know. I don't, I don't know if that's
a marketing scheme. I don't know if that's real,
but. It's not a marketing scheme,
that's just a, you know, dishonesty scheme amongst
manufacturers. And so, you know, it's a really,
it's just knowing the brands you're buying looking for really
that extra virgin olive oil. I don't know that it makes a
(27:19):
difference whether it's in a glass bottle or a plastic
bottle. Although I think I would learn
more into glass just simply because, you know, it is better
for our bodies. We're not getting the plastic in
our system micro but and that's a whole nother podcast.
But yeah, I mean, it's I think when you're buying olive oil,
(27:40):
you want to buy a better quality.
And so if it's too cheap, then it might be a little bit of a
red flag. Now, is it really that big of an
issue, other than the fact that you're being deceived by the
manufacturer that you have a little bit of seed oil cutting
that olive oil? It might not really be, you
know, you're looking at the literature, it may not be that
(28:02):
significant, but you know it. You shouldn't be getting ripped
off by a company. You know, if they put on the
label that it's an olive oil, vegetable oil mix, then it's
your choice whether it's going to be suitable to your purposes
or not. It's probably not going to be
that big of an issue. OK, so I want to hear your take
now on replacing seed oils with butter lard D or beef tallow.
(28:27):
Even that's a step backward. You know, these swaps are going
to raise LDL cholesterol and heart disease.
I don't think they're the healthiest of oils.
You know, whole food saturated fats, especially when we look at
like dairy and dark chocolate, those may be OK, but how we
(28:48):
approach the appropriateness of certain oils is going to be due
to their food matrix. What do you mean by food matrix?
Well, food matrix refers to the complex arrangements and
interactions of a food's components.
So it includes things like the nutrients, the non nutrients,
the physical structure of the food, which all these things can
(29:12):
help influence how the food is digested, absorbed and
metabolized. So it encompasses not just the
individual components of the food, but also how the IT is all
structured and how these interact with each other on a
molecular level. And so this interaction is what
impacts our body and how our bodies utilize the nutrients
(29:34):
that are in the food. So it's important to kind of
consider what are we getting theoil in and how is it interacting
with the other components of that food item as we're
consuming it? But the idea of, I guess the
idea of, you know, using animal fats as cooking staples, I
personally don't think it's ideal, especially for aging.
(29:55):
Well, again, it's it's added fat, it's unnecessary fat.
It's adding calories to our foods, which, you know, we're
much better off cooking in no fat versus cooking in fat.
And again, you can make that argument that, you know,
refining fats is cooking staplesthat, you know, that's healthier
(30:17):
than seed oils. Again, you can make arguments
the opposite way. I think there is a fair amount
of evidence that saturated fats are not ideal for us.
But you know, again, we can makethis argument back and forth and
you have both ends of the spectrum in terms of, you know,
you have people who are on a much more ketogenic diet where
(30:41):
they just eat butter on the stick, you know, and, and to me
that what's the point? I mean, there's healthier more
nutritive foods that we can eat and it's the more of our
calories are from fat sources that are on either end of the
the spectrum. You know, they purely animal fat
to pure seed oil fats. It's probably a pretty solid
(31:05):
argument that it's not the healthiest approach.
Again, if we can stick to when we are using oils to using more
of the healthier omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, olive oil,
avocado oil, those types of oilsgetting our, you know, fats more
from fatty fish as opposed to fatty beef are probably going to
(31:26):
have much better health outcomes.
For us, I do think that stickingwith more of the fats and using
(31:48):
those as a staple, I personally think they're a little better.
Now, again, don't over indulge in them.
But one, there's a lot of literature out there that that
talks about how our, our whole endocrine system actually runs
on fat, like good healthy fat. And I think that we can get that
(32:10):
from, you know, butter, ghee, even beef tallow.
I also feel like the previous generations before us, that's
all they had. And if you look at them and you
look at their diet in comparison, if you look at
someone who is 35 in today's dayand age versus someone who is 35
(32:32):
back in the 50s, it's almost like a completely different
human being. It just is night and day.
It looks people look different now than they ever have back in
the day. And I do think it is a small
portion of being less active, but I think it's a bigger
portion of our diets and what we're taking in.
(32:54):
And if we can get back to more of a natural, you know, animal
based with whole, whole vegetables, whole fruits, whole
meats, I really think it would be good.
I know me personally, I've been,I kind of cut back on using
olive oil and actually using like ghee, grass fed ghee and I
(33:17):
just used like a teaspoon when Icooked my eggs in the morning.
Man, the eggs are so flavorful and it just tastes better.
And I don't know if it's a placebo effect, but I actually
feel better throughout the day. That's just, that's just my hot
take on that. OK, well, one thing that we do
(33:37):
not do on this podcast is base our decisions on I feel this,
you know, we want to be science based, evidence based.
And like I've been saying, thereis always an end of 1.
I don't you know, you you said that, you know, people how
different people look 50s versustoday.
(34:00):
I think it's interesting. You know, you see more and more
of these like memes on social media where they show actors
from like the 70s, eighties and so versus now.
You know, this is somebody who, you know, an actor, popular
actor, and then not even plot any names.
But you know, an actor from say the 80s, there was like 55 when
(34:24):
they were in a particular part. And then here's somebody 55
today and they look much, much better.
That's not that doesn't have anyeffect on with regards to the
fats that they were consuming. And in fact, you know, back in
the 50s, yeah, they, they might have been using a lot more
(34:46):
animal fat. I mean, I remember growing up,
my mother would, you know, save a bacon fat in a little jar on
the stove. And, you know, when you'd fry
eggs and stuff, put them on, Yeah, it tastes better.
But is that healthy? It's not a matter of whether
it's healthier than using seed oils.
The fact is we're still using a significant amount of oils and
(35:06):
we're still frying food that is probably not the healthiest
choice in either situation. And so, you know, if we're going
to make an argument for or against seed oils or animal
fats, there has to be evidence to support that decision.
And I'm saying right now there'snot a significant amount of
(35:27):
evidence on either side. And so I am not going to make a
decision based on what it feels like or how, you know, how I
maybe perceive the influencers on social media and that kind of
stuff. I'm going to make the decision
based on the available evidence.And I would say that if you're
(35:49):
going to really go based on the evidence, the greatest amount of
evidence supports eating foods that are going to be higher in
Omega threes and those sources coming from more fruit based
fats like avocado, olive oil, maybe coconut oil.
If you're going to go through tropical oils, olive oil,
(36:10):
coconut oil is a little bit moreon the saturated fat side.
That is probably the healthier option.
Is there anything necessarily wrong with cooking in beef
callow? Probably not, as long as, again,
you're not consuming an excessive amount of fat and on
the other side, occasional seed oil, you know, because it's
(36:31):
gonna give a different flavour to the food that we are cooking.
That's not a big issue either. I think probably where the
biggest problems come in on either side is OK, on the animal
fat side, it has a much more savory taste to it.
Are you going to eat more because it tastes so good?
(36:51):
That's not healthy. Or on the other side of the seed
oils, if the seed oils give a certain flavor that cause us to
want to eat more. You know, I think the biggest
issue in the American populationthat's making us obese, making
us inflamed and, you know, contributing to heart disease
and neurocognitive disease is not as much the fats that we are
(37:16):
consuming or not consuming, but the fact that we are not
participating in enough physicalactivity.
We're not eating enough of the other types of foods.
You know, getting good fruits, getting plenty of vegetables,
eating whole grains, eating legumes, eating the foods that
are going to give us a greater, you know, better gut health and
(37:40):
the things that are going to help combat the more chronic
inflammatory effects in the body.
And so those are things that we really need to consider more so
than the oils that we are consuming.
But again, it's it's a matter ofchoice.
Just keep your oils and that comp and consumption to a much
(38:03):
lower level. Then it's less of an issue one
way or the other. I don't really, I think we over
process these arguments, I thinka little bit too much.
And again, we, we, we base it onhow we feel as opposed to really
what the scientific evidence states.
(38:24):
And it, it may be, you might be right.
You know, animal fats are the healthiest way to go.
But you know, show me the evidence.
Don't just tell me that it makesyou feel better or that you feel
that, you know, maybe this proponent makes a better
argument than the other proponent.
You know, and you see, I'll see people that make arguments, you
(38:45):
know, you got keto versus plant based.
And I see people on one hand that are unhealthy in both sides
that don't impress me. And I see people that are very
healthy on both sides. And again, it's an end of one.
What's going to work best for me?
What's going to work best for our listeners and our viewers?
So it almost sounds like with the whole backlash of seed oils,
(39:10):
good, healthy, you know, sticking with natural fats
because they're more healthy, itkind of just seems like this is
more about an ideology rather than science based.
Would you agree with that? Absolutely.
I mean, there's, it's a trilliondollar Wellness market that's
profiting from fear. You know, we have people that
(39:32):
are selling detoxes. You got people selling omega-3
supplements. You're talking about ancestral
fats, you know, and ancestral fats refer to the types and
quantity of fats that are consumed by humans throughout
our evolutionary history. And I think you kind of alluded
to that a little bit, You know, that, you know, particularly
before the advent of agricultureand modern food processing,
(39:55):
these fats are often, you know, associated with more traditional
diets. So they might include sources
like grass fed animal fats. You know your your tallow and
lard. You know, wild caught fish,
certain nuts and seeds. And again, you know, we talked
about eating a seed versus eating a seed oil.
And it's OK to eat a seed, but it's not OK to eat the seed oil.
(40:19):
And it just gets a little bit muddied in terms of the
arguments. And I think what we're doing is
we're trying to make modern adaptations of ancestral diets
that emphasize these sources. And you know, it's it's good if
we are looking at these and focusing in on what are heart
healthy Omega threes and polyunsaturated fats, but we
(40:42):
have so many of these influence out there that are making money
criticizing seed oils and selling you their alternative.
So again, as we make these evaluations, we have to, you
know, determine is, is this something snake oil, snake oil,
Would that be considered an animal fat?
(41:03):
You know these snake oils that somebody is trying to sell us,
are they just trying to profit from our misinformation or are
they selling us something that is beneficial to us?
And in in the long run, both sides of the argument have
profit to be made in convincing you that their side is the
(41:25):
better side. And so real nutrition should be
context driven and not click bait.
So we want to look at, you know,what is the context in which I
am consuming this particular oil?
What is it doing to my body? Is it elevating my LDLS?
Is it lowering my LDLS? You know, I've heard people that
go on keto and more carnivore diets making arguments that
(41:48):
their blood chemistries have notbeen healthier since the, you
know, they started doing the carnivore diet.
And maybe it's the case, but does that mean that somebody
else with a different chemistry?And again, you talk about
ancestral fats. Well, if we have a long history
of our genetic ancestors consuming certain foods, that is
(42:12):
going to have an impact on how our bodies metabolize certain
other foods. Yeah, you can look at like the
Mongolians, for example. This isn't necessarily talking
about fats, but the Mongolians are lactose intolerance and yet
their diet is a hugely diet, dairy diet, you know, a lot of
(42:34):
cheese and a lot of milk and things like that.
And so. And when you get down the
ancestral stuff, that basically tells me that when we're talking
ancestrally, we're talking abouthow individuals are going to
respond to nutritional practicesor any kind of practice.
Does that make sense? Yeah, but with your example of
(42:54):
the Mongolians, don't they also have a different type of cow
that produces like the A2 milk, which has more like a higher
level of lactase to help combat the effects of lactose
intolerance? True.
But again, you're just underscoring my point that it's
very circumstantial, very much based on the individual
(43:17):
circumstances and a variety of factors contributing to it.
You know, so, you know, we may be very good at consuming and
and, you know, absorbing and utilizing animal fat, but when
that animal fat is in products that have high sugars and you
(43:39):
know, other processing and things like that, it's just
making something good much worse.
You know, I think of like Oreo cookies for the longest time,
not that out there was anything ever good about an Oreo cookie.
I mean, I don't even think they taste that great, but for the
longest time they used lard in those cookies.
And you know, so if that Lord, if you're saying it's healthy,
(44:02):
great. But consuming that in something
that has high sugar, which is very pro inflammatory and you
know, whatever other chemicals and non food items that are in
an Oreo cookie that isn't healthy.
And so we have to look at the biggest picture, the big picture
of what's going on with the foods that we're eating and not
(44:25):
just having, you know, kind of pissing contests about whether
animal fat or seed oils are the healthiest or least healthy for
us. You know, we have to be looking
at at the whole of the American diet and the whole of the
American diet really sucks. And so the argument of seed oils
in that was the intent of this conversation is the whole seed
(44:46):
oil controversy really boils down to is the American diet
needs to be refined. And by refined, I don't mean
kind of the irony of using the word refined.
We have to fix it. You know, it's it, it needs to
be changed to make people healthier.
All right, so for our listeners who are trying to eat well and
(45:09):
age well, what should they actually do?
Well, I think the biggest thing is focus on dietary patterns,
not on single ingredients, you know, So what are we eating in
our overall diet? And it doesn't mean, you know,
you can go out. You can't go out and have some
French fries that are fried in, you know, canola oil or
something like that once in a while.
(45:32):
I would not recommend having French fries a lot.
Honestly, I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible and not
so much because of the oil just but just because of the the
white potato non nutritive really components of of the
average French fry that you're getting out in public.
But we want to prioritize Whole Foods, you know, eating fruits,
(45:53):
eating vegetables, eating nuts, seeds, legumes, eating oily
fish, you know, so getting our oils from those foods.
So for eating a whole nut, it's going to be much better for us
than eating a nut oil. You know, you mentioned peanut
and peanut oil. Which is healthier for me to eat
a peanut? Or is it healthier to eat or
(46:13):
just kind of drink the, you know, peanut oil?
You know, we have certain influencers out there telling us
to drink olive oil. What's the point of drinking
olive oil? You know, consume to consume
other healthy foods with that oil and it's better for our
overall benefit. And you know, we want to get
(46:33):
healthy fats from a variety of sources, not just one source.
You know, you don't want to necessarily just focus in on
only olive oil. You know, there's benefits of
avocado oil and difference between the two in terms of
cooking can have benefits for usin terms of the flavoring of the
foods and the the way that it allows us to cook that food.
(46:54):
Nuts and yes, seed oil is in moderation, but do it with the
perspective of trying to improveour overall omega-3 intake
because we know from the literature that Omega threes
have a positive effect in terms of limiting heart disease and
being more anti-inflammatory. And so the higher ratio of Omega
(47:18):
threes to mega sixes is going togive us a better balance of the
two. Do we not need Omega sixes?
Well, our bodies need Omega sixes too, and so where are we
getting those from? So if we improve our omega-3
intake by eating fatty fish, eating more walnut, like you
know, walnuts, flax seed, those types of things, that's going to
help us a little bit more. And biggest thing I would
(47:40):
recommend is avoid ultra processed foods.
And again, not because of just one ingredient, but because they
crowd out nutrient rich choices.You know, not to go down too
deep in the weeds and too much of A rabbit hole, but don't
certain fried foods have Omega nines?
(48:03):
Isn't that and it doesn't? Don't the Omega nines like
completely negate the Omega threes and the Omega sixes all
together? So if an individual is eating
and I could be mistaken, maybe it's not fry?
I thought it was only found primarily in like fried food is
where the chemical compounds converts it into an Omega 9
(48:26):
which completely negates they omega-3 and they Omega 6 effect
but I I could be mistaken on that.
I can either way, you're you're talking the fried food, right?
And so just avoid the fried foods and it's not an issue, you
know, and, and just eat things that are going to be in a more
whole natural state and using the oils to kind of supplement
(48:50):
that or, or you're consuming your oils from the natural
foods. You know, again, if we're eating
whole nuts, we're eating avocados, we're eating olives,
all that has the oil in it. Do we need to add any more oil
to our diet? So, Doctor, I'm sorry, how do we
navigate all of this confusion and just stay grounded in just
(49:11):
the facts? I think again, as I've said
numerous times, we need to be skeptical of extremes.
You know, anytime somebody says always avoid or this food is
toxic, that's not necessary evidence based, You know, so
there's not always black and white when it comes to the food
(49:33):
choices that we make, when we have to really base it in the
science, not in the influencers that are telling us to do one
thing or another. We want to make sure that we
stay curious and stay evidence informed.
So don't let fear drive your food choices.
You know, use science wisely. Nutrition science is always
(49:54):
evolving, and I think that's a good thing as long as we are
evolving toward a better understanding.
If we're evolving, that means we're learning.
But the biggest thing I would under score is just consider
balance, consider variety and consider the context in which we
are looking at a particular food, you know, and and how is
(50:16):
that contributing to the bigger picture Because when we look at
balanced variety context, these are all what are going to help
us to age well. And remember, aging well is not
about living longer, it's about living better.
Yeah, and hopefully we maybe move people just a step or two
(50:37):
forward today in looking at trying to age better and keep
aging well. Thank you for listening.
I hope you benefited from today's podcast.
And until next time, keep aging well.
Seed oils have become one of themost controversial ingredients
in modern nutrition, demonized by influencers, questioned by
headlines, and even replaced by butter and beef tallow at some
fast food chains. But what does the actual science
say? Welcome to the Aging Well
podcast where we explore the science stories and strategies
behind living a longer, healthier and more purposeful
(00:23):
life. I am your host Doctor Jeff
Armstrong with my Co host CorbinBruton.
In this episode we explore the seed oil backlash, the evolving
science around fats, and what really matters when it comes to
your health and aging well. The Aging Well podcast is for
general informational purposes only and does not constitute the
(00:46):
practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare
services, including the giving of medical or mental health
advice. Doctor Armstrong is a PhD
exercise physiologist and no Doctor sharp patient
relationship is suggested. The use of information on this
podcast or materials linked fromthis podcast is at the user's
(01:07):
own risk. The content of this podcast is
not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment. Users should not disregard or
delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition
they may have and should seek the assistance of their
healthcare professionals for anysuch conditions.
Hey Doctor Armstrong, recently there's been a lot of chatter
(01:29):
online and even policy shifts around seed oil.
What do you think is driving this controversy?
It's a good question. I think there's a lot of things
that are really driving it. One is you have a lot of these
social media influencers and Wellness figures that have on
one hand vilified the seed oils,calling them toxic.
And then on the other hand, you have people that are really in
(01:52):
support of it and there's a pretty decent balance in terms
of the literature that is out there.
You see political figures like Health and Human Services
Secretary Robert Kennedy Junior,He's really amplified this
message. He's pretty anti seed oils.
And in turn, you're starting to see a lot of restaurants and one
(02:14):
in particular was Steak and Shake that recently moved back
to using butter and beef tallow in starting to branding it as
taking back health. And so there's a lot of
controversy out there and it's really an issue that's less
about evidence and more about what's become more of a cultural
sediment. You know, there's a lot of
(02:36):
distrust in institutions. We're also seeing a lot of
dietary nostalgia where people are kind of pushing back against
many of the dietary changes thatwe've seen over the last several
decades. What are your thoughts on what's
going on? Well, I, I actually am a
believer. You can call me a conspiracy
theorist or what not, but I I dobelieve that there are a lot of
(03:01):
seed oils that we have in our lives that do.
Can be depremental when it hits a
(03:35):
certain temperature. Like you're not supposed to cook
with olive oil at a certain temperature because the thermal
threshold isn't that high. That's really true for all oils.
You know, it's and that's what we want to dive into today is a
little bit more the science behind these arguments because
again, a lot of this is based onemotions and like you said, you
(03:57):
know, conspiracy theory. I mean, there's it's important
for our listeners, our viewers and and S S host to be
addressing this scientifically and addressing it from the
evidence that's out there and from a regional reasonable
approach to what is healthy and what is practical for aging well
(04:20):
all. Right man.
Well, before we get too far intothe weeds, can you explain what
seed oils are and how they differ from other oils?
Yeah. So I mean, obviously seed oils
come from plants and we see themcoming from plants like
soybeans, corn, sunflower, canola oil.
Those are all considered to be seed oils.
These are oils that are rich in polyunsaturated fats, so we see
(04:45):
them being especially heavy in the Omega 6 fatty acids like
linoleic acid. And we'll get into a little bit
more about Omega 6 versus omega-3 and where that kind of
factors into the whole argument.But seed oils have a high
preference for cooking oils, youknow, so seed oils have a high
(05:07):
smoking point. Yeah, you mentioned olive oil
not being good for cooking. I don't think that's really a
scientific study. That's just a practical cooking
approach that most chefs will tell you that, you know, you're
not going to be frying things inolive oil.
It's just not an appropriate oilfor frying things in.
Frying requires a very high heat.
(05:29):
So when we have high heat cooking methods like frying,
sauteing, roasting, seed oils are more appropriate for this
because they're able to add flavor and richness to the
dishes. Now, again, that doesn't mean
that they're healthy. And I would, you know, argue
early on in today's conversationthat we should be trying to
avoid fried foods. And if we're avoiding fried
(05:53):
foods and the whole argument about whether to fry in beef
tallow or corn oil is no longer really an argument because we're
eating healthier by eating baked, broiled, those kinds of
meats and foods instead of frying things, you know, get an
air fryer to make your French fries.
And you don't have a problem there as well.
(06:16):
I would probably make the argument should you be eating
French fries in the 1st place. So there's different from fruit
based oils like olive oil and avocado oil and more tropical
oils like coconut, which by the way, coconut oil is a high
saturated fat. But again, these are typically
used in cooking oils. They're a little bit better for
salad dressings, which again, I would argue probably olive oil
(06:39):
is a little bit better when you get into something that's not
being cooked. So it's salad dressings.
And I think the big issue when we start looking at the seed
oils is how they are used in processed foods and and the
issues that come along with that.
OK, let's just dive right in. Let's let's, let's talk some
more because there are a lot of critics that often say that seed
(07:03):
oils are inflammatory or unnatural.
What? What the heck's going on there?
Is this scientific base or is this is this just an opinion
bias, you know? Well, that's a challenge because
when you look at the evidence, you know, it's on both sides of
the argument and there's not anysolid evidence to support report
(07:24):
that it's necessarily inflammatory.
The whole idea of it being unnatural.
I mean, these are natural oils. They're in in they're in foods.
It's not like they're being processed in a made in a lab
might be processed kind of in a laboratory.
And then there are, you know, a little bit different processes
that are involved in extracting the oil from the the vegetable
(07:46):
or the plant base. But let's first kind of look at
what linoleic acid is. That is the acid that is in seed
oils. This can convert to arachidonic
acid, which is involved in inflammation.
And it's important to realize too, that inflammation is a very
(08:07):
broad term. There's inflammation that is
essential for tissue repair, theacute inflammation that you
know, we find in muscle damage that occurs with exercise, you
know, so that needs to be repaired.
Will arachidonic acid plays a very critical role in that in
terms of producing prostaglandins that are both pro
(08:28):
inflammatory and anti-inflammatory.
And so they kind of balance it'sit's a very important process
for tissue repair and muscle hypertrophy.
So arachidonic acid is necessaryin the body in certain
situations. Where it becomes more of an
issue is where it is more we have the more chronic
(08:49):
inflammation and that's where some of the beliefs that
linoleic oil, linoleic acid and seed oils can have an effect of
increasing our chronic inflammation.
The thing to consider, though, is that how that is measured is
a bit questionable. I've seen, you know, scientists
that have talked about how, you know, we measure it in the
(09:12):
blood, but we don't really measure it in the tissue.
And it's a very hard thing to kind of wrap our heads around.
But the most important thing to really consider is that the
conversion of linoleic acid to arachidonic acid is really
minimal. And most of the arachidonic acid
that comes is going to come fromanimal products, not seed oils,
(09:35):
which is quite interesting, you know, when we really are kind of
pushing that whole inflammation thing, you know.
So part of the inflammation argument might be, you know, the
amount of fat in in general thatwe are having in our diets.
And there have been multiple studies that showed that
linoleic acid doesn't significantly increase
inflammatory markers and in somecases may even show
(09:58):
anti-inflammatory markers. So one of the real issues that
needs to be talked about is not so much about what's in the oil,
you know, whether there's a Mega6 or Mega 3 or whatever.
The real issue is probably that we have an imbalance in too many
Omega sixes and too few Omega threes.
(10:19):
You know, when you look at the studies, the thing that really
sways whether Omega sixes are damaging or beneficial is
looking at it in respect to the amount of Omega threes that we
were actually getting in the diet.
As Omega threes and Omega 6 fatty acids are both essential
polyunsaturated fats, this meansthat our bodies can't produce
(10:42):
them. So we need to get them in our
diet. And they differ primarily in
their chemical structure and their effects on the body.
So we know that Omega threes arepretty much known for their
anti-inflammatory properties. They're well known to have
benefits, benefits for health and for the heart and brain
health. But Omega 6 is though also
(11:07):
essential, can produce more of apro inflammatory effect when
they're in excess and so that may contribute to health issues
if they're not balanced for appropriately with Omega threes.
So what I'm thinking right now is I'm recalling back when we
interviewed Dr. Farrow as far asalmost anything we eat has an
(11:30):
impact on our body. Now we may not recognize it, but
there is something that is happening on a lower, lower
cellular level that there could be inflammation there.
Do you think that the seed oils have more of an impact on that
micro on that micro cellular inflammation then say beef
(11:53):
tallow or ghee would? I'm not really following your
questioning there. You know how they're how you're
saying that there's a lot of literature out there, but
there's there's no evidence thatseed really impacts or causes
inflammation. No, there's evidence that it
does, but there's also evidence that it doesn't.
(12:14):
What I said was it really depends a lot on that balance
with the Omega threes. When you look at the literature,
and the literature is not entirely complete.
It's been, you know, decades of studies that have not been
really well formulated, well designed.
And so we're basing a lot of this decision off of poor
(12:36):
information. And the same goes for animal
fats. I mean, you look at nutritional
science studies, they're very susceptible to bias, whether
intentional or not. If the studies are not really,
really well designed and we're not measuring what we intend to
be measuring, or, you know, we're measuring on one hand what
(12:58):
we want to measure, but the other side isn't quite getting a
fair analysis, then it really leaves us kind of with a lack of
information. Well, and then we've also, we've
talked about the importance of Omega threes on this podcast.
We actually had a specialist that had come on and they talked
about the benefits of supplementing Omega threes and
(13:19):
how just take Omega threes and you can even watch your liver
heal itself. So there are a lot of benefits
of taking Omega threes, but I don't know if they'll
counterbalance the this the seedoil, you know, even.
If why not? Proper.
I don't know. I just I don't know.
I don't have enough information on that.
(13:41):
I just I feel. Like, see, that's, that's the,
the problem is we're basing a lot of these decisions on not
having enough information. Go to totally.
And I think that's why we're this is a good conversation have
it's a hot topic right now. And I think if we could provide
information to individuals this they can, we can either spark
something in them to do their own research or hopefully we can
(14:03):
provide as a much a better approach on the the topic, you
know? OK, well, let's kind of keep
moving forward because again, I,I think it's important that we,
we give it a balanced analysis of really what is going on.
And I, I would probably make an argument as well that the whole
idea of supplementing Omega threes is a little bit over the
(14:27):
top as well, especially because we, we can get these oils
through our natural foods that we eat.
And so it's much more about eating a diet that is going to
be more balanced in regards to Omega threes and Omega sixes as
opposed to taking a pill. Because most of the supplements
that are out there when it comesto Omega threes are not really
(14:51):
that valuable because they're capsules that are sitting on a
shelf for a long period of time are much more likely to get
rancid. They're much more likely to lose
their effectiveness over time. And for many people who are
spending a lot of money on a Mega 3 supplementation, if
they're not buying the right product, they're wasting a lot
of money. And again, we can get these oils
(15:13):
through our diet. Totally.
If you're enjoying the Aging Well podcast, be sure to like,
subscribe or follow on your favorite platform so you will
never miss an episode. And if you find our
conversations helpful, please share the podcast with a friend
because aging is something we'reall doing and we're better at
doing it together. And support our guests in this
podcast financially by visiting the affiliate links in the
(15:34):
episode description below and use the links or codes provided
for discounts on products we have vetted and feel comfortable
recommending to our valued viewers and listeners.
Thank you. And now back to the podcast.
Yeah, well, almost. I feel like we're getting too
much of those oils because, you know, living in a western
culture where it's you don't always have the luxury of, you
(15:58):
know, cooking your meals. Now, most of us will most of us
will meal prep, but some people just want to grab and go.
And even those healthy option ofthose granola bars even have
seed oil. And then so I just part of me
thinks I feel like we're taking in way too much of the seed oil,
the seed oil intake versus the omega-3 intake doesn't really
(16:20):
balance each other out. Well, again, that that's a diet
issue, not necessarily an issue of the type of the oil.
It's, it's what kind of foods are we eating?
And, you know, how are these things processed?
And yeah, how much fat are we actually consuming in our diet?
And when are we consuming that fat in?
Gotcha. OK.
So what about the processing concerns?
(16:43):
You know, people are worried about the hexane and refining.
What would you say about that? For those that might not know
what hexane is, it's basically what is used in the oil
extraction. So it's a little bit different
when we got the seed oils. You can't just squeeze a seed
and get the oil out. You know, it's an olive,
avocado. You're basically pressing the
(17:05):
fruit and getting that oil out. Hexane is a process that's used
in oil extraction that generallyit only present maybe a small
trace of non-toxic amounts. So it's what is used in the
processing is probably lower than we're breathing in on a
daily process. Now, one hand, you know, what
(17:27):
does processing does is it allows for an improved shelf
life and again, improving the smoking point so that they're
better for frying and cooking. But yes, it does strip some of
the nutrients. There are some cold pressed
options that are available for some of these oils, but that
generally makes the oil much more expensive and it also makes
it less heat stable. So this is a real concern, but I
(17:52):
think to a greater extent it is very much overstated.
What are your thoughts? I just think it's really weird
with like canola oil is vegetable oil and I don't know
that many vegetables that have oil in them.
Like when I eat, when I when I think oil definitely from
peanuts. You can.
(18:12):
You can feel it on your fingers.I don't.
I don't really know. So if if they don't have oil,
then where they get where are they extracting them?
If it if the plant itself does not have the oil, what do you
think? It just magically appears, dude,
come on. I don't know if they can extract
the oil. There is oil in it.
I mean, corn has oil, you know, a lot of vegetable soybean.
(18:35):
So there, there are oils that just need to be extracted, you
know, so there is a certain amount of fat in foods that we
eat. And that's another reason, you
know, it's like if I can eat thevegetable and that oil is in it,
then am I not getting the Omega sixes, Omega threes that my body
might need to be able to make your arachidonic acid or
(18:56):
linoleic acid. Yeah, you're probably also
getting more, you know, vitaminsand minerals to actually absorb
everything as well. So you're not just getting the
concentration of that Omega 6. You know, you're probably
getting everything. Like you were saying, if you're
just eating a more natural way and you're eating the vegetable
(19:17):
by itself, it's going to be way better than the actual oil,
right? So I guess what I want to know
is, does the science support thehealth claims against seed oil?
I think I kind of mentioned thisa little bit earlier, that there
is decades of research that has shown that replacing saturated
fats with unsaturated fats like those in seed oils can lower LDL
(19:41):
cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.
And the American Heart Association for many, many
decades has recommended more polyunsaturated fats as opposed
to saturated fats. There have been meta analysis
that have been done that have shown.
About a 30% reduction in heart disease, which is comparable to
(20:06):
statins. But again, I you know, with that
argument that it's comparable tostatins, you know, when you
really look at the statin evidence, how much the statins
really reduce heart disease is pretty minimal as well.
I think I heard a statistic thatstatins maybe add 3 days to your
life if you're prescribed statins.
So again it's it is a rather insignificant difference.
(20:30):
I think there's a many other factors in variables that
contribute to heart disease and our risk of heart disease and
it's the combination as we'll talk about it, the oils with the
other products that we are consuming them with.
But there is a lot of newer research that is exploring
saturated fat in Whole Foods. But because there's research
(20:51):
being done and there is some evidence one way or the other,
this doesn't necessarily mean that seed oils are harmful.
And I think it's important for us, you know, as a responsible
scientists and educators, that we emphasize that demonizing 1
ingredient really oversimplifiesthe complexity, complexity of
(21:13):
dietary patterns. You know, how, what are we
eating? Changing one small thing can
have some effect, but it's really not that big of effect if
there's all these other negativefactors in our diet.
And so we really need to consider the broader sense of
how seed oils fit into the Western, you know, the American
(21:34):
diet. So with the crave of, you know,
social media and all these trends and there's a lot of a
lot of people we even respect, you know, that say that seed
oil's bad. It's not necessarily seed oils
are evil per SE, but it's more of the processed food that
(21:54):
they're in. Is that a fairpoint?
Yeah, the processed food they'rein or how we're using them in
our diets. You know, if we're frying a lot
of food and we're getting a lot of Omega sixes because we're
using the seed oils, then that throws that balance out between
the Omega threes and the Omega sixes.
We're getting extra amount of fat in the diet.
(22:15):
We're typically consuming it along with carbs that are not
the healthiest of carbs. You know how often you have
people frying broccoli? I don't know of any unless
you're breading it and all that.And then you're just again,
you're making the food worse by,you know, adding a lot of other
things to it. Now, if you're occasionally
(22:35):
using a little bit of vegetable oil to say stir fry vegetables,
you know, if you're going to stir fry, you need, you need a
certain amount of oil in that tokeep it from sticking to the
pan. You know, you're using a limited
amount and using it in the rightcircumstances is probably not
that harmful to our health. It's where we are consuming
(22:56):
massive amounts of it that make it unhealthy.
And even if we make the argumentthat, you know, animal fats are
the healthier of fats to go withconsuming large amounts of
animal fat, you know, with the exception of being in a
ketogenic diet where you're making probably healthier fat
choices, it's it's not a healthyapproach to living.
(23:18):
You know, we're better off eating more vegetables that are
not fried, maybe steamed, as opposed to having an argument
whether or not we should be cooking those vegetables in seed
oil or animal fat. So how would you explain, say
you and your wife, do you guys go out for a date night and
you're going to either a Chineseor Japanese restaurant where
(23:42):
they're utilizing a lot of stir fry, They're using that sesame
oil. And then, oh man, you're eating
it. Everything's good.
And then the next morning you wake up and you're like, dude, I
am swollen. I'm so puffy.
How would you explain that effect?
Well, it doesn't happen to me, so no, I don't get all puffy
(24:04):
eating Chinese food. And so maybe, you know, again,
this is where when we're making decisions about dietary science,
we have to factor in the individual.
You know, I was listening to a episode of the Huberman and
Huberman's podcast recently, hada nutritionist on there and he
(24:25):
was a nutritional scientist and he was talking about the studies
that were done. In so many of these studies,
when they are really well constructed, you're not going to
see any results because you havepeople who are going to respond
one way and people who are goingto respond the other way just
because that's how their systemsare.
(24:46):
Some of that might go into our genetics or epigenetics.
Some of it might just be our owndietary history.
Like for myself, if I eat Chinese food, it's not that I'm
going to get all bloated and puffy and everything from eating
it. I am going to have a GI response
that is rather quick and it's generally much more associated
(25:10):
with the pork products that are cooked along with the foods that
I might be eating. And so everybody is an end of 1
when it comes to nutritional science.
And you may have somebody you put on a certain diet, they're
going to gain weight, somebody else is going to lose weight.
You may have somebody who has a very negative response to seed
(25:32):
oils, other people that maybe don't.
So our bodies respond differently.
Now, if you have an inflammatorytype of disease or if you are,
you know, under conditions of a lot of stress, which a lot of
Americans are, and chronic stress is elevating inflammation
in our body, then limiting thoseseed oils is going to be much
(25:54):
more critical than somebody who doesn't have those issues.
And so not all oils are the same, just like not every
individual that's consuming thatoil is going to be the same.
And we have to also consider thecircumstances under which we are
consuming the oils, how is it being used, how much are we
using and that kind of stuff. I'm.
(26:14):
Glad you mentioned that all oilsare the same and not at all
specific oils are the same. I just found out that there's a,
there's some weird marketing scheme in America that depending
on what olive oil brand you get,you may not be getting pure
olive oil. You may just be getting olive
(26:35):
oil that's like cut with canola oil, or you may be getting olive
oil that's, that has a differenttype of seed oil in it.
And the best approach is to lookfor the olive oils that are in
the glass bottles that have the Italian flag on there that
apparently is a pure form of olive oil.
(26:57):
So I don't know. I don't, I don't know if that's
a marketing scheme. I don't know if that's real,
but. It's not a marketing scheme,
that's just a, you know, dishonesty scheme amongst
manufacturers. And so, you know, it's a really,
it's just knowing the brands you're buying looking for really
that extra virgin olive oil. I don't know that it makes a
(27:19):
difference whether it's in a glass bottle or a plastic
bottle. Although I think I would learn
more into glass just simply because, you know, it is better
for our bodies. We're not getting the plastic in
our system micro but and that's a whole nother podcast.
But yeah, I mean, it's I think when you're buying olive oil,
(27:40):
you want to buy a better quality.
And so if it's too cheap, then it might be a little bit of a
red flag. Now, is it really that big of an
issue, other than the fact that you're being deceived by the
manufacturer that you have a little bit of seed oil cutting
that olive oil? It might not really be, you
know, you're looking at the literature, it may not be that
(28:02):
significant, but you know it. You shouldn't be getting ripped
off by a company. You know, if they put on the
label that it's an olive oil, vegetable oil mix, then it's
your choice whether it's going to be suitable to your purposes
or not. It's probably not going to be
that big of an issue. OK, so I want to hear your take
now on replacing seed oils with butter lard D or beef tallow.
(28:27):
Even that's a step backward. You know, these swaps are going
to raise LDL cholesterol and heart disease.
I don't think they're the healthiest of oils.
You know, whole food saturated fats, especially when we look at
like dairy and dark chocolate, those may be OK, but how we
(28:48):
approach the appropriateness of certain oils is going to be due
to their food matrix. What do you mean by food matrix?
Well, food matrix refers to the complex arrangements and
interactions of a food's components.
So it includes things like the nutrients, the non nutrients,
the physical structure of the food, which all these things can
(29:12):
help influence how the food is digested, absorbed and
metabolized. So it encompasses not just the
individual components of the food, but also how the IT is all
structured and how these interact with each other on a
molecular level. And so this interaction is what
impacts our body and how our bodies utilize the nutrients
(29:34):
that are in the food. So it's important to kind of
consider what are we getting theoil in and how is it interacting
with the other components of that food item as we're
consuming it? But the idea of, I guess the
idea of, you know, using animal fats as cooking staples, I
personally don't think it's ideal, especially for aging.
(29:55):
Well, again, it's it's added fat, it's unnecessary fat.
It's adding calories to our foods, which, you know, we're
much better off cooking in no fat versus cooking in fat.
And again, you can make that argument that, you know,
refining fats is cooking staplesthat, you know, that's healthier
(30:17):
than seed oils. Again, you can make arguments
the opposite way. I think there is a fair amount
of evidence that saturated fats are not ideal for us.
But you know, again, we can makethis argument back and forth and
you have both ends of the spectrum in terms of, you know,
you have people who are on a much more ketogenic diet where
(30:41):
they just eat butter on the stick, you know, and, and to me
that what's the point? I mean, there's healthier more
nutritive foods that we can eat and it's the more of our
calories are from fat sources that are on either end of the
the spectrum. You know, they purely animal fat
to pure seed oil fats. It's probably a pretty solid
(31:05):
argument that it's not the healthiest approach.
Again, if we can stick to when we are using oils to using more
of the healthier omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, olive oil,
avocado oil, those types of oilsgetting our, you know, fats more
from fatty fish as opposed to fatty beef are probably going to
(31:26):
have much better health outcomes.
For us, I do think that stickingwith more of the fats and using
(31:48):
those as a staple, I personally think they're a little better.
Now, again, don't over indulge in them.
But one, there's a lot of literature out there that that
talks about how our, our whole endocrine system actually runs
on fat, like good healthy fat. And I think that we can get that
(32:10):
from, you know, butter, ghee, even beef tallow.
I also feel like the previous generations before us, that's
all they had. And if you look at them and you
look at their diet in comparison, if you look at
someone who is 35 in today's dayand age versus someone who is 35
(32:32):
back in the 50s, it's almost like a completely different
human being. It just is night and day.
It looks people look different now than they ever have back in
the day. And I do think it is a small
portion of being less active, but I think it's a bigger
portion of our diets and what we're taking in.
(32:54):
And if we can get back to more of a natural, you know, animal
based with whole, whole vegetables, whole fruits, whole
meats, I really think it would be good.
I know me personally, I've been,I kind of cut back on using
olive oil and actually using like ghee, grass fed ghee and I
(33:17):
just used like a teaspoon when Icooked my eggs in the morning.
Man, the eggs are so flavorful and it just tastes better.
And I don't know if it's a placebo effect, but I actually
feel better throughout the day. That's just, that's just my hot
take on that. OK, well, one thing that we do
(33:37):
not do on this podcast is base our decisions on I feel this,
you know, we want to be science based, evidence based.
And like I've been saying, thereis always an end of 1.
I don't you know, you you said that, you know, people how
different people look 50s versustoday.
(34:00):
I think it's interesting. You know, you see more and more
of these like memes on social media where they show actors
from like the 70s, eighties and so versus now.
You know, this is somebody who, you know, an actor, popular
actor, and then not even plot any names.
But you know, an actor from say the 80s, there was like 55 when
(34:24):
they were in a particular part. And then here's somebody 55
today and they look much, much better.
That's not that doesn't have anyeffect on with regards to the
fats that they were consuming. And in fact, you know, back in
the 50s, yeah, they, they might have been using a lot more
(34:46):
animal fat. I mean, I remember growing up,
my mother would, you know, save a bacon fat in a little jar on
the stove. And, you know, when you'd fry
eggs and stuff, put them on, Yeah, it tastes better.
But is that healthy? It's not a matter of whether
it's healthier than using seed oils.
The fact is we're still using a significant amount of oils and
(35:06):
we're still frying food that is probably not the healthiest
choice in either situation. And so, you know, if we're going
to make an argument for or against seed oils or animal
fats, there has to be evidence to support that decision.
And I'm saying right now there'snot a significant amount of
(35:27):
evidence on either side. And so I am not going to make a
decision based on what it feels like or how, you know, how I
maybe perceive the influencers on social media and that kind of
stuff. I'm going to make the decision
based on the available evidence.And I would say that if you're
(35:49):
going to really go based on the evidence, the greatest amount of
evidence supports eating foods that are going to be higher in
Omega threes and those sources coming from more fruit based
fats like avocado, olive oil, maybe coconut oil.
If you're going to go through tropical oils, olive oil,
(36:10):
coconut oil is a little bit moreon the saturated fat side.
That is probably the healthier option.
Is there anything necessarily wrong with cooking in beef
callow? Probably not, as long as, again,
you're not consuming an excessive amount of fat and on
the other side, occasional seed oil, you know, because it's
(36:31):
gonna give a different flavour to the food that we are cooking.
That's not a big issue either. I think probably where the
biggest problems come in on either side is OK, on the animal
fat side, it has a much more savory taste to it.
Are you going to eat more because it tastes so good?
(36:51):
That's not healthy. Or on the other side of the seed
oils, if the seed oils give a certain flavor that cause us to
want to eat more. You know, I think the biggest
issue in the American populationthat's making us obese, making
us inflamed and, you know, contributing to heart disease
and neurocognitive disease is not as much the fats that we are
(37:16):
consuming or not consuming, but the fact that we are not
participating in enough physicalactivity.
We're not eating enough of the other types of foods.
You know, getting good fruits, getting plenty of vegetables,
eating whole grains, eating legumes, eating the foods that
are going to give us a greater, you know, better gut health and
(37:40):
the things that are going to help combat the more chronic
inflammatory effects in the body.
And so those are things that we really need to consider more so
than the oils that we are consuming.
But again, it's it's a matter ofchoice.
Just keep your oils and that comp and consumption to a much
(38:03):
lower level. Then it's less of an issue one
way or the other. I don't really, I think we over
process these arguments, I thinka little bit too much.
And again, we, we, we base it onhow we feel as opposed to really
what the scientific evidence states.
(38:24):
And it, it may be, you might be right.
You know, animal fats are the healthiest way to go.
But you know, show me the evidence.
Don't just tell me that it makesyou feel better or that you feel
that, you know, maybe this proponent makes a better
argument than the other proponent.
You know, and you see, I'll see people that make arguments, you
(38:45):
know, you got keto versus plant based.
And I see people on one hand that are unhealthy in both sides
that don't impress me. And I see people that are very
healthy on both sides. And again, it's an end of one.
What's going to work best for me?
What's going to work best for our listeners and our viewers?
So it almost sounds like with the whole backlash of seed oils,
(39:10):
good, healthy, you know, sticking with natural fats
because they're more healthy, itkind of just seems like this is
more about an ideology rather than science based.
Would you agree with that? Absolutely.
I mean, there's, it's a trilliondollar Wellness market that's
profiting from fear. You know, we have people that
(39:32):
are selling detoxes. You got people selling omega-3
supplements. You're talking about ancestral
fats, you know, and ancestral fats refer to the types and
quantity of fats that are consumed by humans throughout
our evolutionary history. And I think you kind of alluded
to that a little bit, You know, that, you know, particularly
before the advent of agricultureand modern food processing,
(39:55):
these fats are often, you know, associated with more traditional
diets. So they might include sources
like grass fed animal fats. You know your your tallow and
lard. You know, wild caught fish,
certain nuts and seeds. And again, you know, we talked
about eating a seed versus eating a seed oil.
And it's OK to eat a seed, but it's not OK to eat the seed oil.
(40:19):
And it just gets a little bit muddied in terms of the
arguments. And I think what we're doing is
we're trying to make modern adaptations of ancestral diets
that emphasize these sources. And you know, it's it's good if
we are looking at these and focusing in on what are heart
healthy Omega threes and polyunsaturated fats, but we
(40:42):
have so many of these influence out there that are making money
criticizing seed oils and selling you their alternative.
So again, as we make these evaluations, we have to, you
know, determine is, is this something snake oil, snake oil,
Would that be considered an animal fat?
(41:03):
You know these snake oils that somebody is trying to sell us,
are they just trying to profit from our misinformation or are
they selling us something that is beneficial to us?
And in in the long run, both sides of the argument have
profit to be made in convincing you that their side is the
(41:25):
better side. And so real nutrition should be
context driven and not click bait.
So we want to look at, you know,what is the context in which I
am consuming this particular oil?
What is it doing to my body? Is it elevating my LDLS?
Is it lowering my LDLS? You know, I've heard people that
go on keto and more carnivore diets making arguments that
(41:48):
their blood chemistries have notbeen healthier since the, you
know, they started doing the carnivore diet.
And maybe it's the case, but does that mean that somebody
else with a different chemistry?And again, you talk about
ancestral fats. Well, if we have a long history
of our genetic ancestors consuming certain foods, that is
(42:12):
going to have an impact on how our bodies metabolize certain
other foods. Yeah, you can look at like the
Mongolians, for example. This isn't necessarily talking
about fats, but the Mongolians are lactose intolerance and yet
their diet is a hugely diet, dairy diet, you know, a lot of
(42:34):
cheese and a lot of milk and things like that.
And so. And when you get down the
ancestral stuff, that basically tells me that when we're talking
ancestrally, we're talking abouthow individuals are going to
respond to nutritional practicesor any kind of practice.
Does that make sense? Yeah, but with your example of
(42:54):
the Mongolians, don't they also have a different type of cow
that produces like the A2 milk, which has more like a higher
level of lactase to help combat the effects of lactose
intolerance? True.
But again, you're just underscoring my point that it's
very circumstantial, very much based on the individual
(43:17):
circumstances and a variety of factors contributing to it.
You know, so, you know, we may be very good at consuming and
and, you know, absorbing and utilizing animal fat, but when
that animal fat is in products that have high sugars and you
(43:39):
know, other processing and things like that, it's just
making something good much worse.
You know, I think of like Oreo cookies for the longest time,
not that out there was anything ever good about an Oreo cookie.
I mean, I don't even think they taste that great, but for the
longest time they used lard in those cookies.
And you know, so if that Lord, if you're saying it's healthy,
(44:02):
great. But consuming that in something
that has high sugar, which is very pro inflammatory and you
know, whatever other chemicals and non food items that are in
an Oreo cookie that isn't healthy.
And so we have to look at the biggest picture, the big picture
of what's going on with the foods that we're eating and not
(44:25):
just having, you know, kind of pissing contests about whether
animal fat or seed oils are the healthiest or least healthy for
us. You know, we have to be looking
at at the whole of the American diet and the whole of the
American diet really sucks. And so the argument of seed oils
in that was the intent of this conversation is the whole seed
(44:46):
oil controversy really boils down to is the American diet
needs to be refined. And by refined, I don't mean
kind of the irony of using the word refined.
We have to fix it. You know, it's it, it needs to
be changed to make people healthier.
All right, so for our listeners who are trying to eat well and
(45:09):
age well, what should they actually do?
Well, I think the biggest thing is focus on dietary patterns,
not on single ingredients, you know, So what are we eating in
our overall diet? And it doesn't mean, you know,
you can go out. You can't go out and have some
French fries that are fried in, you know, canola oil or
something like that once in a while.
(45:32):
I would not recommend having French fries a lot.
Honestly, I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible and not
so much because of the oil just but just because of the the
white potato non nutritive really components of of the
average French fry that you're getting out in public.
But we want to prioritize Whole Foods, you know, eating fruits,
(45:53):
eating vegetables, eating nuts, seeds, legumes, eating oily
fish, you know, so getting our oils from those foods.
So for eating a whole nut, it's going to be much better for us
than eating a nut oil. You know, you mentioned peanut
and peanut oil. Which is healthier for me to eat
a peanut? Or is it healthier to eat or
(46:13):
just kind of drink the, you know, peanut oil?
You know, we have certain influencers out there telling us
to drink olive oil. What's the point of drinking
olive oil? You know, consume to consume
other healthy foods with that oil and it's better for our
overall benefit. And you know, we want to get
(46:33):
healthy fats from a variety of sources, not just one source.
You know, you don't want to necessarily just focus in on
only olive oil. You know, there's benefits of
avocado oil and difference between the two in terms of
cooking can have benefits for usin terms of the flavoring of the
foods and the the way that it allows us to cook that food.
(46:54):
Nuts and yes, seed oil is in moderation, but do it with the
perspective of trying to improveour overall omega-3 intake
because we know from the literature that Omega threes
have a positive effect in terms of limiting heart disease and
being more anti-inflammatory. And so the higher ratio of Omega
(47:18):
threes to mega sixes is going togive us a better balance of the
two. Do we not need Omega sixes?
Well, our bodies need Omega sixes too, and so where are we
getting those from? So if we improve our omega-3
intake by eating fatty fish, eating more walnut, like you
know, walnuts, flax seed, those types of things, that's going to
help us a little bit more. And biggest thing I would
(47:40):
recommend is avoid ultra processed foods.
And again, not because of just one ingredient, but because they
crowd out nutrient rich choices.You know, not to go down too
deep in the weeds and too much of A rabbit hole, but don't
certain fried foods have Omega nines?
(48:03):
Isn't that and it doesn't? Don't the Omega nines like
completely negate the Omega threes and the Omega sixes all
together? So if an individual is eating
and I could be mistaken, maybe it's not fry?
I thought it was only found primarily in like fried food is
where the chemical compounds converts it into an Omega 9
(48:26):
which completely negates they omega-3 and they Omega 6 effect
but I I could be mistaken on that.
I can either way, you're you're talking the fried food, right?
And so just avoid the fried foods and it's not an issue, you
know, and, and just eat things that are going to be in a more
whole natural state and using the oils to kind of supplement
(48:50):
that or, or you're consuming your oils from the natural
foods. You know, again, if we're eating
whole nuts, we're eating avocados, we're eating olives,
all that has the oil in it. Do we need to add any more oil
to our diet? So, Doctor, I'm sorry, how do we
navigate all of this confusion and just stay grounded in just
(49:11):
the facts? I think again, as I've said
numerous times, we need to be skeptical of extremes.
You know, anytime somebody says always avoid or this food is
toxic, that's not necessary evidence based, You know, so
there's not always black and white when it comes to the food
(49:33):
choices that we make, when we have to really base it in the
science, not in the influencers that are telling us to do one
thing or another. We want to make sure that we
stay curious and stay evidence informed.
So don't let fear drive your food choices.
You know, use science wisely. Nutrition science is always
(49:54):
evolving, and I think that's a good thing as long as we are
evolving toward a better understanding.
If we're evolving, that means we're learning.
But the biggest thing I would under score is just consider
balance, consider variety and consider the context in which we
are looking at a particular food, you know, and and how is
(50:16):
that contributing to the bigger picture Because when we look at
balanced variety context, these are all what are going to help
us to age well. And remember, aging well is not
about living longer, it's about living better.
Yeah, and hopefully we maybe move people just a step or two
(50:37):
forward today in looking at trying to age better and keep
aging well. Thank you for listening.
I hope you benefited from today's podcast.
And until next time, keep aging well.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.