New polyunsaturated oils guidelines HARMFUL….

Today's Post:  Thursday, 12-5-2012 

I got an email that quoted the newest American Heart Association guidelines on polyunsaturated oils:

"Choose vegetable oils and margarines with liquid vegetable oil as the first listed ingredient.

Examples are canola, corn,…., safflower,…., soybean and sunflower oils”

(The other oils they listed are low in saturated oils but NOT high in polyunsaturated oils or oils high in omega 6.)

THAT is unbelievable to put it mildly. 

When that was the state of the art and what researchers actually believed, there was no internet and cell phones if they existed were the size of phone books.

It would be about like advertising model T Fords as new cars. 

It would be really funny to see such idiocy if it was just words by fools who people knew were fools.

Unfortunately, we now know that such oils cause, repeat CAUSE, heart disease!

They also help cause many cancers.

That means this isn’t simply the AHA making a fool of itself! 

That’s because doctors who pass this on to their patients will cause the condition they are supposed be preventing!

True:  ANY hydrogenated oils and/or WAY too much saturated fat can cause bad LDL which is a direct cause of heart disease. 

(Most margarines have SOME hydrogenated oils by the way!)

However, the issues once thought were caused by saturated fats are mostly from these same polyunsaturated oils high in omega 6 oils in fats from cows and other animals fed the grains high in them!  (We cover that below.)

Although they say other things not supported by research on other subjects, the Institute of Medicine found evidence for these statements on its website about these oils:

“Human in vitro studies…. show increased free-radical formation and lipid 

peroxidation with higher amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Lipid peroxidation is thought to be a component of… the development of 

atherosclerotic plaques.”

We also know that these oils cause inflammation which itself is a cause of heart disease.

High chronic inflammation is possibly an even more potent cause of heart disease.  It definitely is a separate cause that is at least as effective as too much small particle LDL.

How much chronic inflammation you have is mostly caused by the balance between the more pro-inflammatory omega 6 oils and the anti-inflammatory omega 3 oils.

The ideal balance is the same level of omega 6 and omega 3 oils.  But two times as much or possibly even three times as much omega 6 as omega 3 oils may be OK.

The horrible problem is that people who routinely use corn and canola and soy oils and eat fats from meats and dairy products and poultry from animals fed corn and soy instead of their natural diets -- run between 10 and 30 to one omega 6 to omega 3 oils!

What happens then? 

Even without infections or other causes in people who eat like that, which has been most Americans until recently, their HS CRP readings of inflammation are quite high.

But that high inflammation tends to cause heart disease by turning up the patching process too high in your blood vessels!   That’s a horribly dangerous situation.

In fact, such high HS CRP readings of inflammation are quite reliable predictors of future events like heart attacks and strokes!

Extra virgin olive oil and other foods high in monosaturated fats such as tree nuts and avocados have been shown to promote good health. 

They are quite high in the neutral omega 9 oils and quite low in omega 6 oils – and saturated fats too.  They also tend to contain other health promoting and protecting components besides!

For cooking, organic coconut oil may be OK in moderation. 

And, with omega 6 oils low enough -- you can also improve inflammation by eating wild caught fish low in mercury and high in omega 3 oils and by taking omega 3 supplements.

Exercise, surprisingly, lowers chronic inflammation unless you overdo it horribly.  It also lowers the amount of small particle LDL directly in addition.

Is that all of the reasons why you should avoid the polyunsaturated oils that this dreadful guideline suggests you eat?

No!

That same dramatically too high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio and the inflammation it causes also tends to cause cancers.

And, that’s far from all unfortunately.

For the main 3 people use such as canola oil -- or eat in animals fed the grains they are in -- corn and corn oil, soy and soy oil, are all over 90% GMO and the crops are heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.

There is some evidence, suppressed on purpose, that GMO foods are harmful.  For that reason they have been banned in Europe so far.

But the herbicides and pesticides are an even more serious problem.  The small residue left on the food, and with the GMO grains IN the food, they are likely carcinogenic.

But that’s not all either.  When corn and soy are fed to animals, the herbicides and pesticides are bioconcentrated in their fats.

That may increase the risk of cancers even further.

To avoid that, eat the leanest, most fat trimmed version of these meats and poultry NOT to cut the saturated fat; but to cut out these carcinogens and the omega 6 oils from the grains they were fed.

(You can also eat nuts, and beans and lentils, and wild caught fish and seafood from unpolluted water to get protein.  And you can eat meat from animals fed only grass or organic sprouts or eggs from pasture fed chickens.  You can also get yogurt, butter, and cheese from animals fed grass instead of grains!)

So, if you want to avoid heart attacks, strokes, and possibly many kinds of cancers, do NOT eat soy or corn or canola oil as this guideline suggests!

And eat as little of the fats of animals fed corn or soy as you possibly can manage!