Would you eat something if it was linked to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes?
What about if it was linked to autoimmune diseases, cognitive decline, and asthma?
It seems like an obvious no…
However, many Americans eat this every single day…
So what is it?
No, it's not sugar…
Its seed oils… canola oil, vegetable oil, safflower oil, Crisco…
So how exactly do these oils affect us?
I'm going to do a 3 part blog series all about seed oils and their negative health effects!
Health Risk #1: They raise our Omega 6:3 ratio
Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 are fatty acids that are essential to our health. However, we cannot make these fatty acids ourselves, we must get these through our diet.
Omega 3 foods include fish, flax seeds, and chia seeds….
Omega 6 foods include avocados, seeds, eggs, AND seed oils….
Seed oils are used in chips, fast food, packaged foods, and cooking oils!
When we consume omega 3 foods, they give rise to anti-inflammatory metabolites, while omega 6 foods give rise to metabolites that are pro-inflammatory in nature.
We want to have an omega 6:3 ratio to ideally be around 3:1, however the average American’s ratio is somewhere around 20:1!
Eating healthy and natural omega 6 foods such as avocados and seeds are good for our health. However, the introduction of seed oils has drastically increased the amount of omega 6 foods that we consume daily.
I encourage you to go to your panty and freezer and start looking at the ingredients. You will be shocked to see that many of your favorite products have seed oils as one of the first 3 ingredients!
Even Whole Foods pre-made food is made with Canola Oil!
So why is this omega 6:3 ratio so important?
This delicate ratio is essential to optimal health - the balance of the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory properties of these fatty acids keeps the body in check. Healthy amounts of omega 6 foods are essential to normal growth and development. Omega 3’s are vital in cognition, mood, behavior, and cardiovascular health. When the omega 6:3 ratio rises, the proinflammatory properties of omega 6’s cannot be counteracted by the omega 3’s anti-inflammatory properties.
Between 1935 - 1939 the average ratio of omega 6:3 in America was reported to be 8:1. From 1939 - 1985 the ratio increased by 23% to 10:1. Today, the ratio is estimated to be somewhere around 20:1 with some individuals as high as 30:1!
A high omega 6 ratio promotes many inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory diseases such as autoimmune diseases.
While a low omega 6:3 ratio suppresses these inflammatory conditions.
SInce the introduction of seed oils, we have seen a sharp increase in cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. While seed oils are not 100% to blame, they play a massive part in it.
