Concerns and conspiracy theories about seed oils have been circulating on social media over the last few months and especially among the political-right.
The most vocal of voices recently has been JFK’s nephew and former independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who says they are “the worst things you can eat,” linking them to chronic inflation, diabetes and cancer.
Professor Lauren Ball unpacks if there’s any evidence behind these theories on this episode of The Briefing:
Professor Lauren Ball, Chair of Community Health and Wellbeing at the University of Queensland said “There is concern that seed oils can cause inflammation”.
“The word toxic is thrown around quite a lot currently in a way that might mean different things to different people,” Ball said.
“There are far worse things that I think we could eat,” she said.
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Some health professionals have said producing seed oils involves high heat and chemicals. Also high levels of omega-6 in the oils contributes to several health issues.
“Seed oils are really common in cooking, especially in really delicious cuisines, Asian cuisines, curries, stir -fries. As well as really healthy, know, lots of salad dressings will have seed oil.”
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