Hacker News Reader

Comment by pleb_nz | Hacker News Reader

Im not sure about where Soy oil fits in, but there seems to be growing evidence that oils made from seeds, often called vegetable oils, are in fact quite bad for you especially when used for cooking.

View on HN

Walnut, almond, sunflower oil are not bad for you. They're expensive.

Vegetable oil as you know it and it's sold is soybean oil. Maybe another cheap oilseed like canola or corn, but that's it because it's cheap.

Sunflower oil is in the same category as soybean and canola oil, industrially extracted from seeds and consisting of the type of omega-6 that in any but the most miniscule amounts are harmful in a number of ways, and a poor source of metabolic energy to boot.

Walnut, almond, etc., are good for us, but in small amounts, and don't keep well or withstand heat, all of which make them unsuitable for cooking.

We need to go back to saturated and monounsaturated fats, they are fine, and not actively harmful like the garbage waste products that are 'vegetable oils'.

> consisting of the type of omega-6 that in any but the most miniscule amounts are harmful in a number of ways, and a poor source of metabolic energy to boot.

I have been hearing this for years, but I have never found a reputable scientific source for this claim about omega-6 and omega-3. All I can find are sketchy websites trying to sell something.

Peanut oil is so expensive/valuable that the peanut oil is usually extracted and replaced with palm oil,which has its own environmental issues, before the rest of the peanut is used to make peanut butter.

I currently mostly use coconut oil or butter for cooking and olive oil for taste (salads, hummus).

I don't understand any of the science that I've tried to read (and watch). How misc fats like PUFAs metabolize and so forth.

The Fire In a Bottle guy has explainer videos. Alas, I'm in no way competent enough to judge how good that info is. It seems to jive with other advice, eg Dr Terry Wahls and Dr Rhonda Patrick and Dr Peter Attia. But what do I know? https://fireinabottle.net https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjt6C_7Vgw4&list=PLo4Cmo9MNY...

Nor am I able to assess tradeoffs. Like with the nootropics stuff, I worry about over optimizing (or just plain wasted effort), where the rewards don't merit the effort.

My impression is the metabolism science is progressing quickly. Esp wrt cholesterol. (I have a stubbornly high LDL, hence my interest.) I'm optimistic that sooner than later some consensus will emerge and some one can just tell me the correct answer and I can get back to coding.

I hear this a lot but have never seen anything other than hypothetical mechanisms. I’d be interested to see actual evidence, if there’s any you can share. I’m cautious here because it’s the kind of thing that plays to my own bias.

There is a lot of evidence but at the very least, it is accepted that these omega-6 oils are pro-inflammatory.

Oils made from :

seeds- gingelly oil, groundnut oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil.

Fruit- olive oil, Palmoline oil

Sunflower oil is made from sunflower seeds, not the whole flower.

Coconut oil is made from the 'flesh', which is the solid endosperm, which is part of the seed.

Avocado oil is also made from the fruit not the seed.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com