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Comment by enhancer | Hacker News Reader

What type of cooking oil does that?

Seed oils mainly, a factor of the lower smoke point. The only suitable plant oils in this regard are olive and coconut oil - which are fruit oils.

[edit] seed oils r bad skeptics can just double check - the top 3 highest smoke point oils are all fruit oils, with seed oils at a distance - with the exception of peanut oil, which is closer.

The smoke point is also not the only relevant factor, the fatty acid makeup is also important, high omega-6 oils are more likely to oxidize, coconut oil for instance is high in saturated fat, olive oil is mainly monounsaturated.

Most seed oils have a higher smoking point, as compared to olive oil.

Yeah but it's about what the chemicals turn into when they reach a certain temperature, seed oils probably have something in them that is chemically different

Depends on how refined

Damn so sesame oil or soybean oil? Those are essential is asian cuisine

Use them as dressings but don’t cook with it.

Soybean oil is very common in most American deep fried food.

I know it's not very HN of me but I want to point out your username is highly relevant to the discussion.

I must admit, I cook all my food with Avocado oil. Unless EVOO can be used.

Understandable, it's delicious. It's great for salad seasonings too, but you're surely aware of that :P.

Give Zero Acre fermented ("cultured") oil a try.

Soybean oil is mentioned in the study. A lot of people get very angry when seed oil dangers are mentioned, it's hilariously politicized, the fact is these are not lindy at all, there is no tradition that would validate their safety, these are 20th century inventions.

>when seed oil dangers are mentioned, it's hilariously politicized

???

Where are you seeing this? It's definitely controversial, but calling it "politicized" seems like a stretch.

Seed oil avoidance is right-wing coded, it's undeniable.

To be clear, a segment of the online right-wing, I'm not saying literally half the population.

Can you elaborate further? I think of myself as pretty online (sadly) and I haven't heard anyone, right or left, talk about the politics of seed oils.

EDIT: should've searched first. Sigh.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/is-see...

> Seed oil avoidance is right-wing coded, it's undeniable.

Even taking that claim at face value, "right-wing coded" is hardly the same as "hilariously politicized". Living in rural areas is right-wing coded as well[1], but nobody would seriously call it "hilariously politicized", especially when you consider the broader context of the phrase:

>A lot of people get very angry when seed oil dangers are mentioned, it's hilariously politicized

[1] https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/national-result...

I am equally confused. I think there is a dumb but somewhat worrying trend of people's political identity becoming so pervasive that it absorbs secondary and tertiary opinions about completely unrelated things.

Yes, a large segment of conservatives have taken the place that previously left-wing hippies occupied wrt skepticism of mainstream health advice, and seed oils is a major subject, I would say even iconic, with places like Reddit vehemently disagreeing and calling it anti-science or whatever. I agree that it's unfortunate, but currently this previously left-wing impulse to favor "natural", "unprocessed" products is predominantly found in right-wing circles.

Yeah this is a really weird shift that has happened in a relatively short time. In Sweden we have strange groups of nazis and hippies that you wouldn’t have thought would happen in a million years when I was a kid in the 80s/90s.

Sunflower and groundnut oil is higher smoke point than olive.

See edit, it's indeed a factor of both fatty acid makeup and smoke point. Seed oils tend to have more PUFAs which oxidize easily. Olive oil, on the contrary, is not only mostly monounsaturated but also contains anti oxidant compounds that are protective (I think oleic acid, and others)

enhancer - sesame oil is more used as a dressing/seasoning AIUI rather than a frying oil.

Smoke point is a measure of when obvious quantities of particles are emitted, not their chemical composition. Extra virgin olive oil has lower smoke point than refined olive oil, but it's more chemically stable under frying conditions:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20678538/

However, you're correct that seed oils are generally less stable under frying conditions than other oils.

I don’t think that’s the cause, it’s more likely second hand smoke from Asian men who are atrocious smokers.

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