Ah, seed oils. You either love them or hate them, and you might be confused about whether seed oils are a dietary demon or just another source of calories. It's hard to tell, based on the fitness industry. So tune in to today's Quick Wits as we separate fact from fiction and explore what the science really says about seed oils. Welcome to the Wits and Weights podcast. I'm your host, philip Pape, and this twice-a-week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in. Welcome to another Quick Wits, your trusty sidekick in navigating the wild wild west of nutrition industry news and influencers and nitpicking the nuggets of truth from the nonsense.

Today we're tackling a hot topic, very, very hot topic, that's been causing quite a stir in the health and fitness world for a while now, and that is seed oils. You know, those ubiquitous cooking oils like soybean, canola and sunflower oil that seem to be in just about every processed food on the shelf, and that's an important little fact that's going to come back to us in a second here. Little fact that's going to come back to us in a second here. Now, if you've been following all of the influencers, the diet trends, the loud people online and hopefully I'm not one of those loud people I might have a loud voice, but hopefully I'm a little bit more of a reasoned voice in the space. But we'll see, we'll let you be the judge of that. According to all of these, you might have heard some very scary claims about seed oils, and I'm not a big fan of making wild claims about anything in any direction other than you've got to strength train, yes, but things like they're toxic, they're inflammatory, they're responsible for the rise in chronic disease like obesity and diabetes and heart disease. But let's just, you know, step back. Let's step back a bit, let's look at what the actual evidence says, because that is really important.

And despite all this fear mongering, the truth is there is no compelling scientific data that shows that seed oils are inherently harmful to our health. In fact, many of the studies that have been used to vilify seed oils are no surprise. They're either observational, so they can't prove cause and effect, they're based on animal models which don't always translate to humans, or they have some other methodological limitations that make it difficult to draw conclusions, but let's just, let's use some common sense as well. Let's use let's just talk it through here thought experiment, right? Let's say, let's use some common sense as well. Let's use um, let's just talk it through here Thought experiment. Right? Let's say, let's assume that seed oils aren't the problem, and yet somehow we're seeing data that links them to some problem. Let's go that route.

Well, it's probably likely that the association between seed oil consumption and poor health outcomes has more to do with the fact that these oils are often found in highly processed and or calorie-dense foods. Think about it Seed oils are a staple ingredient in things like fast food, they're in packaged snacks, they're in baked goods all of these foods that are typically pretty high in very palatable, ultra-processed forms of carbs, right, refined carbs, added sugars, calories and again, I'm not vilifying carbs, I'm not vilifying sugars and for a fact, calories. The more calories you eat, the more energy you take in, the more likely it is you are to gain weight and then have a problem with obesity and all these other things down the line. So it's these factors, right, eating too much, too much calorie-dense food, ultra-processed food, rather than the seed oils themselves that are probably contributing to the weight gain, to inflammation, to metabolic dysfunction and disease and things like that. Now, this doesn't mean the opposite, that seed oils are a superfood that you should go out of your way to consume more seed oils, like any source of calories, they should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet. That's my philosophy, and it also doesn't mean it does mean, I should say, that we should not be demonizing an entire category of foods, ever, ever, but especially based on flimsy evidence and all of these scare tactics we see in the industry eating mostly whole, minimally processed foods 80% of the time, balancing our energy intake with our needs, with what our body tells us we need, and engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors like regular training, regular walking, staying active, managing your stress Does this sound familiar?

So the next time you hear someone railing against the evils of seed oils okay, and yes, I'm railing against the people railing against the evils of seed oils take it with a grain of salt, or should I say a tablespoon of canola oil. That was a terrible pun, but you saw it coming. Dad joke, hashtag, dad joke. It's always a good idea to be mindful of quality and quantity of any of the fats we consume. Right, saturated fats can be an issue if it's consumed in high quantities. So can unsaturated fats and fats of any kind if they're part of consuming too many calories.

There's no need to fear cooking oils as long as we're using them in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle. Now, I wouldn't use them at home in my recipes because I think olive oil is a perfectly good oil and it checks all the other boxes, so why not? But I also don't mind when I consume the occasional packaged food that has these seed oils. I know it's not a problem because they're in the context of an overall healthy dietary pattern and the correct balance of macros, calories and micros for me. So remember, always remember.

Nutrition is complex, it's always evolving. As a science, it's important we approach it with a critical and skeptical eye, right, and if we assume that anything that is hyped and any fear-mongering is probably beyond the truth and we focus on some common sense and some reason instead of dogma, that, I think, is the way we cut through the noise. Always be skeptical, but, you know, focus on the things you can really control, like this sustainability path that's going to get you this lifelong health and vitality, not avoiding a little bit of seed oils. So keep questioning things, keep learning, keep nourishing your body with the foods that make you feel your best 80% whole foods, the other 10, 20%, whatever you want. Even if it has some seed oils in there, it's fine. You're gonna live a nice long life if you're training and staying active and healthy.

And again, thank you for joining me for another fun, not at all controversial episode of Quick Wits, and I'll catch you on the other side. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights. If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them. And make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong.