Vegetable oil intake in the United States is highest for soybean oil. Many individuals maintain that cooking with soy (Glycine max) can be beneficial to one’s health.
This oil is commonly used because of its affordability and mass production, which makes it ideal for use in pre-packaged and processed food products. It’s even used to produce biodiesel.
Learn all the evidence-based information regarding the health consequences of this widely used ingredient, as well as why it is one of the most health-hazardous oils out there.
A Brief History of Soy
Human beings have only been consuming soy foods and soybean oil that have been modified in the more recent past. Agricultural producers in America embraced soybean farming on a grand scale in the 1950s and 1960s, however by the end of the century, their enthusiasm had begun to wane as research suggested that consuming soybean oil weakened the immune system, increased the risk of catching illnesses, and contributed to an increased risk for cancer.
The people in charge of the soybean business came up with the plan of smearing oils like lard and coconut oil as the root of cardiovascular disease to divert public attention away from the bad reports of soybean oil.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, the soybean oil sector invested heavily in an effort to dissuade people from consuming saturated fats. The experts stated that having an abundance of saturated fats in the diet could raise cholesterol levels, which could in turn lead to heart disease. The three main tropical oils (coconut, palm and palm kernel) were determined to be most detrimental due to their higher levels of saturated fat.
Not all saturated fats will increase your total cholesterol, particularly coconut oil and palm oil, but there isn’t substantive proof that higher cholesterol will lead to cardiovascular illness. The reason why high cholesterol is not seen as a cause but rather as a risk factor is what makes it significant. It appears that having higher cholesterol levels may well be a positive reaction in the body to protect against hazardous inflammation – the real cause of heart disease.
But that didn’t stop the soy industry. Industries that use soybeans provided deceptive information to advocacy organizations like The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) which were easily convinced to carry out their own plans to get rid of saturated fats.
Big names in the industry released commercials and other mediums of advertisement with the message of avoiding high saturated fat consumption, circulated magazines, articles and books, and lobbied for political involvement to prevent the ingestion of tropical fats and other high-saturated fat items.
Because the majority of the assault originated from individuals who were assumed to be unbiased outsiders, the content of their communication was more effective. People were turned away from saturated fats and the oils derived from tropical fruits, which had been consumed safely by humans for centuries or even millennia.
Eager to appease their customers who were worried about the presence of these fats, eateries and food makers began replacing these fats with vegetable oils in their foods. The use of tropical oil and saturated fat decreased significantly while the sale of soybean oil increased dramatically. In the US, the majority (80%) of vegetable oils used are now derived from soybeans.
During this period, something that the soybean business deliberately chose not to let the people know was that the saturated fats were not replaced by normal veggie oil, yet rather by hydrogenated soybean oil!
Soybean oil that has been altered by the addition of hydrogen atoms carries unhealthy trans fatty acids and is worse for your cardiovascular health compared to any other type of fat. Studies indicate that trans fats can cause multiple medical issues including diabetes, cancer, and different autoimmune diseases. Consuming trans fat is likely the most detrimental to your health out of any type of fat.
The soy industry was conscious of numerous of the unfavorable consequences connected to hydrogenated vegetable oils and trans fats, yet, they made it so all saturated fats, which even included beneficial coconut and palm oils, got vilified solely to make money. The plan was an overwhelming financial success.
In the following 20 years, hydrogenated vegetable oils became a part of more than 40% of food in supermarkets, reaching up to 40,000 different products. An increase in the amount of hydrogenated soybean oil consumed corresponded with a rise in the number of sicknesses now understood to be related to trans fats.
As people become more alert to the risks associated with hydrogenated vegetable oils that contain trans fats, the United States made a groundbreaking announcement in 2002. The Institute of Medicine has declared that there is no safe consumption amount of trans fats, which has led to tropical oils being brought back into the diet.
A thorough examination of past studies and more recent medical studies have disproven the accusation that tropical oils lead to heart disease. It would seem that these particular types of fats actually guard against heart disease and the several other sicknesses known to be associated with hydrogenated vegetable oils.
They are what we now call “good fats.”
A lot of restaurants and food producers have changed their hydrogenated soybean oil for palm oil. Consequently, soybean oil sales are declining. To preserve their earnings, the soy producers have adopted two techniques: 1) expanding their market with novel soy-based items such as margarine, soymilk, “nutrition” bars, protein powders, meat substitutes, cattle feed, biofuel, and others, and 2) reiterating their campaign of discrediting their competitors to make their items more preferable.
In search of a different approach, the soybean industry has now joined forces with environmentally-minded organizations that are exceedingly outspoken and politically involved. Financial backing from the soy industry has enabled some environmental organizations to fabricate false information and start a campaign against palm oil, claiming that its growth is detrimental to the environment.
It is alleged that rainforests are being razed to create spaces for palm tree plantations, which is wreaking havoc on the environment and bringing certain endangered animals, including the orangutan, perilously close to extinction.
Individuals with a sense of obligation to the environment would be persuaded by this point of view, and for justifiable reasons. The difficulty is that while the production of palm oil is associated with deforestation, soybean plantations are causing more damage to nature than any other agricultural commodity.
What Is Soybean Oil?
Soybean oil is extracted by pressing out the oil from soybeans, a process which is similar to that of obtaining oil from other types of seeds. It has similar qualities to other seed oils that contain high levels of unsound polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
The fatty acid composition of soybean oil (per 100g) is roughly:
- 58g polyunsaturated fat (mostly linoleic and linolenic acid)
- 23g monounsaturated fat
- 16g saturated fat (such as palmitic and stearic acids)
Soy oil is rich in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that is susceptible to damage by high temperatures.
It’s easy to understand why this oil has been preferred by so many Americans for cooking, due to the low amount of saturated fat it contains.
The USDA has revealed that after palm oil, processed soybeans are the greatest source of vegetable oil, and is additionally the primary source of animal feed protein. It is not unexpected that U.S. citizens are the second largest purchasers of soybean oil on the planet, with the Chinese being first.
Approximately two-thirds of the vegetable oil utilized in the United States is soybean oil, which has been associated with weight gain and various illnesses. It’s in salad dressings, soybean meal, snacks, and margarine. And most of these products contain GMO soy.
Despite originally believing otherwise, we now acknowledge the health benefits of oils high in saturated fats such as palm oil and that there is no link between them and heart disease. It turns out that these oils are better for your health than those which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs); particularly when used for preparing food.
Soybean oil is not only very fragile and quickly oxidized, but also firmly established as an allergen, hard on digestion and one of the most hydrogenated oils.
One should completely steer clear of GMO soy because it is an entirely separate horror. It does not make a difference whether the product is genetically modified, cultivated without chemicals, or contains high levels of oleic acid. This oil is not great for your health due to the amount of linoleic acid it contains.
Linoleic Acid: The Bad Fat
Polyunsaturated fat isn’t bad for you. Essentially, two kinds of polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, are considered to be essential for health and they contribute significantly to well-being.
However, certain forms of polyunsaturated fats are very delicate and can easily be broken down through oxidation, leading to inflammation.
Linoleic acid is one of those. And soybean oil is about half linoleic acid.
Even if you don’t heat them up, oils that have a high concentration of linoleic acid are still not good for you. But they’re even worse for you when they’re heated.
When you subject high-linoleic soybean oil to high temperatures, you create oxidized fats. The lipids that have been exposed to oxidation increase the amount of inflammation inside the blood, which thereby raises the possibility of arterial hardening and the development of heart disease.
Oils that have a large amount of linoleic acid will cause the ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids to be imbalanced. The perfect balance in terms of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids is proposed by health experts to be 1:1 or higher. At a minimum, it should be 4:1.
Unfortunately, most Americans tend to have a disproportionally high amounts of omega-6s in their diet, with a ratio of 1:12 or 1:25, in favor of omega-6s. Elevated levels of omega-6 can lead to obesity, inflammation, and a decline in mental well-being.
Another way that linoleic acid is linked to obesity? Increasing the amount of arachidonic acid, a type of omega-6 fatty acid which can lead to obesity.
Soybean Oil Side Effects
Regular and prolonged use of this oil has the potential to lead to severe health issues. Most common? Obesity. But that’s certainly not the end of the list.
#1: Diabetes
Blood glucose levels that are continually elevated lead to insulin sensitivity or reduced insulin production, which is known as Type 2 diabetes. The majority of individuals who have Type 2 diabetes are obese or overweight.
Being overweight is a major contributor to the progression of Type 2 diabetes.
Excessive weight gain is an indicator of insulin irregularity. If insulin fails, your blood sugar will remain high, raising the chances of contracting a long-term ailment.
Diets that contain high levels of linoleic acid are associated with obesity, as was discussed previously.
In a rodent experiment, mice were given either solely coconut oil or a combination of coconut oil and soybean oil. When the collected information was analyzed, the mice that ate soybean oil had a greater degree of insulin resistance, was heavier, and displayed a higher glucose rate, all of which are indications of a higher likelihood of having diabetes.
#2: Liver Disease
Your liver is responsible for numerous vital tasks, such as controlling cholesterol levels, detoxifying your blood, aiding with digestion, handling the absorption of nutrients and more.
The surge in one of the major factors of impaired liver function in the United States is becoming more and more apparent. NAFLD is a disorder that is present in roughly 30 to 40 percent of Americans.
This accumulation of visceral liver fat comes with a host of symptoms and complications, including:
- Fatigue
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal swelling
- Jaundice
The astonishing thing is that Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is completely avoidable.
Obesity is one of the major contributors to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Overindulging in high-carb processed foods and omega-6 fats contributes to the proliferation of obesity.
Soybean oil, in particular, seems to contribute to NAFLD.
The outcomes of the same rodent exploration indicate that mice eating a lot of soybean oil were much more vulnerable to metabolic diseases, such as fatty liver.
#3: Heart Disease
Obesity can put you at a higher risk for having heart disease, thus, anything that would contribute to being overweight can lead to an increased chance of suffering from cardiovascular illness.
When it comes to your health, soybean oil can be damaging more than just causing an increase in weight. It can also cause:
- Lipid Peroxidation: Oxidized lipids, generated from cooking PUFAs like soybean oil, contribute to atherosclerosis, aka hardened arteries, aka heart disease
- High O-6 Consumption: High omega-6 consumption increases inflammation — a key CVD risk factor
- Lower HDL: A high soybean oil diet lowers HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol), which may indicate decreased cholesterol transport
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil (PHSO) is even worse. PHSO is an artificial fat not found in nature, which has been demonstrated to have strong ties with metabolic conditions and cardiovascular illness.
Studies done on mice have revealed that PHSO diets boost the amount of a particle known as Lp(a), which is pronounced “L P little a.”
It’s not commonly known, but Lp(a) is the most hazardous of all lipids. It has been demonstrated by studies that elevated levels of Lp(a) in people results in heart disease.
It is not as though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is painting an accurate picture of this being a beneficial oil for one’s heart.
