They also don’t mention how these processes destroy essential fatty acids (EFAs), which our bodies cannot make and must come via our food intake; thus, they are essential.
For instance, claims made for such products as margarines often state that these products are “good for your heart” or “good for your health,” because they contain EFAs.
Moreover, margarines marketed as, for instance, “made from 100% corn oil” make a correct statement but imply that it must be good margarine, mainly because good health is associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids, which corn oil is high in. However, the corn oil used to make margarine is refined, is void of some natural substances that protect it from deteriorating during storage and in our body, and contains chemically altered products made from EFAs and other unnatural or toxic products.
Plus, to make margarine, corn oil is partly hydrogenated. EFA molecules are saturated, broken or twisted, or both, according to Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus. The “100% corn oil” margarine contains an average of 25% trans-fatty acids, both mono- and polyunsaturated, which can interfere with EFA functions and do other kinds of damage to our body, Erasmus says.
According to T.J. Weiss, author of Food Oils and Their Uses, hydrogenated corn oil is similar to hydrogenated soybean or canola oil, and offers no advantages over it, except the promotional claim that it contains 100% corn oil.
According to Erasmus, advertisers make these and other untruthful claims about oil:
Polyunsaturated
Polyunsaturated is correlated with being healthful or that it contains EFAs. Both linoliec acid (LA) and alpha-linoleic acid (LNA) — essential fatty acids —are polyunsaturated fatty acids, but most of these fatty acid oils contain no LNA.
But dozens of unnatural polyunsaturated fatty acids, some of them harmful, may be present in refined and hydrogenated oils. These polyunsaturated fatty acids harm our health but are included with the natural, health-enhancing polyunsaturated fatty acids.
An oil product that is high in polyunsaturates may be void of Omega 3s — and, therefore, poorly balanced — may contain unnatural polyunsaturated fatty acids or may decrease cholesterol levels while increasing cancer risks.
Cooking, Frying and Baking with Oils
Heat destroys the EFAs, and oxidation and light reactions occur far faster at high temperatures, making oils toxic. Frying and deep-frying oils can turn healthy oils into toxins.
No Preservatives
Some oils might be void of preservatives but might contain pesticide residues, toxic fatty acids, solvents, residues of soap, trans-fatty acids and toxic fatty acid breakdown products. Refined oil lacks natural protective vitamins and minerals, and deteriorates more rapidly if light or oxygen comes in contact with the oil.
Product Packaging
Just as oil seeds should be pressed in a dark, oxygen-free environment, bottling (and storage) should exclude light, which catalyzes the oxidative destruction of oil.
Oil in clear glass is subject to light-induced deterioration and may contain altered fatty acid derivatives. The longer that oil is exposed to full-spectrum light while standing on the shelf, the worse deterioration the oil will experience. Deterioration begins as soon as an oil is exposed to light. The best protection is no exposure to light, from the time the oil is enclosed in light- and oxygen-excluding seeds until the time it ends up in our stomachs, Erasmus says.
Misinformation about Oils
Mary G. Enig, PhD, an international expert in the field of lipid biochemistry, notes that saturated fats have received a “bad rap” as the result of intense lobbying by the domestic vegetable oil industry.
For 30 to 40 years, Enig says, the industry has “borne the brunt of an anti-fat campaign,” which was promoted by individuals in the fats and oils part of the food industry who had great influence over government agencies — such as the United States Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute — consumer groups and the media.
Furthermore, she says the spokespersons from these organizations and others — such as the American Heart Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest — “don’t understand the effects of the saturated fatty acids found in the diet and how much and where saturated fatty acids are normally found in the human body. Everything these organizations report about fat is based on what they perceive to be the effects of saturated fatty acids on serum cholesterol levels.”
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