This analysis and commentary by Herculean Strength originally appeared at HerculeanStrength.com
A little while back we called vegetable oils “one of the worst foods you can consume“. That was before our article on the serious genetic dysregulation caused to lab rodents by soybean oil, and now another new study has shown that vegetable oils are seriously bad news.
In this new study, researchers looked at GM and non-GM varieties of various vegetable oils and discovered that they demonstrated ovarian toxicity in every case, as well as “remarkable estrogenic properties.” None of that is good.
As much as it’s nice to be proven right, the fact is that vegetable oils are ubiquitous in modern Western diets, in some cases providing the lion’s share of daily calories. In truth, the ill effects of vegetable oils have civilizational consequences. The sooner we acknowledge this and try to do something about it, the better.
In this new study, out of the Tehran Medical Sciences University and published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, researchers evaluated the reproductive toxicity of GM and non-GM vegetable oils in female wistar rats. They were motivated to do this research due to existing research on the endocrine-disrupting effects of these oils.
They fed the rats sunflower (non-GM), maize (GM) and canola (GM) oils which had been purchased from a local market. The oils were fed to the rats for 28 days, and a battery of tests were performed on the animals at the beginning and end, including measuring serum lipid levels and sex hormones, as well as performing necropsies.
Regardless of which oil the animals were fed, all of them showed worrying abnormalities in their reproductive organs, which included atrophy (shrinking) of the ovaries, congestion and multiple follicular cysts. Remember, the study only took place for a period of one month.
In addition, the researchers noted that these oils all showed “remarkable estrogenic properties”, with serum estradiol (estrogen) levels being raised in all of the animals fed the oils.
Soybean oil: most commonly consumed oil in the US causes serious genetic dysregulation in mice
According to a 2020 study, soybean oil — the most commonly consumed oil in America — caused gene dysregulation in mice which led to neurological problems, particularly in their ability to bond, and weight gain.
Four groups of mice were fed different isocaloric diets (diets with the same number of calories). One group was fed a diet that contained conventional soybean oil, high in linoleic acid; the second, a diet that contained genetically modified soybean oil that was low in linoleic acid; the third, a diet that contained coconut oil, which is high in saturated fat; the fourth was given a low-fat control diet.
The researchers noted that the two soybean diets had similar but non-identical effects on expression of genes for the hypothalamus, whereas the coconut oil had a negligible effect compared to the control diet.
Among the genes that were dysregulated by the soybean-oil diets were genes associated with inflammation, neuroendocrine, neurochemical, and insulin signalling, as well as the production of oxytocin, an important hormone. Oxytocin is involved in empathy and social bonding, as well as other important biological processes including weight gain. Many of the genes that were dysregulated by the soybean oils are also linked to neurological diseases including Alheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and autism.
Insulin resistance, a topic we have recently covered in two articles (here and here), was increased by the soybean diets, and the mice on the conventional soybean oil experienced the greatest amount of weight gain, despite consuming the same amount of calories as the others.
The researchers note that these estrogenic effects could have been caused by phthalate and xenoestrogen contamination of the oils, and end the study by calling for further research into the oils themselves and their effects on humans.
It’s worth noting that studies have already shown that vegetable oils can become contaminated with xenoestrogens if they are stored in plastic. This study out of Turkey showed that, of a variety of oils analysed using gas chromatography, the highest phthalate levels were observed in sunflower oil. Oils that were stored in polyethylene terephthalate showed the highest levels overall.
It’s worth noting that the amount of xenoestrogenic substances that leach into vegetable oils from plastics seems to be much greater than leaches into water, for instance. In one review study, the researchers stated that phthalates in edible oils “were 45-396 times of those in bottled water”.
Read more at HerculeanStrength.com
