Vegetable oil is Bad for your MS. Olive oil is Good for you.
What is Vegetable Oil?
Vegetable oil could be any of these:
- Sunflower
- Safflower
- Corn
- Peanut oil
- Rice Bran
- Sesame
- Canola
- Palm
- Crisco
- Rape seed
- Grape seed
- Cottonseed
- Soybean
It’s cheap, you might say. I can afford it.
It has the word ‘vegetable’ in the name. It implies health, but it’s bad for you in three profound ways.
Yes, but price is the only benefit.
It’s cheap to produce because it’s industrially produced.
Here are the three problems with vegetable oil.
Problem 1: Extraction
Usually, the oil is extracted through a chemical solvent called hexane.
Hexane is odorless, colourless, and used to extract oils from the plant or seed.
Hexane is also a neurotoxin.
Some residue is left in the vegetable oil.
A study was done in 2017 and published in the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Toxicology. It analysed 40 samples of different brands of oil and found hexane in 36 of them.
The quantities of hexane differed but all were below the safety guidelines set by the European Union.
That guideline was no more than 1 mg per 1 kilogram of food.
The highest amount of hexane found was in canola.
It was only trace amounts detected, but if you’re eating a lot of vegetable oil, such as daily fast food, those trace amounts build up.
Problem 2: Vegetable Oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids
Vegetable oils are high in Omega-6 fatty acids.
We do need both omega-6, omega-3, and omega-9. But if we skew the balance too heavily to omega 6, this leads to chronic inflammation.
In other words, we turn on our inflammatory pathways ALL the time.
The current Western diet is 16 to 1 pro-inflammatory. That is a huge problem for people with multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory chronic conditions.
We need to soothe our myelin, not inflame and demyelinate it.
Vegetable oils cause us to have chronic inflammation.
Problem 3: Vegetable oil is susceptible to oxidation
Omega-6 fatty acids are important. We need them for cell membranes, we also need inflammation (for fighting infections), and for blood clotting.
BUT omega-6 fatty acids are also susceptible to oxidation.
When oil goes rancid and you consume it, it doesn’t just affect the oil on the shelf, it affects the cells in your body. We are what we eat. Think about what happens. You’ve just eaten a bowl of french fries from a takeaway shop. The oil is rancid but it’s vegetable oil and you’re hungry.
Free radicals enter the scene. Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron causing them to spin out of control. They cause damage to cells and tissues in your body, and they are associated with various health problems, including heart disease and cancer.
Oxidative stress can worsen the neurological symptoms experienced by people with MS.
Over time, oxidative damage and inflammation can exacerbate the course of MS, leading to more severe symptoms and disability.
Vegetable oil is almost unavoidable
Vegetable oil, of one kind or another, is impossible to avoid if you buy food products from a grocery store or supermarket, or meals at a restaurant.
The only exceptions are:
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Canned food such as beans, lentils, chickpeas
- Frozen food such as fish or edamame beans
- Dried pulses or grains
Look at the nutritional panel of any food product in your kitchen.
It will be in everything.This is why we all need some guidance back to simplicity when it comes to the best diet for multiple sclerosis.
This is why I say cook from scratch.
Anything you make from scratch, even if you have limited cooking skills, will be better than something packaged that you buy.
So I’ve talked about the problem with vegetable oils. I like to keep things really simple.
Vegetable oils are bad for you. Olive oil is good for you.
Use Olive Oil?
On the other end of the spectrum are the omega-3 fatty acids
Olive oil is the world-leading superhero of omega-3.
Olive oil is good for you!
Guess what? There is NO CHOLESTEROL in olive oil.
Olive oil has anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and it’s been linked to reduced risks of cancer, heart disease, and dementia.
All good news!
What olive oil should I buy?
Get a regional olive oil wherever you are. If you’re in Spain, get a Spanish olive oil, if you’re in the USA, you have a healthy production of American olive oil. There’s also Mexican olive oil.
If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, there are olive oil producers here as well. They’re in Italy, western Europe and all over.
Get the best you can afford.
Look for two things. Cold-pressed and extra-virgin olive oil
Cold-pressed means to get the oil from the fruit, it is pressed without heat. ‘Extra virgin’ means that the oil has met specific standards.
Check that it’s not ‘Refined’ oil or a blend. This means it’s not real olive oil.
- Don’t get a big can. Just buy enough for a week or two weeks if that’s how often you shop.
- Oil needs to be eaten fresh and stored in a pantry out of the light so it doesn’t spoil.
- Use olive oil as a substitute for any oil in cooking, baking, or salad dressings.
- If it needs oil, olive oil will do.
Check the Nutrition Panel
If you are not sure, check the nutritional panel.
Olive oil does not contain cholesterol. Check the amount of cholesterol on the label. If there is any number there, it’s not olive oil.
Check the label doesn’t say refined oil or a blend and virgin, which is not olive oil.
For special occasions
For special occasions, get a fancy one. You can dip bread into a good olive oil and impress guests.
You can become a real connoisseur and taste all the different notes, like in wine.
You can add a drop of very good balsamic vinegar. Dip some fresh homemade wholegrain bread into the oil with vinegar for a delicious appetiser.
What about the other healthy oils?
Strictly speaking, avocado oil is also good in that it’s high in anti-inflammatory polyphenols. It also has high vitamin E.
It’s likely to cost more than olive oil, however, if price is your objection.
Flaxseed oil is another good oil, and also walnut oil if extracted properly (by pressing) and cold. Some people love the taste of flaxseed oil. I can’t imagine why. To me, it tastes like drinking the smell of an antique shop.
What about coconut oil? Many vegans love coconut oil. I find it too high in saturated fat (long-term MS research by Prof Roy Swank) found saturated fat was best avoided by people with MS. Also coconut oil is low in nutritional qualities.
Some people have told me that olive oil is too expensive. Well, I say this. Your health is your wealth. Investing in your health is the best investment you can ever make.
In a nutshell
Vegetable oil is bad for you because of the neurotoxin extraction, the risk of oxidation, and the chronic inflammation of triggering our inflammatory pathways all the time.
On the other hand, olive oil has strong anti-inflammatory effects and anti-oxidants, which defeat damaging free radicals.
If you have severe symptoms of MS or disability, an oil change might make a big difference. It will soothe the inflammation and restore some calm in your central nervous system.
You can eat as much olive oil as you want. It’s not associated with weight gain or obesity. It’s more proof that the simple answers tend to be far superior.
Be well XO
