Seed oils vs.Beef tallow

[Diamond_Dog]

There seems to be a theory out there that seed oils (canola, sunflower, corn, etc.) are bad for you and cause inflammation. RFK Jr. promotes this idea, so naturally I was suspicious. I Googled the subject just now and found out that there are two schools of thought on the subject but there isn’t any conclusive evidence one way or the other.

I have seen a trend in my area lately that some restaurants are eschewing seed oils (that they claim are bad for you) and using beef tallow for all their fried foods instead.

Now, beef tallow is rendered beef fat and contains 50% cholesterol. But proponents of beef tallow claim it’s healthier for you than canola oil because it’s “natural” and not “processed “. I can’t wrap my mind around this. How is that healthier? People with high cholesterol even are jumping on the beef tallow bandwagon. I think they just like the flavor it gives fried food like French fries or fried chicken.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Seems to me we are going backwards on everything these days.

[marble falls]

1. Animal fats melt at low temperature and burn at high temperature. Hydrogenated veg oil may be ...

... polyunsaturated until it's been hydrogenated to make it hard enough to form sticks and at that point is no longer polyunsaturated and hydrogenated or not, veg and seed oils with few exceptions (peanut oil, avocado oil) are not high temperature oils. High temp is what keep food from absorbing oils.

Using lard for baking has improved the quality my output.

Next time you're in a grovery, look at a can of pure veg shortening and a can of shotening.lard mix: the veg is the can with the bad nutrition numbers.

We blame animal fats for poor health and heart disease. We cut the amount of animals fats since 1900 and heart disease rates have increased. The the three things we've increased in our diets are sugar, salt and vegetable/seed oils. And we've added much more stress.

But we blame animal fats.

[Tanuki]

2. A recent article

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/12/beef-tallow-kennedy-cooking-fat-seed-oil/680848/

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest spin on MAGA, “Make frying oil tallow again,” is surprisingly straightforward for a man who has spent decades downplaying his most controversial opinions. Last month, Kennedy argued in an Instagram post that Americans were healthier when restaurants such as McDonald’s cooked fries in beef tallow—that is, cow fat—instead of seed oils, a catchall term for common vegetable-derived oils including corn, canola, and sunflower. Americans, he wrote, are “being unknowingly poisoned” by seed oils; in his view, we’d all be better off cooking with solid fats such as tallow, butter, and lard. In a video that Kennedy posted on Thanksgiving, he deep-fries a whole turkey in beef tallow and says, “This is how we cook the MAHA way.”

Cardiologists shuddered at the thought. Conventional medical guidance has long recommended the reverse: less solid fat, more plant oils. But in recent years, a fringe theory has gained prominence for arguing that seed oils are toxic, put into food by a nefarious elite—including Big Pharma, the FDA, and food manufacturers—to keep Americans unhealthy and dependent. Most nutrition scientists squarely dismiss this idea as a conspiracy theory. But the movement probes some unresolved, fundamental questions about nutrition. Are saturated fatty acids—the kind in animal fat—actually dangerous? And are polyunsaturated ones—found in plant-derived oils—really all that great for your heart? The fact that these debates remain unsettled does not validate Kennedy’s view on fats, which represents a complete reversal of conventional health beliefs. But it does leave plenty of room for his philosophy to proliferate."...(more)

[bucolic_frolic]

3. You're right to be confused. It's like medicine is erasing its tracks

Last edited Tue May 27, 2025, 09:59 AM - Edit history (1)

WWII we went from butter to transfats, which stayed with us until 1990-2020. The idea was butter fat caused heart disease. And it did. But trans fats had other issues they didn't know about or were not proven, like inflammation and heavy metals and heart disease.

I'd be wary of heavier fats - tallow or palm oil. There is the idea that seed oils are not human's ancestral diet, we really didn't get them much prior to about 1870. By 1975 we added new strains of wheat and corn.

In Keto dieting, the idea is fats are good because they don't lead to weight gain in the absence of carbs. MCT Medium Chain Triglycerides - coconut oil. But seed oil creates inflammation, they say. I still use it some. But I prefer extra virgin olive oil. And frying is not good. Oils oxidate which increases cancer risk, they say. Recall Acrylamides warnings. For that matter, nitrites are considered a known carcinogen.

I think the subject is about inflammation. These are two doctors I follow: Dr. Jamnadas and Dr. Boz. Dr. J on inflammation, heart disease, and diet, Dr. B on Keto and diet and everything. The idea that gut health is the key to the whole body. I cut the carbs, eliminated all white sugar additives, ate sardines for three days, ramped up the vegetables, and fasted more than a bit, the inflammation went. Energy picked up, allergies went that away, weight loss was easy. Any carbs are complex, not refined.

Of course YMMV, and there are differences of opinion. But I'm on a good path.

[IbogaProject]

5. Transfats arent the same as natural plant oils

Ricebran oil is quite sturdy and contains?l natural antioxidents. Refined (non virgin) olive oil cooks well too. Cheaper oils like corn or rapeseed (canola) might not be as good.

[Clouds Passing]

4. I use avocado oil (for high heat cooking) and olive oil (raw) exclusively.

The promotion of animal fats is dangerous. Animal fats are not natural anymore, feeds and fields are loaded with chemicals which are stored in the animal’s fat.

[justaprogressive]

6. Sleeper (1973) Clips - Healthy Food and Tobacco