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Dripping with oil

(All references are at the bottom.)

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: vegetable oil is just as bad as added sugar. In fact, it’s probably even worse. Because unlike added sugar, people don’t really know about vegetable oil.

They don’t really know about it because vegetable oil has the official seal of approval, and is widely endorsed by major health institutions.422,423 It’s known as the “heart-healthy” alternative to animal fats.

People don’t really know about vegetable oil because it has the mother of all healthful-sounding branding advantages: the name vegetable.

You might as well call it “Jesus oil.”

“Vegetable oil” evokes leafy cornucopias of colorful veggies that were somehow reduced to oils, which, like their vegetable parents, probably foster health and longevity.

But vegetable oil doesn’t deserve the name vegetable.

And that’s not an opinion. It’s a fact: none of the major vegetable oils come from vegetables.

Not a single one.

Let me break it down.

Corn oil comes from corn. Corn is botanically a fruit and popularly a grain.424

Sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, and sesame oil? They’re all squeezed out of seeds. Seeds are not vegetables. (A “vegetable” is defined as the part of the plant without seeds.425)

Soybean oil and peanut oil? They’re made from legumes, which are technically a type of dry fruit.426

Even olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil—the health oils du jour—all hail from botanical fruits.427,428

So no vegetables. No carrots, broccoli, asparagus, squash, or kale. No vegetables anywhere.

Especially not in cottonseed oil, which is made from cotton. Yes, that cotton. The one found in clothing. Cottonseed oil is the third most common food oil in the US.429

Further departing from the whole vegetable thing, most vegetable oils are highly processed. They’re produced by    methods more akin to refining crude oil than pressing vegetables together.

(Most, but not all. Extra-virgin olive oil is made by squeezing olives together.430 One step. No preservatives. No chemicals. No heat. The way it’s been done for 8,000 years.431 But such wholesomeness is the rare exception with vegetable oils.)

In 1974, Canadian plant scientists bred a new type of seed for making vegetable oil: the rapeseed. Proud of their creation, and wanting to take the name in a different direction, they combined the words “Canada” and “ola.”432

Canola oil was born.

It’s the third most common food oil in the world.433

Making canola oil involves wholesome, artisanal methods like hexane baths, high-speed centrifuging, dousing with sodium hydroxide, bleaching with acid-activated clay, and steam-injecting at 265 °C (509 °F) in facilities that can churn out 22,000 bottles of canola oil per hour.434,435,436

 

The Best Nutrition Study Ever

 

In 1995, a group of Australian scientists led by nutrition researcher Susanna Holt performed one of the most illuminating studies in the history of nutrition. They called their masterpiece, “A Satiety Index of Common Foods.”437

Believing that different foods caused different levels of satiety ( fullness, if you’re just joining us), they figured out a way to measure the “satiety score” of a bunch of common foods.

They chose a cross section of 38 regular foods, split across six groups:  fruits, protein-rich foods, carbohydrate-rich foods, breakfast cereals, snack foods, and bakery products. After an overnight fast, they had people eat 239-calorie portions of a given food, then report how full they felt. Two hours later, the subjects were offered a buffet of food and told to eat freely. (They ate freely.)

Each food had its turn.

Then the scientists crunched the numbers.

Sure enough, the more filling someone rated a food, the less food they ate at the buffet later. And the scientists were right: different foods caused vastly different satiety levels.

Each food received a satiety score.

The main finding? Whole foods were almost universally more filling than processed foods.

According to the scientists:

Simple “whole” foods such as the fruits, potatoes, steak and fish were the most satiating of all foods tested…“modern” Western diets which are based on highly palatable, low-fiber convenience foods are likely to be much less satiating than the diets of the past.438

Here are the leaderboards.

(The higher the score, the more filling the food.)

 

The results could not be more clear.

Whole foods are far more filling than processed foods.

White bread was the baseline to which all foods were compared. Its score was set at 100. (A score of 200 meant a food was twice as filling as white bread.)

The banana was rated the least filling out of any whole food, with a score of 118—which was still 18% more filling than white bread.

The overall winner was the potato, with a score of 323. The potato obliterated every other food. Given the stigma against potatoes, this may seem surprising. But potatoes are vegetables,439 after all. And like other veggies, they’re high in fiber and nutrients.

Okay. So what does all this have to do with vegetable oil?

Two words: potato chips.

Potato chips were among the least satiating foods (score: 91), scoring even worse than ice cream. Unlike potatoes, potato chips seemed to deserve their fattening reputation.

And what’s in potato chips? Your basic chip has just three ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt.

So what makes potato chips fattening?

According to this study, it’s clearly not potatoes, which were more filling than any other food.

The thing is, in a bag of potato chips, more calories actually come from vegetable oil than from potatoes.440,441

It would be more accurate to call them “vegetable-oil chips.”

Throw in a little salt, and vegetable oil takes a highly filling whole food and makes it less filling than ice cream.

 

The Purest Fat

 

What is vegetable oil? At the end of the day, it’s just 100%, pure fat. There’s nothing else in it. In 100 grams of vegetable oil, there are 0.0 grams of carbs, 0.0 grams of protein, and 100 grams of fat.442 It’s a thoroughbred fat.

Calorie density is the number of calories, per gram, that a food has.Vegetable oil is the second-most calorie-dense food in existence.

(First place: lard.)

Calorie density is determined by macronutrients. Every calorie in food comes from one of three sources: protein, carbs, or fat. In a gram of protein or a gram of carbs, there are four calories. In a gram of fat, there are nine calories.443

These numbers are rougher than widely appreciated, but they’re close enough.

Protein, carbs, and fat, though, aren’t the only things in food. Aside from vitamins and minerals, many whole foods also have fiber and water. Meat, for example, is around 75% water.444

Fiber and water take up space, but have few calories. This is good, because when food pushes against your stomach, it sends satiety signals to your brain.445 The more space the food takes up in your stomach, the more satiety signals get sent to your brain, and the fuller you feel. Thanks to their water and fiber, whole foods take up lots of space, fill you up, and have relatively few calories.

In other words, whole foods have a low calorie density.

It’s just the opposite with processed foods, which have little to no fiber, little to no water, and lots of calories—a high calorie density. This is bad.

It’s bad because your stomach doesn’t “speak” calories; it only speaks volume. Your stomach sends signals to your brain based on the volume of food inside it, not the number of calories inside it. Calories aren’t “read” until they reach the small intestine, where energy (calorie) info is communicated by peptide hormones.446

This is bad, because it takes awhile for food to reach your small intestine. In a 2006 study of 90 healthy people, it took a median time of over two hours for just half of a meal to exit the stomach and enter the small intestine.447

This suggests that if you’re eating processed food—even if you’re eating it slowly and mindfully and all that—your stomach doesn’t ever “catch up” with all those extra calories. By the time the calories register in your small intestine, the damage is already done. (You’ve overeaten.)

Indeed, the more calorie-dense a food is, the less filling it is.448 Our stomachs evolved for eons getting stretched by whole foods that took up more space than modern processed foods.

This is why diets with a high calorie density are directly linked with obesity.449 And vegetable oil approaches the upper limits of calorie density.

Since fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient, and fat has nine calories per gram, the highest that a food’s calorie density can possibly be is nine calories per gram—pure fat. Pure fats like vegetable oil are the most calorie-dense foods on Earth. There’s nothing more calorie-dense.

Everything edible, then, ranges from zero to nine calories per gram—from least to most calorie-dense. Fruits and vegetables are usually under one calorie per gram, and the numbers go up from there.

Here are the calorie densities of some common foods:

      

Sources:450,451,452,453,454,455,456,457,458,459,460,461,462

You heard it here first: vegetable oil is over 20% more calorie-dense than butter. (Butter isn’t known for being light on calories.)

Whole foods generally have between zero and four calories per gram. If a food has more than four calories per gram, it’s almost always processed.

(The only real exception is nuts, which have between five and seven calories per gram.463,464,465 But unlike processed foods, nuts are high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.)

As the chart above shows, even the fattiest ground beef (the kind with 30 grams of fat in one serving) only has 3.3 calories per gram. That’s the power of water and protein, which naturally limit the calorie density of whole foods.

On the other hand, all major vegetable oils have 8.84 calories per gram.466,467,468,469,470,471,472,473

(The only exception is coconut oil, at 8.62 calories per gram.474)

In short, adding vegetable oil to food is one of the most efficient ways to raise a food’s calorie density. In the process, filling food becomes un-filling, and slimming food becomes fattening.

But who would do such a thing?

 

More Common Than Sugar

 

Now I can tell just by looking. For a long time, though, if I didn’t know what was in a food, I would read the ingredients list.

I read thousands of ingredients lists.

I learned a lot about food.

The most important thing I learned from this odd obsession with ingredients lists?

Vegetable oil is everywhere.

Everywhere.

For starters, anything even remotely resembling a chip will have vegetable oil every single time. You could bet your life on it.

Vegetable oil is in almost every “snack”-type food—bars, crisps, sweets, bites, bits, nibs, cakes, whatever. All of them.

Vegetable oil is in most foods that come in a box, like cereal.

In fact, most foods with more than one ingredient will have vegetable oil.

It doesn’t matter how healthy they may appear.

The word ubiquitous isn’t enough to describe the scale of vegetable oil in the US food supply. While added sugar is mind-blowingly pervasive, vegetable oil probably has it beat.

And I don’t say that lightly.

Worst of all, unlike sugar, vegetable oil is still invisible to the average person.

But why all this oil?

 

The Magic Number

 

Like added sugar, there is only one reason that vegetable oil is added to food: to make it taste better. Vegetable oil is an added fat, and added fat gives food a charming taste and delightful consistency the food scientists call “mouthfeel.”475

Our tastes evolved when calories were more scarce, so we evolved a taste for calorie-dense foods. And foods don’t come any more calorie-dense than pure fat.

Here’s how food companies see it:

 

Which fat to add? Well, not only is refined vegetable oil much cheaper than butter or lard, but it’s also considered “healthier” than these animal fats. So it’s a real no-brainer for food companies: add refined vegetable oil to everything.

It’s simple economics.

It’s not that processed food would be that much healthier or less fattening if all the vegetable oil were replaced with butter, it’s just that vegetable oil is the de facto added fat in the US food supply. If a food has added fat—which most processed foods do—it’s almost always vegetable oil.

I’d estimate that a food’s added fat is vegetable oil around 98% of the time.

That’s just the way it is.

And just like adding sugar, adding vegetable oil has become a science. Through countless taste tests and endless trial and error, food companies have figured out exactly how much oil makes food pop.

They’ve learned to add oil until a food’s calorie density hovers right around five calories per gram. That’s the magic number of processed food. Five calories per gram.

Five calories per gram is the calorie density that best bewitches our taste buds, best beguiling us into eating more and more—and more and more (and more and more).

Five calories per gram is why you can’t have just one.

And it’s all thanks to vegetable oil.

Pringles? Five calories per gram.476

Lay’s Potato Chips? Five calories per gram.477

Doritos? Five calories per gram.478

Cheetos? Five calories per gram.479

Fritos? Five calories per gram.480

Kit Kat bars? Five calories per gram.481

Butterfingers? Five calories per gram.482

Oreos? Five calories per gram.483

Ruffles Potato Chips? Five calories per gram.484

Tostitos? Five calories per gram.485

Munchos? Five calories per gram.486

Cheez-Its? Five calories per gram.487

Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn? Five calories per gram.488

Goldfish? Five calories per gram.489

Funyuns? Five calories per gram.490

Baby Ruth? Five calories per gram.491

SunChips? Five calories per gram.492

Twix? Five calories per gram.493

Get the picture?

 


A Word About Salt

 

In that tower of junk foods on the previous page, there are only two ingredients shared by every single food: vegetable oil and salt.

Salt gets a bad rap. There’s evidence that a very high salt intake promotes heart disease.494 (Then again, there’s also evidence that a low salt intake promotes heart disease.495)

When food is salted, people do tend to eat more of it. A 2016 study found that adding salt to macaroni increased calorie intake by 11%.496

Salt is yet another substance that food companies add to foods in precise and proven amounts to woo our taste buds, fool our satiety systems, and inadvertently foster widespread obesity.

Nevertheless, I’ve long felt that salt is a trivial thing to focus on—a case of missing the forest for a tree. According to the CDC, 77% of the salt in our diet comes from “processed and restaurant foods.”497

For most of us, then, excess salt isn’t coming from the kitchen salt shaker. It’s coming from processed food. Rather than focusing on eating less salt, just focus on not eating processed food most days of the week.

Among many other things, this should solve your salt problem.

 

A Culture in Denial

 

As a society, we are oddly delusional about vegetable oil. For instance, how many times have you been told to avoid “fried food”?

A lot of times, right?

Now, how many times have you been told to avoid vegetable oil?

Not a lot of times, right?

If anything, you’re told to choose vegetable oil.

If you think about it, this is very odd, because “fried food” is almost universally fried…in vegetable oil. From McDonald’s498 to KFC499 to Chipotle500 to Olive Garden501 to restaurants around the world, “fried” means “fried in vegetable oil.”

Vegetable oil literally puts the fry in fried food. It’s the very essence of the term. French fries, onion rings, deep-fried calamari, chicken wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks, deep-fried Oreos (where did those come from?), and many other fried foods are fattening and unhealthy…because they’re fried in vegetable oil.

Vegetable oil is the only thing that ties them all together.

Again, it’s not that frying foods in lard or butter would be so much better. It’s just that, in practice, almost all fried food is fried in vegetable oil.

And almost no one talks about it.

It’s hardly just the obvious junk foods, either. Many foods marketed as slimming and healthy have enough added vegetable oil to hit the magic number, too.

SkinnyPop Popcorn? Five calories per gram.502

Nature Valley Oats ’n Dark Chocolate? Five calories per gram.503

belVita Mixed Berry Bites? Five calories per gram.504

KIND Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars? Five calories per gram.505

Other foods with significant added vegetable oil include Whole-Grain Fig Newtons,506 Wheat Thins,507 Sabra Classic Hummus,508 Lay’s Baked Potato Chips,509 Nature Valley Granola,510 Nutri-Grain Bars,511 most “100% Whole-Wheat” breads,512 and most brands of nuts (even nuts labeled “Whole” 513).

It’s time to expand your definition of junk food.

 

Refined Oils, Heart Disease, and Death

 

Aside from sky-high calorie density and ubiquity in processed food, there are other reasons to be suspicious of added vegetable oil.

First, refined vegetable oils weren’t widely eaten until the early 20th century.514 Since evolution is the foundation of nutrition, this alone should sound the warning bells.

There hasn’t been any time to adapt.

Second, refined vegetable oils have stratospheric amounts of something called polyunsaturated fats. These are fats with more than one double bond. They include omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid) and omega-3 fatty acids (alpha linolenic acid).

Aside from the sheer amounts, the ratio of these polyunsaturated fats in refined vegetable oils is equally unsettling. Most refined oils have gobs of omega-6s, and relatively few omega-3s.

Omega-6s and omega-3s are both essential; your body can’t make them. They help control inflammation.515 Omega-3s tend to be anti-inflammatory, and omega-6s tend to be pro-inflammatory. And they compete for the same enzymes.

Some scientists think the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in our diet is important, that we evolved eating a much lower ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s than we’re eating today, and that this discrepancy has led to many inflammatory diseases.516,517

This theory remains rather speculative. But there are plausible mechanisms by which gobs of omega-6s from refined oils could be a problem.518

Three things are certain.

We only require small amounts of omega-6s and omega-3s.519

We are currently eating much larger amounts of omega-6s and omega-3s than we ate in the past.

Most of this increase is coming from refined vegetable oils.

Between 1909 and 1999, the average American’s intake of omega-3s increased by 109%. Their average intake of omega-6s increased by 223%.520

Similarly, a 2015 study found that the amount of omega-6s in American fat tissue increased 136% since 1955.521

Could all these omega-6s be a problem?

A well-conducted 2010 meta-analysis522 of eight randomized controlled trials in humans (the strongest possible form of evidence) compared replacing saturated fat and trans fat with either high-omega-6 vegetable oils or vegetable oils with more balanced omega profiles.

This was big, because previous meta-analyses hadn’t segregated vegetable oils by omega content—they’d just grouped all vegetable oils together.523

But this meta-analysis found that when you replaced saturated fat and trans fat with high-omega-6 vegetable oils, it “tended to increase CHD [coronary heart disease],” and “increased risk of death from all causes.”524

That’s no good.

On the other hand, replacing saturated and trans fat with vegetable oils with more balanced omegas tended to decrease risk of heart disease.

Vegetable oils aren’t created equal, it seems.

The so-called “Israeli Paradox” is that Israeli people eat lots of omega-6s and little saturated fat, but have high rates of heart disease525—the opposite of what popular nutritional wisdom would suggest.

But this study suggests that Israelis get lots of heart disease because they eat so many omega-6s, not in spite of it—and that there’s really no “paradox” at all.

The take-home message is that vegetable oils aren’t the same, and high-omega-6 vegetable oils probably cause heart disease and death.

With this in mind, here are seven vegetable oils you should probably avoid (the ones in bold):

 

.                Sources:526,527,528,529,530,531,532,533,534,535,536,537

The problem with the oils at the top is that they have lots of omega-6s, and very few omega-3s (except for soybean oil).

Safflower oil has more omega-6s than any other food,538 and is commonly added to processed foods.

Shockingly, safflower oil has zero omega-3s.

Sunflower oil is the third-highest food source of omega-6s on Earth.539 It’s also commonly added to processed foods.

It also has zero omega-3s.

Talk about screwing up omega ratios.

The rest of the refined oils aren’t much better. Corn oil is the seventh-highest omega-6 food, cottonseed oil the tenth, and soybean oil the eleventh (this is out of thousands of foods).540

And all these oils are commonly added to processed foods.

If you just see “vegetable oil” on an ingredients list, it usually means soybean oil.541 As the above chart shows, while not the worst oil, soybean oil is still problematic.

Is it a coincidence that the more benign oils at the bottom of the chart are much less processed than the oils at the top?

Food for thought.

Oh, one last thing.

The fat composition of our cell membranes, from red blood cells to neurons, is a reflection of the fats in our diet.542,543 Some scientists believe that these membrane fats, particularly the omega membrane fats, are a major determinant of our metabolic rate.544 There’s also evidence that dietary imbalances of fatty acids can lead to depression,545,546 aggression,547 bipolar disorder,548 and suicide.549

There are many unknowns here, but it’s probably not ideal to eat massive, evolutionarily novel amounts of omega-6s.

In other words, it’s probably not ideal to include refined vegetable oils in your regular diet.

 

“Healthy Fats” in Perspective

 

Vegetable oils—all vegetable oils—have an extremely high calorie density. Replacing the safflower oil in processed foods with coconut oil may be better for our hearts, but it’s not the solution to anyone’s weight problem.

This is despite the fact that coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides, which have been shown to increase calorie expenditure and reduce visceral fat compared to other fats.550,551

But in the context of processed food, all bets are off.

For example, Bugles are made with coconut oil.

Ingredients: Degermed Yellow Cornmeal, Coconut Oil, Sugar, Salt, baking soda, BHT.552

Bugles are the only example I’ve ever seen of a popular processed food made with coconut oil. Still, Bugles are a processed food. Combining coconut oil with processed corn, sugar, salt, and a preservative does not make for a slimming, healthy whole food.

On the other hand, using a little canola oil to grease your pan of whole foods at home is not a big deal. (Despite being highly processed, canola oil has a good omega ratio compared to other refined oils.)

The point is to be aware of a huge problem with processed food (added vegetable oil), not to expunge all traces of vegetable oil from your home while you gleefully bathe your food in butter and coconut oil.

While I normally dislike the word moderation, when it comes to added fats of any kind (including coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, and grass-fed butter), for those of us trying to lose weight, moderation is in order.

Keep that calorie density low.

Between 1980 and 2010, US intake of added fat (mostly vegetable oil) increased by 28%.553 The trend lines for added-fat intake and obesity during that time are eerily similar:

Source: Stephan Guyenet, WholeHealthSource.554

 

Take-Home

 

Added fat is as fattening and widespread as added sugar. Unlike added sugar, added fat is easy to spot on ingredients lists—it almost always ends with oil.

Anytime you see oil, remember why it’s there.

To make that food taste better.

So you’ll eat more of it.





References

 

422. “Why Is It Important to Consume Oils?” MyPlate. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/oils-why.html

423. “Use Olive, Canola, Corn, or Safflower Oil as Your Main Kitchen Fats,” American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyE Olive-Canola-Corn-or-Safflower-Oil-as-Your- Main-Kitchen-Fats_UCM_320268_Article.jsp

424. Confessore, N., “Corn: Vegetable, Fruit or Grain,” The New York Times. 06-11-2007.

425. “Fruit,” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/221056/fruit

426. Ibid.

427. “Question: Is Coconut a Fruit, Nut, or Seed,” Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coconut.html

428. “Oil Palm,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/3/t0309e/T0309E01.htm#ch1.2

429. “Twenty Facts About Cottonseed Oil,” National Cottonseed Products Association. https://www.cottonseed.

430. “Olive Oil Times Special: Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” Olive Oil Times. https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil

431. Namdar et al., “Olive Oil Storage During the Fifth and Sixth Millennia BC at Ein Zippori, Northern Israel,” Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. DOI: 10.1080/07929978.2014.960733

432. “The History of Canola,” Canola Council of Canada. https://www.canolacouncil.org/oil-and-meal/what-is-canola/

433. “Global Consumption of Vegetable Oils from 1995/1996 to 2014/2015, by Oil Type, in Million Metric Tons,” Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263937/vegetable-oils-global-consumption/

434. “How It’s Made—Canola Oil,” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfk2IXlZdbI

435. “Solvent Extraction,” Edible Oil Processing. The AOCS Lipid Library. https://lipidlibrary.aocs.org/processing/solventextract/index.htm

436. Mag, Ted, “Canola Seed and Oil Processing,” Oklahoma State. https://canola.okstate.edu/canolaoilmeal/oilprocessing.pdf

437. Holt et al., “A Satiety Index of Common Foods,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49, no. 9 (1996): 675-690.

438. Ibid.

439. Weaver, C., and Marr, E., “White Vegetables: A Forgotten Source of Nutrients: Purdue Roundtable Summary,” Advances in Nutrition 4 (2013): 318S- 326S.

440. “Lay’s Classic Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/lays/lays-classic-potato-chips

441. “RUFFLES Original Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/ruffles/ruffles-original-potato-chips

442. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

443. “Carbohydrate, Proteins, and Fats,” Merck Manual. https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/disorders-of-nutrition/overview-of-nutrition/carbohydrates,-proteins,-and-fats

444. “Water in Meat and Poultry,” United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/water-in-meat-and-poultry/ct_index

445. Marciani et al., “Additive Effects of Gastric Volumes and Macronutrient Composition on the Sensation of Postprandial Fullness in Humans,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.194

446. Ibid.

447. Hellmig et al, “Gastric Emptying Time of Fluids and Solids in Healthy Subjects Determined by 13C Breath Tests: Influence of Age, Sex and Body Mass Index,” Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21, no. 12 (2006): 1832-1838.

448. Holt et al., “A Satiety Index of Common Foods,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49, no. 9 (1996): 675-690.

449. Mendoza et al., “Dietary Energy Density is Associated with Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in U.S. Adults,” Diabetes Care 30, no. 4 (2007): 974-979.

450. “Strawberries, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2064/2

451. “Kale, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2

452. “Potato, Flesh and Skin, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2546/2

453. “Bananas, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

454. “Beef, Ground, 95% Lean Meat/ 5% Fat, Raw [Hamburger],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/6188/2

455. “Fish, Salmon, Atlantic, Wild, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish- products/4102/2

456. “Egg, Whole, Raw, Fresh,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/111/2

457. “Beef, Ground, 70% Lean Meat / 30% Fat, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/8004/2

458. “Cheese, Parmesan, Hard,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/32/2

459. “Candies, Kit Kat Wafer Bar,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5418/2

460. “Snacks, Potato Chips, Plain, Salted,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/snacks/5627/2

461. “Butter, Without Salt,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/133/2

462. “Oil, Industrial, Canola with AntiFoaming Agent, Principal Uses Salads, Woks and Light Frying,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/7946/2

463. “Nuts, Almonds, [Includes USDA Commodity Food A256, A264],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3085/2

464. “Nuts, Cashew Nuts, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3095/2

465. “Nuts, Walnuts, English [Includes USDA Commodity Food A259, A257], Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed- products/3138/2

466. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

467. “Oil, Vegetable Safflower, Salad or Cooking, Linoleic, (Over 70%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/573/2

468. “Oil, Vegetable, Sunflower, High Oleic (70% and Over),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats- and-oils/623/2

469. “Oil, Vegetable, Corn, Industrial and Retail, All Purpose Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/580/2

470. “Oil, Vegetable, Palm,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/510/2

471. “Oil, Peanut, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/506/2

472. “Oil, Vegetable, Cottonseed, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/

fats-and-oils/571/2

473. “Oil, Olive, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2

474. “Vegetable Oil, Coconut,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/508/2

475. Moss, Michael. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York Random House, 2014. Kindle File, Location 2809 of 7325.

476. “The Original,” Flavor Finder. Pringles. https://www.pringles.com/en_US/products/favorites/the-original.html#nutrition-modal

477. “Lay’s Classic Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/lays/lays-classic-potato-chips

478. “DORITOS Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/doritos

479. “CHEETOS Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/cheetos

480. “FRITOS Original Corn Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/fritos

481. “KIT KAT Milk Chocolate,” The Hershey Company. https://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/kit-kat-wafer-bars/milk-chocolate.aspx?cat=cat

482. “Nestle Butterfinger Pieces 6 x 1.36 kg,” Nestle Professional. https://www.nestleprofessional.com/united- states/en/BrandsAndProducts/Brands/NESTLE/Pages/11000354.aspx

483. “Nabisco Oreo Double Stuf Chocolate,” Snackworks. https://www.snackworks.com/products/product-detail.aspx?product=4400003325

484. ”RUFFLES Original Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/ruffles/ruffles-original-potato-chips

485. “TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/tostitos

486. “MUNCHOS Original Potato Crisps,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/munchos

487. “Cheez-It Original Crackers,” Kellogg’s. https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00024100122615

488. “SMARTFOOD White Cheddar Cheese Flavored Popcorn,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/smartfood

489. “Goldfish Crackers,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/2307870/2

490. “FUNYUNS Onion Flavored Rings,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/funyuns

491. “BABY RUTH King,” Ingredients. Nestle. https://products.nestle.ca/en/brands/chocolates/baby-ruth/baby-ruth-king.aspx

492. “SUNCHIPS Original Multigrain Snacks,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/sunchips

493. “Ingredients,” Twix Caramel Cookie Bars Single Pack,” Twix. http://www.twix.com/product/nutrition

494. Strazzullo et al., “Salt Intake, Stroke, and Cardiovascular Disease: Meta- Analysis of Prospective Studies,” British Medical Journal 339, b4567 (2009). doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b4567

495. Stolarz-Skrzypek et al., “Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion,” Journal of the American Medical Association 305, no. 17 (2011): 1777-1785.

496. Bolhuis et al., “Salt Promotes Passive Overconsumption of Dietary Fat in Humans,” Journal of Nutrition 146, no. 4 (2016): 838-845.

497. “Sodium and Food Sources,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/salt/food.htm

498. “Do You Use Peanut Oil or Soybean Oil in Your Cooking Oil?” FAQs. McDonald’s. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/your_questions/our_food/do-you-use-peanut-oil-or-soybean-in-your-cooking-oil.html

499. “Ingredient Guide,” Kentucky Fried Chicken. https://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_ingredients.pdf

500. “Ingredients Statement,” Menu. Chipotle. https://www.chipotle.com/en-US/menu/ingredients_statement/ingredients_statement.aspx

501. “Allergen Menu,” Olive Garden. https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/allergen_guide.pdf

502. “Original Popped Corn,” SkinnyPop Popcorn. https://www.skinnypop.com/our-popcorn/popped-popcorn/original/

503. “Granola Bars, Crunchy Oats n’ Dark Chocolate,” Nutritionix. https://www.nutritionix.com/i/nature-valley/granola-bars-crunchy-oats-n-dark- chocolate/57d8a834964e6128595ca25a

504. “Mixed Berry Nutrition Facts,” Belvita Breakfast. https://www.belvitabreakfast.com/bites#mixed-berry

505. “Peanut Butter,” KIND Snacks. https://www.kindsnacks.com/products/breakfast/peanut-butter-breakfast-bar

506. “Nabisco Newtons 100% Whole Grain Fig Cookies, 14 oz,” Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nabisco-Newtons-100-Whole-Grain-Fig-Cookies- 14-oz/13281446

507. “Nabisco Wheat Thins Multi-Grain Baked Snack Crackers, 15 oz,” Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nabisco-Wheat-Thins-Multi-Grain-Baked-Snack-Crackers-15-oz/10292786

508. “Classic Hummus,” Sabra. https://sabra.com/dips/hummus/classic-hummus.html

509. “LAY’S Over Baked Original Potato Crisps,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/oven-baked

510. “Oats ’n Honey Protein Granola,” Nature Valley. https://www.naturevalley.com/product/oats-n-honey-protein-granola/

511. “Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars Apple Cinnamon,” Kellogg’s. https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00038000356216#ingredients

512. “Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat,” Pepperidge Farms. https://www.pepperidgefarm.com/product/whole-grain-100-whole-wheat-bread/

513. “Cashews, Whole, Salted Roasted, Family Pack,” Wegmans. https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery- food/chips-and-snacks/cashews/whole-unsalted-roasted-cashews-family-pack.html#

514. Cordain, Loren. “Implications of Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Diets for Modern Humans.” In Evolution of the Human Diet. The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable, edited by P.S. Ungar, 363-83. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007.

515. Grosso et al., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Depression: Scientific Evidence and Biological Mechanisms,” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (2014): doi: 10.1155/2014/313570

516. Simopoulos, A., “The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids,” Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 56, no. 8 (2002): 365-79.

517. Patterson et al., “Health Implications of High Dietary Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids,” Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism (2012): doi: 10.1155/2012/539426

518. Ibid.

519. Caterina, R., “N-3 Fatty Acids in Cardiovascular Disease,” New England Journal of Medicine (2011): 364: 2439-2450 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1008153

520. Blasbalg et al., “Changes in Consumption of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids in the United States during the 20th Century,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 93, no. 5 (2011): 950-962.

521. Guyenet, S., and Carlsen, S., “Increase in Adipose Tissue Linoleic Acid of US Adults in the Last Half Century,” Advances in Nutrition 6, no. 6 (2015): 660-664.

522. Ramsden et al., “N-6 Fatty Acid-Specific and Mixed Polyunsaturate Dietary Interventions Have Different Effects on CHD Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials,” British Journal of Nutrition 104, no. 11 (2010): 1586-1600.

523. Mozaffarian et al., “Effects on Coronary Heart Disease of Increasing Polyunsaturated Fat in Place of Saturated Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials,” PLOS Medicine 2010: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000252

524. Ramsden et al., “N-6 Fatty Acid-Specific and Mixed Polyunsaturate Dietary Interventions Have Different Effects on CHD Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials,” British Journal of Nutrition 104, no. 11 (2010): 1586-1600.

525. Yam et al., “Diet and Disease—The Israeli Paradox: Possible Dangers of a High Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet,” Israel Journal of Medical Science 32, no. 11 (1996): 1134-1143.

526. “Oil, Vegetable Safflower, Salad or Cooking, Linoleic, (Over 70%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/573/2

527. “Oil, Vegetable, Corn, Industrial and Retail, All Purpose Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and- oils/580/2

528. “Oil, Vegetable, Sunflower, Linoleic, (approx. 65%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and- oils/572/2

529. “Oil, Vegetable, Cottonseed, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/571/2

530. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

531. “Oil, Sesame, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/511/2

532. “Oil, Peanut, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/506/2

533. “Oil, Vegetable, Canola [Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/621/2

534. “Oil, Olive, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2

535. “Oil, Vegetable, Palm,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/510/2

536. “Vegetable Oil, Coconut,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/508/

537. “Butter, Without Salt,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/factsdairy-and-egg-products/133/2

538. “Foods Highest in Total Omega-6 Fatty Acids,” Self Nutrition Data . https://nutritiondata.self.com/foods- 000141000000000000000-w.html

539. Ibid.

540. Ibid.

541. “Glossary of Cooking Oils,” Food Processing: The Information Source for Food and Beverage Manufacturers. https://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2009/081/

542. Logan, A., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Major Depression: A Primer for the Mental Health Professional,” Lipids in Health and Disease 3, no. 25 (2004): doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-3-25

543. Haag, A., “Essential Fatty Acids and the Brain,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 48, no. 3 (2008): 195-203.

544. Hubert, A., and Else, P., “Basal Metabolic Rate: History, Composition, Regulation, and Usefulness,” Physiological and Biochemical Zoology: Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches 77, no. 6 (2004): 869-76.

545. Logan, A., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Major Depression: A Primer for the Mental Health Professional,” Lipids in Health and Disease 3, no. 25 (2004): doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-3-25

546. Su et al., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Major Depressive Disorder: A Preliminary Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” European Neuropsychopharmacology 13, no. 4 (2003): 267-271.

547. Hibbeln et al., “Increasing Homicide Rates and Linoleic Acid Consumption among Five Western Countries, 1961-2000,” Lipids 39, no. 12 (2004): 1207-13.

548. Stoll et al., “Omega 3 Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder: A Preliminary Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” Archives of General Psychiatry 56, no. 5 (1999): 407-12.

549. Huan et al., “Suicide Attempt and N-3 Fatty Acid Levels in Red Blood Cells: A Case Control Study in China,” Biological Psychiatry 56, no. 7 (2004): 490-6.

550. St-Onge, M., and Jones, P., “Physiological Effects of Medium-Chain Triglycerides: Potential Agents in the Prevention of Obesity,” The Journal of Nutrition 132, no. 3 (2002): 329-332.

551. Assuncão et al., “Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity,” Lipids 44, no. 7 (2009): 593-601.

552. “Bugles Product List,” General Mills. https://www.generalmills.com/en/Brands/Snacks/bugles/brand-product-list

553. Guyenet, Stephan, “Fat, Added Fat, and Obesity in America,” WholeHealthSource. https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2015/11/fat- added-fat-and-obesity-in-america.html

554. Ibid.

(All references are at the bottom.)

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: vegetable oil is just as bad as added sugar. In fact, it’s probably even worse. Because unlike added sugar, people don’t really know about vegetable oil.

They don’t really know about it because vegetable oil has the official seal of approval, and is widely endorsed by major health institutions.422,423 It’s known as the “heart-healthy” alternative to animal fats.

People don’t really know about vegetable oil because it has the mother of all healthful-sounding branding advantages: the name vegetable.

You might as well call it “Jesus oil.”

“Vegetable oil” evokes leafy cornucopias of colorful veggies that were somehow reduced to oils, which, like their vegetable parents, probably foster health and longevity.

But vegetable oil doesn’t deserve the name vegetable.

And that’s not an opinion. It’s a fact: none of the major vegetable oils come from vegetables.

Not a single one.

Let me break it down.

Corn oil comes from corn. Corn is botanically a fruit and popularly a grain.424

Sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, and sesame oil? They’re all squeezed out of seeds. Seeds are not vegetables. (A “vegetable” is defined as the part of the plant without seeds.425)

Soybean oil and peanut oil? They’re made from legumes, which are technically a type of dry fruit.426

Even olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil—the health oils du jour—all hail from botanical fruits.427,428

So no vegetables. No carrots, broccoli, asparagus, squash, or kale. No vegetables anywhere.

Especially not in cottonseed oil, which is made from cotton. Yes, that cotton. The one found in clothing. Cottonseed oil is the third most common food oil in the US.429

Further departing from the whole vegetable thing, most vegetable oils are highly processed. They’re produced by    methods more akin to refining crude oil than pressing vegetables together.

(Most, but not all. Extra-virgin olive oil is made by squeezing olives together.430 One step. No preservatives. No chemicals. No heat. The way it’s been done for 8,000 years.431 But such wholesomeness is the rare exception with vegetable oils.)

In 1974, Canadian plant scientists bred a new type of seed for making vegetable oil: the rapeseed. Proud of their creation, and wanting to take the name in a different direction, they combined the words “Canada” and “ola.”432

Canola oil was born.

It’s the third most common food oil in the world.433

Making canola oil involves wholesome, artisanal methods like hexane baths, high-speed centrifuging, dousing with sodium hydroxide, bleaching with acid-activated clay, and steam-injecting at 265 °C (509 °F) in facilities that can churn out 22,000 bottles of canola oil per hour.434,435,436

 

The Best Nutrition Study Ever

 

In 1995, a group of Australian scientists led by nutrition researcher Susanna Holt performed one of the most illuminating studies in the history of nutrition. They called their masterpiece, “A Satiety Index of Common Foods.”437

Believing that different foods caused different levels of satiety ( fullness, if you’re just joining us), they figured out a way to measure the “satiety score” of a bunch of common foods.

They chose a cross section of 38 regular foods, split across six groups:  fruits, protein-rich foods, carbohydrate-rich foods, breakfast cereals, snack foods, and bakery products. After an overnight fast, they had people eat 239-calorie portions of a given food, then report how full they felt. Two hours later, the subjects were offered a buffet of food and told to eat freely. (They ate freely.)

Each food had its turn.

Then the scientists crunched the numbers.

Sure enough, the more filling someone rated a food, the less food they ate at the buffet later. And the scientists were right: different foods caused vastly different satiety levels.

Each food received a satiety score.

The main finding? Whole foods were almost universally more filling than processed foods.

According to the scientists:

Simple “whole” foods such as the fruits, potatoes, steak and fish were the most satiating of all foods tested…“modern” Western diets which are based on highly palatable, low-fiber convenience foods are likely to be much less satiating than the diets of the past.438

Here are the leaderboards.

(The higher the score, the more filling the food.)

 

The results could not be more clear.

Whole foods are far more filling than processed foods.

White bread was the baseline to which all foods were compared. Its score was set at 100. (A score of 200 meant a food was twice as filling as white bread.)

The banana was rated the least filling out of any whole food, with a score of 118—which was still 18% more filling than white bread.

The overall winner was the potato, with a score of 323. The potato obliterated every other food. Given the stigma against potatoes, this may seem surprising. But potatoes are vegetables,439 after all. And like other veggies, they’re high in fiber and nutrients.

Okay. So what does all this have to do with vegetable oil?

Two words: potato chips.

Potato chips were among the least satiating foods (score: 91), scoring even worse than ice cream. Unlike potatoes, potato chips seemed to deserve their fattening reputation.

And what’s in potato chips? Your basic chip has just three ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt.

So what makes potato chips fattening?

According to this study, it’s clearly not potatoes, which were more filling than any other food.

The thing is, in a bag of potato chips, more calories actually come from vegetable oil than from potatoes.440,441

It would be more accurate to call them “vegetable-oil chips.”

Throw in a little salt, and vegetable oil takes a highly filling whole food and makes it less filling than ice cream.

 

The Purest Fat

 

What is vegetable oil? At the end of the day, it’s just 100%, pure fat. There’s nothing else in it. In 100 grams of vegetable oil, there are 0.0 grams of carbs, 0.0 grams of protein, and 100 grams of fat.442 It’s a thoroughbred fat.

Calorie density is the number of calories, per gram, that a food has.Vegetable oil is the second-most calorie-dense food in existence.

(First place: lard.)

Calorie density is determined by macronutrients. Every calorie in food comes from one of three sources: protein, carbs, or fat. In a gram of protein or a gram of carbs, there are four calories. In a gram of fat, there are nine calories.443

These numbers are rougher than widely appreciated, but they’re close enough.

Protein, carbs, and fat, though, aren’t the only things in food. Aside from vitamins and minerals, many whole foods also have fiber and water. Meat, for example, is around 75% water.444

Fiber and water take up space, but have few calories. This is good, because when food pushes against your stomach, it sends satiety signals to your brain.445 The more space the food takes up in your stomach, the more satiety signals get sent to your brain, and the fuller you feel. Thanks to their water and fiber, whole foods take up lots of space, fill you up, and have relatively few calories.

In other words, whole foods have a low calorie density.

It’s just the opposite with processed foods, which have little to no fiber, little to no water, and lots of calories—a high calorie density. This is bad.

It’s bad because your stomach doesn’t “speak” calories; it only speaks volume. Your stomach sends signals to your brain based on the volume of food inside it, not the number of calories inside it. Calories aren’t “read” until they reach the small intestine, where energy (calorie) info is communicated by peptide hormones.446

This is bad, because it takes awhile for food to reach your small intestine. In a 2006 study of 90 healthy people, it took a median time of over two hours for just half of a meal to exit the stomach and enter the small intestine.447

This suggests that if you’re eating processed food—even if you’re eating it slowly and mindfully and all that—your stomach doesn’t ever “catch up” with all those extra calories. By the time the calories register in your small intestine, the damage is already done. (You’ve overeaten.)

Indeed, the more calorie-dense a food is, the less filling it is.448 Our stomachs evolved for eons getting stretched by whole foods that took up more space than modern processed foods.

This is why diets with a high calorie density are directly linked with obesity.449 And vegetable oil approaches the upper limits of calorie density.

Since fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient, and fat has nine calories per gram, the highest that a food’s calorie density can possibly be is nine calories per gram—pure fat. Pure fats like vegetable oil are the most calorie-dense foods on Earth. There’s nothing more calorie-dense.

Everything edible, then, ranges from zero to nine calories per gram—from least to most calorie-dense. Fruits and vegetables are usually under one calorie per gram, and the numbers go up from there.

Here are the calorie densities of some common foods:

      

Sources:450,451,452,453,454,455,456,457,458,459,460,461,462

You heard it here first: vegetable oil is over 20% more calorie-dense than butter. (Butter isn’t known for being light on calories.)

Whole foods generally have between zero and four calories per gram. If a food has more than four calories per gram, it’s almost always processed.

(The only real exception is nuts, which have between five and seven calories per gram.463,464,465 But unlike processed foods, nuts are high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.)

As the chart above shows, even the fattiest ground beef (the kind with 30 grams of fat in one serving) only has 3.3 calories per gram. That’s the power of water and protein, which naturally limit the calorie density of whole foods.

On the other hand, all major vegetable oils have 8.84 calories per gram.466,467,468,469,470,471,472,473

(The only exception is coconut oil, at 8.62 calories per gram.474)

In short, adding vegetable oil to food is one of the most efficient ways to raise a food’s calorie density. In the process, filling food becomes un-filling, and slimming food becomes fattening.

But who would do such a thing?

 

More Common Than Sugar

 

Now I can tell just by looking. For a long time, though, if I didn’t know what was in a food, I would read the ingredients list.

I read thousands of ingredients lists.

I learned a lot about food.

The most important thing I learned from this odd obsession with ingredients lists?

Vegetable oil is everywhere.

Everywhere.

For starters, anything even remotely resembling a chip will have vegetable oil every single time. You could bet your life on it.

Vegetable oil is in almost every “snack”-type food—bars, crisps, sweets, bites, bits, nibs, cakes, whatever. All of them.

Vegetable oil is in most foods that come in a box, like cereal.

In fact, most foods with more than one ingredient will have vegetable oil.

It doesn’t matter how healthy they may appear.

The word ubiquitous isn’t enough to describe the scale of vegetable oil in the US food supply. While added sugar is mind-blowingly pervasive, vegetable oil probably has it beat.

And I don’t say that lightly.

Worst of all, unlike sugar, vegetable oil is still invisible to the average person.

But why all this oil?

 

The Magic Number

 

Like added sugar, there is only one reason that vegetable oil is added to food: to make it taste better. Vegetable oil is an added fat, and added fat gives food a charming taste and delightful consistency the food scientists call “mouthfeel.”475

Our tastes evolved when calories were more scarce, so we evolved a taste for calorie-dense foods. And foods don’t come any more calorie-dense than pure fat.

Here’s how food companies see it:

 

Which fat to add? Well, not only is refined vegetable oil much cheaper than butter or lard, but it’s also considered “healthier” than these animal fats. So it’s a real no-brainer for food companies: add refined vegetable oil to everything.

It’s simple economics.

It’s not that processed food would be that much healthier or less fattening if all the vegetable oil were replaced with butter, it’s just that vegetable oil is the de facto added fat in the US food supply. If a food has added fat—which most processed foods do—it’s almost always vegetable oil.

I’d estimate that a food’s added fat is vegetable oil around 98% of the time.

That’s just the way it is.

And just like adding sugar, adding vegetable oil has become a science. Through countless taste tests and endless trial and error, food companies have figured out exactly how much oil makes food pop.

They’ve learned to add oil until a food’s calorie density hovers right around five calories per gram. That’s the magic number of processed food. Five calories per gram.

Five calories per gram is the calorie density that best bewitches our taste buds, best beguiling us into eating more and more—and more and more (and more and more).

Five calories per gram is why you can’t have just one.

And it’s all thanks to vegetable oil.

Pringles? Five calories per gram.476

Lay’s Potato Chips? Five calories per gram.477

Doritos? Five calories per gram.478

Cheetos? Five calories per gram.479

Fritos? Five calories per gram.480

Kit Kat bars? Five calories per gram.481

Butterfingers? Five calories per gram.482

Oreos? Five calories per gram.483

Ruffles Potato Chips? Five calories per gram.484

Tostitos? Five calories per gram.485

Munchos? Five calories per gram.486

Cheez-Its? Five calories per gram.487

Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn? Five calories per gram.488

Goldfish? Five calories per gram.489

Funyuns? Five calories per gram.490

Baby Ruth? Five calories per gram.491

SunChips? Five calories per gram.492

Twix? Five calories per gram.493

Get the picture?

 


A Word About Salt

 

In that tower of junk foods on the previous page, there are only two ingredients shared by every single food: vegetable oil and salt.

Salt gets a bad rap. There’s evidence that a very high salt intake promotes heart disease.494 (Then again, there’s also evidence that a low salt intake promotes heart disease.495)

When food is salted, people do tend to eat more of it. A 2016 study found that adding salt to macaroni increased calorie intake by 11%.496

Salt is yet another substance that food companies add to foods in precise and proven amounts to woo our taste buds, fool our satiety systems, and inadvertently foster widespread obesity.

Nevertheless, I’ve long felt that salt is a trivial thing to focus on—a case of missing the forest for a tree. According to the CDC, 77% of the salt in our diet comes from “processed and restaurant foods.”497

For most of us, then, excess salt isn’t coming from the kitchen salt shaker. It’s coming from processed food. Rather than focusing on eating less salt, just focus on not eating processed food most days of the week.

Among many other things, this should solve your salt problem.

 

A Culture in Denial

 

As a society, we are oddly delusional about vegetable oil. For instance, how many times have you been told to avoid “fried food”?

A lot of times, right?

Now, how many times have you been told to avoid vegetable oil?

Not a lot of times, right?

If anything, you’re told to choose vegetable oil.

If you think about it, this is very odd, because “fried food” is almost universally fried…in vegetable oil. From McDonald’s498 to KFC499 to Chipotle500 to Olive Garden501 to restaurants around the world, “fried” means “fried in vegetable oil.”

Vegetable oil literally puts the fry in fried food. It’s the very essence of the term. French fries, onion rings, deep-fried calamari, chicken wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks, deep-fried Oreos (where did those come from?), and many other fried foods are fattening and unhealthy…because they’re fried in vegetable oil.

Vegetable oil is the only thing that ties them all together.

Again, it’s not that frying foods in lard or butter would be so much better. It’s just that, in practice, almost all fried food is fried in vegetable oil.

And almost no one talks about it.

It’s hardly just the obvious junk foods, either. Many foods marketed as slimming and healthy have enough added vegetable oil to hit the magic number, too.

SkinnyPop Popcorn? Five calories per gram.502

Nature Valley Oats ’n Dark Chocolate? Five calories per gram.503

belVita Mixed Berry Bites? Five calories per gram.504

KIND Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars? Five calories per gram.505

Other foods with significant added vegetable oil include Whole-Grain Fig Newtons,506 Wheat Thins,507 Sabra Classic Hummus,508 Lay’s Baked Potato Chips,509 Nature Valley Granola,510 Nutri-Grain Bars,511 most “100% Whole-Wheat” breads,512 and most brands of nuts (even nuts labeled “Whole” 513).

It’s time to expand your definition of junk food.

 

Refined Oils, Heart Disease, and Death

 

Aside from sky-high calorie density and ubiquity in processed food, there are other reasons to be suspicious of added vegetable oil.

First, refined vegetable oils weren’t widely eaten until the early 20th century.514 Since evolution is the foundation of nutrition, this alone should sound the warning bells.

There hasn’t been any time to adapt.

Second, refined vegetable oils have stratospheric amounts of something called polyunsaturated fats. These are fats with more than one double bond. They include omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid) and omega-3 fatty acids (alpha linolenic acid).

Aside from the sheer amounts, the ratio of these polyunsaturated fats in refined vegetable oils is equally unsettling. Most refined oils have gobs of omega-6s, and relatively few omega-3s.

Omega-6s and omega-3s are both essential; your body can’t make them. They help control inflammation.515 Omega-3s tend to be anti-inflammatory, and omega-6s tend to be pro-inflammatory. And they compete for the same enzymes.

Some scientists think the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in our diet is important, that we evolved eating a much lower ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s than we’re eating today, and that this discrepancy has led to many inflammatory diseases.516,517

This theory remains rather speculative. But there are plausible mechanisms by which gobs of omega-6s from refined oils could be a problem.518

Three things are certain.

We only require small amounts of omega-6s and omega-3s.519

We are currently eating much larger amounts of omega-6s and omega-3s than we ate in the past.

Most of this increase is coming from refined vegetable oils.

Between 1909 and 1999, the average American’s intake of omega-3s increased by 109%. Their average intake of omega-6s increased by 223%.520

Similarly, a 2015 study found that the amount of omega-6s in American fat tissue increased 136% since 1955.521

Could all these omega-6s be a problem?

A well-conducted 2010 meta-analysis522 of eight randomized controlled trials in humans (the strongest possible form of evidence) compared replacing saturated fat and trans fat with either high-omega-6 vegetable oils or vegetable oils with more balanced omega profiles.

This was big, because previous meta-analyses hadn’t segregated vegetable oils by omega content—they’d just grouped all vegetable oils together.523

But this meta-analysis found that when you replaced saturated fat and trans fat with high-omega-6 vegetable oils, it “tended to increase CHD [coronary heart disease],” and “increased risk of death from all causes.”524

That’s no good.

On the other hand, replacing saturated and trans fat with vegetable oils with more balanced omegas tended to decrease risk of heart disease.

Vegetable oils aren’t created equal, it seems.

The so-called “Israeli Paradox” is that Israeli people eat lots of omega-6s and little saturated fat, but have high rates of heart disease525—the opposite of what popular nutritional wisdom would suggest.

But this study suggests that Israelis get lots of heart disease because they eat so many omega-6s, not in spite of it—and that there’s really no “paradox” at all.

The take-home message is that vegetable oils aren’t the same, and high-omega-6 vegetable oils probably cause heart disease and death.

With this in mind, here are seven vegetable oils you should probably avoid (the ones in bold):

 

.                Sources:526,527,528,529,530,531,532,533,534,535,536,537

The problem with the oils at the top is that they have lots of omega-6s, and very few omega-3s (except for soybean oil).

Safflower oil has more omega-6s than any other food,538 and is commonly added to processed foods.

Shockingly, safflower oil has zero omega-3s.

Sunflower oil is the third-highest food source of omega-6s on Earth.539 It’s also commonly added to processed foods.

It also has zero omega-3s.

Talk about screwing up omega ratios.

The rest of the refined oils aren’t much better. Corn oil is the seventh-highest omega-6 food, cottonseed oil the tenth, and soybean oil the eleventh (this is out of thousands of foods).540

And all these oils are commonly added to processed foods.

If you just see “vegetable oil” on an ingredients list, it usually means soybean oil.541 As the above chart shows, while not the worst oil, soybean oil is still problematic.

Is it a coincidence that the more benign oils at the bottom of the chart are much less processed than the oils at the top?

Food for thought.

Oh, one last thing.

The fat composition of our cell membranes, from red blood cells to neurons, is a reflection of the fats in our diet.542,543 Some scientists believe that these membrane fats, particularly the omega membrane fats, are a major determinant of our metabolic rate.544 There’s also evidence that dietary imbalances of fatty acids can lead to depression,545,546 aggression,547 bipolar disorder,548 and suicide.549

There are many unknowns here, but it’s probably not ideal to eat massive, evolutionarily novel amounts of omega-6s.

In other words, it’s probably not ideal to include refined vegetable oils in your regular diet.

 

“Healthy Fats” in Perspective

 

Vegetable oils—all vegetable oils—have an extremely high calorie density. Replacing the safflower oil in processed foods with coconut oil may be better for our hearts, but it’s not the solution to anyone’s weight problem.

This is despite the fact that coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides, which have been shown to increase calorie expenditure and reduce visceral fat compared to other fats.550,551

But in the context of processed food, all bets are off.

For example, Bugles are made with coconut oil.

Ingredients: Degermed Yellow Cornmeal, Coconut Oil, Sugar, Salt, baking soda, BHT.552

Bugles are the only example I’ve ever seen of a popular processed food made with coconut oil. Still, Bugles are a processed food. Combining coconut oil with processed corn, sugar, salt, and a preservative does not make for a slimming, healthy whole food.

On the other hand, using a little canola oil to grease your pan of whole foods at home is not a big deal. (Despite being highly processed, canola oil has a good omega ratio compared to other refined oils.)

The point is to be aware of a huge problem with processed food (added vegetable oil), not to expunge all traces of vegetable oil from your home while you gleefully bathe your food in butter and coconut oil.

While I normally dislike the word moderation, when it comes to added fats of any kind (including coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, and grass-fed butter), for those of us trying to lose weight, moderation is in order.

Keep that calorie density low.

Between 1980 and 2010, US intake of added fat (mostly vegetable oil) increased by 28%.553 The trend lines for added-fat intake and obesity during that time are eerily similar:

Source: Stephan Guyenet, WholeHealthSource.554

 

Take-Home

 

Added fat is as fattening and widespread as added sugar. Unlike added sugar, added fat is easy to spot on ingredients lists—it almost always ends with oil.

Anytime you see oil, remember why it’s there.

To make that food taste better.

So you’ll eat more of it.





References

 

422. “Why Is It Important to Consume Oils?” MyPlate. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/oils-why.html

423. “Use Olive, Canola, Corn, or Safflower Oil as Your Main Kitchen Fats,” American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyE Olive-Canola-Corn-or-Safflower-Oil-as-Your- Main-Kitchen-Fats_UCM_320268_Article.jsp

424. Confessore, N., “Corn: Vegetable, Fruit or Grain,” The New York Times. 06-11-2007.

425. “Fruit,” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/221056/fruit

426. Ibid.

427. “Question: Is Coconut a Fruit, Nut, or Seed,” Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coconut.html

428. “Oil Palm,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/3/t0309e/T0309E01.htm#ch1.2

429. “Twenty Facts About Cottonseed Oil,” National Cottonseed Products Association. https://www.cottonseed.

430. “Olive Oil Times Special: Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” Olive Oil Times. https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil

431. Namdar et al., “Olive Oil Storage During the Fifth and Sixth Millennia BC at Ein Zippori, Northern Israel,” Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. DOI: 10.1080/07929978.2014.960733

432. “The History of Canola,” Canola Council of Canada. https://www.canolacouncil.org/oil-and-meal/what-is-canola/

433. “Global Consumption of Vegetable Oils from 1995/1996 to 2014/2015, by Oil Type, in Million Metric Tons,” Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263937/vegetable-oils-global-consumption/

434. “How It’s Made—Canola Oil,” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfk2IXlZdbI

435. “Solvent Extraction,” Edible Oil Processing. The AOCS Lipid Library. https://lipidlibrary.aocs.org/processing/solventextract/index.htm

436. Mag, Ted, “Canola Seed and Oil Processing,” Oklahoma State. https://canola.okstate.edu/canolaoilmeal/oilprocessing.pdf

437. Holt et al., “A Satiety Index of Common Foods,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49, no. 9 (1996): 675-690.

438. Ibid.

439. Weaver, C., and Marr, E., “White Vegetables: A Forgotten Source of Nutrients: Purdue Roundtable Summary,” Advances in Nutrition 4 (2013): 318S- 326S.

440. “Lay’s Classic Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/lays/lays-classic-potato-chips

441. “RUFFLES Original Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/ruffles/ruffles-original-potato-chips

442. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

443. “Carbohydrate, Proteins, and Fats,” Merck Manual. https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/disorders-of-nutrition/overview-of-nutrition/carbohydrates,-proteins,-and-fats

444. “Water in Meat and Poultry,” United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/water-in-meat-and-poultry/ct_index

445. Marciani et al., “Additive Effects of Gastric Volumes and Macronutrient Composition on the Sensation of Postprandial Fullness in Humans,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.194

446. Ibid.

447. Hellmig et al, “Gastric Emptying Time of Fluids and Solids in Healthy Subjects Determined by 13C Breath Tests: Influence of Age, Sex and Body Mass Index,” Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21, no. 12 (2006): 1832-1838.

448. Holt et al., “A Satiety Index of Common Foods,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49, no. 9 (1996): 675-690.

449. Mendoza et al., “Dietary Energy Density is Associated with Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in U.S. Adults,” Diabetes Care 30, no. 4 (2007): 974-979.

450. “Strawberries, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2064/2

451. “Kale, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2

452. “Potato, Flesh and Skin, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2546/2

453. “Bananas, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

454. “Beef, Ground, 95% Lean Meat/ 5% Fat, Raw [Hamburger],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/6188/2

455. “Fish, Salmon, Atlantic, Wild, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish- products/4102/2

456. “Egg, Whole, Raw, Fresh,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/111/2

457. “Beef, Ground, 70% Lean Meat / 30% Fat, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/8004/2

458. “Cheese, Parmesan, Hard,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/32/2

459. “Candies, Kit Kat Wafer Bar,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5418/2

460. “Snacks, Potato Chips, Plain, Salted,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/snacks/5627/2

461. “Butter, Without Salt,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/133/2

462. “Oil, Industrial, Canola with AntiFoaming Agent, Principal Uses Salads, Woks and Light Frying,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/7946/2

463. “Nuts, Almonds, [Includes USDA Commodity Food A256, A264],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3085/2

464. “Nuts, Cashew Nuts, Raw,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3095/2

465. “Nuts, Walnuts, English [Includes USDA Commodity Food A259, A257], Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed- products/3138/2

466. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

467. “Oil, Vegetable Safflower, Salad or Cooking, Linoleic, (Over 70%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/573/2

468. “Oil, Vegetable, Sunflower, High Oleic (70% and Over),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats- and-oils/623/2

469. “Oil, Vegetable, Corn, Industrial and Retail, All Purpose Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/580/2

470. “Oil, Vegetable, Palm,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/510/2

471. “Oil, Peanut, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/506/2

472. “Oil, Vegetable, Cottonseed, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/

fats-and-oils/571/2

473. “Oil, Olive, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2

474. “Vegetable Oil, Coconut,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/508/2

475. Moss, Michael. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York Random House, 2014. Kindle File, Location 2809 of 7325.

476. “The Original,” Flavor Finder. Pringles. https://www.pringles.com/en_US/products/favorites/the-original.html#nutrition-modal

477. “Lay’s Classic Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/lays/lays-classic-potato-chips

478. “DORITOS Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/doritos

479. “CHEETOS Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/cheetos

480. “FRITOS Original Corn Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/fritos

481. “KIT KAT Milk Chocolate,” The Hershey Company. https://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/kit-kat-wafer-bars/milk-chocolate.aspx?cat=cat

482. “Nestle Butterfinger Pieces 6 x 1.36 kg,” Nestle Professional. https://www.nestleprofessional.com/united- states/en/BrandsAndProducts/Brands/NESTLE/Pages/11000354.aspx

483. “Nabisco Oreo Double Stuf Chocolate,” Snackworks. https://www.snackworks.com/products/product-detail.aspx?product=4400003325

484. ”RUFFLES Original Potato Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/ruffles/ruffles-original-potato-chips

485. “TOSTITOS Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/tostitos

486. “MUNCHOS Original Potato Crisps,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/munchos

487. “Cheez-It Original Crackers,” Kellogg’s. https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00024100122615

488. “SMARTFOOD White Cheddar Cheese Flavored Popcorn,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/smartfood

489. “Goldfish Crackers,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/2307870/2

490. “FUNYUNS Onion Flavored Rings,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/funyuns

491. “BABY RUTH King,” Ingredients. Nestle. https://products.nestle.ca/en/brands/chocolates/baby-ruth/baby-ruth-king.aspx

492. “SUNCHIPS Original Multigrain Snacks,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/sunchips

493. “Ingredients,” Twix Caramel Cookie Bars Single Pack,” Twix. http://www.twix.com/product/nutrition

494. Strazzullo et al., “Salt Intake, Stroke, and Cardiovascular Disease: Meta- Analysis of Prospective Studies,” British Medical Journal 339, b4567 (2009). doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b4567

495. Stolarz-Skrzypek et al., “Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion,” Journal of the American Medical Association 305, no. 17 (2011): 1777-1785.

496. Bolhuis et al., “Salt Promotes Passive Overconsumption of Dietary Fat in Humans,” Journal of Nutrition 146, no. 4 (2016): 838-845.

497. “Sodium and Food Sources,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/salt/food.htm

498. “Do You Use Peanut Oil or Soybean Oil in Your Cooking Oil?” FAQs. McDonald’s. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/your_questions/our_food/do-you-use-peanut-oil-or-soybean-in-your-cooking-oil.html

499. “Ingredient Guide,” Kentucky Fried Chicken. https://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_ingredients.pdf

500. “Ingredients Statement,” Menu. Chipotle. https://www.chipotle.com/en-US/menu/ingredients_statement/ingredients_statement.aspx

501. “Allergen Menu,” Olive Garden. https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/allergen_guide.pdf

502. “Original Popped Corn,” SkinnyPop Popcorn. https://www.skinnypop.com/our-popcorn/popped-popcorn/original/

503. “Granola Bars, Crunchy Oats n’ Dark Chocolate,” Nutritionix. https://www.nutritionix.com/i/nature-valley/granola-bars-crunchy-oats-n-dark- chocolate/57d8a834964e6128595ca25a

504. “Mixed Berry Nutrition Facts,” Belvita Breakfast. https://www.belvitabreakfast.com/bites#mixed-berry

505. “Peanut Butter,” KIND Snacks. https://www.kindsnacks.com/products/breakfast/peanut-butter-breakfast-bar

506. “Nabisco Newtons 100% Whole Grain Fig Cookies, 14 oz,” Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nabisco-Newtons-100-Whole-Grain-Fig-Cookies- 14-oz/13281446

507. “Nabisco Wheat Thins Multi-Grain Baked Snack Crackers, 15 oz,” Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nabisco-Wheat-Thins-Multi-Grain-Baked-Snack-Crackers-15-oz/10292786

508. “Classic Hummus,” Sabra. https://sabra.com/dips/hummus/classic-hummus.html

509. “LAY’S Over Baked Original Potato Crisps,” Frito-Lay. https://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/oven-baked

510. “Oats ’n Honey Protein Granola,” Nature Valley. https://www.naturevalley.com/product/oats-n-honey-protein-granola/

511. “Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars Apple Cinnamon,” Kellogg’s. https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00038000356216#ingredients

512. “Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat,” Pepperidge Farms. https://www.pepperidgefarm.com/product/whole-grain-100-whole-wheat-bread/

513. “Cashews, Whole, Salted Roasted, Family Pack,” Wegmans. https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery- food/chips-and-snacks/cashews/whole-unsalted-roasted-cashews-family-pack.html#

514. Cordain, Loren. “Implications of Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Diets for Modern Humans.” In Evolution of the Human Diet. The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable, edited by P.S. Ungar, 363-83. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007.

515. Grosso et al., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Depression: Scientific Evidence and Biological Mechanisms,” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (2014): doi: 10.1155/2014/313570

516. Simopoulos, A., “The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids,” Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 56, no. 8 (2002): 365-79.

517. Patterson et al., “Health Implications of High Dietary Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids,” Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism (2012): doi: 10.1155/2012/539426

518. Ibid.

519. Caterina, R., “N-3 Fatty Acids in Cardiovascular Disease,” New England Journal of Medicine (2011): 364: 2439-2450 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1008153

520. Blasbalg et al., “Changes in Consumption of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids in the United States during the 20th Century,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 93, no. 5 (2011): 950-962.

521. Guyenet, S., and Carlsen, S., “Increase in Adipose Tissue Linoleic Acid of US Adults in the Last Half Century,” Advances in Nutrition 6, no. 6 (2015): 660-664.

522. Ramsden et al., “N-6 Fatty Acid-Specific and Mixed Polyunsaturate Dietary Interventions Have Different Effects on CHD Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials,” British Journal of Nutrition 104, no. 11 (2010): 1586-1600.

523. Mozaffarian et al., “Effects on Coronary Heart Disease of Increasing Polyunsaturated Fat in Place of Saturated Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials,” PLOS Medicine 2010: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000252

524. Ramsden et al., “N-6 Fatty Acid-Specific and Mixed Polyunsaturate Dietary Interventions Have Different Effects on CHD Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials,” British Journal of Nutrition 104, no. 11 (2010): 1586-1600.

525. Yam et al., “Diet and Disease—The Israeli Paradox: Possible Dangers of a High Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet,” Israel Journal of Medical Science 32, no. 11 (1996): 1134-1143.

526. “Oil, Vegetable Safflower, Salad or Cooking, Linoleic, (Over 70%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/573/2

527. “Oil, Vegetable, Corn, Industrial and Retail, All Purpose Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and- oils/580/2

528. “Oil, Vegetable, Sunflower, Linoleic, (approx. 65%),” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and- oils/572/2

529. “Oil, Vegetable, Cottonseed, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/571/2

530. “Oil, Soybean, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/507/2

531. “Oil, Sesame, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/511/2

532. “Oil, Peanut, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/506/2

533. “Oil, Vegetable, Canola [Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil],” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/621/2

534. “Oil, Olive, Salad or Cooking,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2

535. “Oil, Vegetable, Palm,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/510/2

536. “Vegetable Oil, Coconut,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/508/

537. “Butter, Without Salt,” Self Nutrition Data. https://nutritiondata.self.com/factsdairy-and-egg-products/133/2

538. “Foods Highest in Total Omega-6 Fatty Acids,” Self Nutrition Data . https://nutritiondata.self.com/foods- 000141000000000000000-w.html

539. Ibid.

540. Ibid.

541. “Glossary of Cooking Oils,” Food Processing: The Information Source for Food and Beverage Manufacturers. https://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2009/081/

542. Logan, A., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Major Depression: A Primer for the Mental Health Professional,” Lipids in Health and Disease 3, no. 25 (2004): doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-3-25

543. Haag, A., “Essential Fatty Acids and the Brain,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 48, no. 3 (2008): 195-203.

544. Hubert, A., and Else, P., “Basal Metabolic Rate: History, Composition, Regulation, and Usefulness,” Physiological and Biochemical Zoology: Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches 77, no. 6 (2004): 869-76.

545. Logan, A., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Major Depression: A Primer for the Mental Health Professional,” Lipids in Health and Disease 3, no. 25 (2004): doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-3-25

546. Su et al., “Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Major Depressive Disorder: A Preliminary Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” European Neuropsychopharmacology 13, no. 4 (2003): 267-271.

547. Hibbeln et al., “Increasing Homicide Rates and Linoleic Acid Consumption among Five Western Countries, 1961-2000,” Lipids 39, no. 12 (2004): 1207-13.

548. Stoll et al., “Omega 3 Fatty Acids in Bipolar Disorder: A Preliminary Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” Archives of General Psychiatry 56, no. 5 (1999): 407-12.

549. Huan et al., “Suicide Attempt and N-3 Fatty Acid Levels in Red Blood Cells: A Case Control Study in China,” Biological Psychiatry 56, no. 7 (2004): 490-6.

550. St-Onge, M., and Jones, P., “Physiological Effects of Medium-Chain Triglycerides: Potential Agents in the Prevention of Obesity,” The Journal of Nutrition 132, no. 3 (2002): 329-332.

551. Assuncão et al., “Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity,” Lipids 44, no. 7 (2009): 593-601.

552. “Bugles Product List,” General Mills. https://www.generalmills.com/en/Brands/Snacks/bugles/brand-product-list

553. Guyenet, Stephan, “Fat, Added Fat, and Obesity in America,” WholeHealthSource. https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2015/11/fat- added-fat-and-obesity-in-america.html

554. Ibid.

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