You might think a drizzle of oil in the pan, a splash in a salad dressing, or a spread of margarine on toast is harmless – even healthy.
But according to one expert, the everyday oils hiding in our kitchen cabinets could be slowly wrecking our health.
Seed oils are hidden in many foods we consume daily, from fast food and salad dressings to supermarket breads and even items marketed as ‘healthy’ snacks, often without us being aware of just how much we’re ingesting.
Now, Gina Urlich, a mother and clinical nutritionist based in New Zealand, has pointed out the oils she completely avoids, as they can cause inflammation, harm DNA, and speed up aging.
‘These oils aren’t in your diet by accident,’ Gina told her followers.
‘They’re cheap, shelf-stable, and profitable. But your body pays the price,’ she added.
Gina, admired for her evidence-based health advice, highlights how these oils have become the ‘foundation of ultra-processed foods.’
They’re prevalent in large quantities of breads, sauces, snacks, and takeaways we reach for every day.
According to clinical nutritionist Gina Urlich, common seed oils are potentially damaging our health and are found in everything from fast food to salad dressings and even in supermarket breads and ‘healthy’ snacks.
Gina avoids oils like soybean, canola, corn, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, rice bran, and margarines, noting that they become ‘toxic’ when heated, leading to inflammation.
And while they might make food more convenient, the impact on our bodies is far from harmless.
‘The average Western diet has a 15:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (our bodies evolved on closer to 1:1),’ she explained.
However, a chronic imbalance like this only leads to one thing – inflammation in our bodies.
Her blacklist includes soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, and margarines.
While they sound fairly ordinary, Gina said the dangers lie in what they do to the body once consumed, especially when heated.
‘When heated, seed oils release toxic aldehydes that damage DNA, accelerate ageing and harm heart health,’ she warned.
Oxidised seed oils, she added, are particularly dangerous as they can turn ‘bad’ cholesterol into artery-clogging plaque.
The long-term consequences of excess consumption have been linked to obesity, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Instead, for better health, Gina recommends using natural oils and fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, as well as natural sources like nuts, seeds, fish, and butter or ghee.
Gina (pictured) warned that seed oils release toxic aldehydes that damage DNA, accelerate ageing and harm heart health. When oxidised they can also be ‘particularly dangerous’ as they can turn ‘bad’ cholesterol into artery-clogging plaque
‘They’re the backbone of ultra-processed foods [like] breads, snacks, sauces, [and] takeaways, which is why we eat them in massive, unbalanced amounts.
And while margarine was once marketed as a ‘healthier’ alternative to butter, Gina stated that the opposite is true, calling it one of the key fats she bans from her home.
As for her alternatives, Gina turns instead to oils and fats in their most natural state.
‘The fix,’ she said, is non-processed olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, fish, and butter/ghee.’
Her advice is simple, but it will make shoppers think twice when reaching for their go-tos in the supermarket aisle.
