What the seed oil panic is actually arguing
The claim, stripped of its more dramatic versions, goes like this: industrially processed vegetable oils, sunflower, soybean, canola, corn, are high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly linoleic acid. When omega-6 intake dwarfs omega-3 intake, the body's inflammatory pathways tip out of balance. A 2021 review in Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, led by researcher James DiNicolantonio, found that modern Western diets carry an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio as high as 20:1, against an estimated ancestral ratio of 4:1 or lower. Chronic low-grade inflammation is linked to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome.
