Health Update

by Ching M. Alano

In your column entitled “Everything you’re dying to know about formalin,” you mentioned oxidative stress. I used canola and corn oil for frying after I learned that both of them reduce bad cholesterol, but unfortunately, they were mentioned by Dr. Angel S. Respicio Jr. as commercial vegetable oils to be avoided in order to stay healthy. By the way, what are cold pressed or expeller pressed vegetable oils? They were mentioned as good commercial vegetable oils. Can you please give some examples of these?
used to eat food fried in vegetable oils like canola and corn oil. For many years, we have been led to believe that vegetable oils are healthy because they are not “saturated like animal fats.” Truth is, the body needs both unsaturated oils (like vegetable oil, olive oil, nuts, avocado) and saturated oils (like animal fat, butter, and palm oil). The problem with the commercially available vegetable oils on the market today is that they were extracted above 400°F. At that temperature, menacing by-products called lipid hydroperoxides (LH) are formed. When vegetable oil is extracted without using heat, it is called expeller pressed or cold pressed just like our VCO (virgin coconut oil). According to Dr. Catey Shanahan’s article (“Heart of darkness,” westonaprice.org), these LH incite free radical cascades, in addition to deactivating enzymes. This makes them capable of causing tissue inflammation, resulting in skin rashes, heartburn, liver problems, arterial spasm, and blood clots or even cancer. Another toxic chemical identified by researchers at the University of Minnesota is HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-noneal). This is formed when vegetable oils are heated to frying temperature of 365°F. This compound is highly reactive with proteins, nucleic acids — DNA and RNA — and other biomolecules. Reports have linked it to several diseases, including atherosclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and liver diseases. Dr. Mary Enig mentions that excess use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the production of prostaglandins, leading to an array of problems ranging from autoimmune disease to PMS. Add to that, premature aging. (more…)