Knowledge Base > Deb Kennedy, PhD - Culinary Medicine: Ask Me Almost Anything

Culinary Medicine: Ask Me Almost Anything

Deb Kennedy, PhD - Culinary Medicine: Ask Me Almost Anything

This event was on Thursday, May 01, 2025 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

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Question:

Can you talk about seed oils? Is any of the social media fear mongering real? If so, how concerned should average people be vs other dietary health factors?

— Steve Lefler

Answer:

Alright, there always is something that comes around and I've been around for 30 years. There's always something that's gonna save us all from everything. And all we have to do is drink kambucha tea where you are around when that happened. Or we need to stop eating this. And grapefruit would help us lose weight when someone comes out with one thing is gonna fix it all, or there's one bad thing out there, you can almost guarantee 95%. That is not true. When I look at oils, I look at the research, I talk to the top scientists for the culinary medicine textbook series. When you're talking fat and we need fat people, fat is not a bad thing. It's what covers your nerves and it's what is on the outside of all of your cells. Your cells and your nerves need to be able to be flexible. If you are gonna go towards butter and lard and beef tallow, they're gonna be stiff. Things aren't gonna be able to come out. Like the toxins in there. Good things aren't gonna be able to come in. You're gonna have this stiff, stiff, stiff. So things that are solid at room temperature, your butter, your large, your beef tallow are not healthy. That has not changed over decades. Not healthy. Not to say once in a while you can make something out of it. But if the McDonald's goes and makes beef tallow, we are that we're talking a public health issue gonna happen on our hands. Oils that are liquidate room temperature are healthful for us in moderation. I'm not saying go out and chug these things. So what I use in my kitchen, I will get canola oil when I don't wanna use the expensive stuff, but my canola oil, my soy oil is going to be GMO free, right? So when we're talking about a lot of these seed oils, we, we need to think how are they being made and what are the toxic compounds that are, are being used to make these seed oils. It's not so much about the seed, it's how the oils are being made. It's not so much about the plant, it's about how the oils are being made. That is the toxic part of this whole equation. And I think people got mixed up and then just threw the seed in the plant oils under the bus when they don't need to be. So organic. Non GMO canola oil I will use when I don't need an olive oil. Um, and this is my olive oil that I use when I'm cooking. I also have the olive oil hunter who sends me bottles that are just the best olive oil I've ever had. So to summarize, have oils and fats that are liquid at room temperature. Again, you don't need a lot of it. I th if you look up how much you're, you're required a day, we're talking about maybe two tablespoons. We're not talking about a lot of fat. We're talking about fats that are healthy for us. If you eat enough nuts and seeds and Omega-3 fats from like fish, you're getting some really great oils that way too. So you're not just getting it from the oils and the like, the butter and the oil, right? You're also getting it from other foods. And I looked up 'cause I knew this question was coming, can you get enough healthful oils from just the foods? Can you eat enough nuts and flax and chia per day to make up for not using any oils? And the research that I shot, there's a tiny bit. It says, no, not really. It would be hard for you to do. So not impossible, but again, you're gonna listen to your own body. Do you feel healthier without it or not? So I always have the caveat, I'm gonna tell you what the science says and then I'm gonna tell you, check that with your body.
Deb Kennedy, PhD

Deb Kennedy, PhD

PhD Nutritionist

drdebkennedy.com