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Americans are becoming more cognizant of the ingredients in their food amid the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Seed oils — which are plant-based cooking oils that are often used in processed, packaged foods – have been touted by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as “unknowingly poison[ing]” Americans.
Any oil that comes from seeds is classified as a seed oil, but that also includes some that are beneficial, such as sesame seed oil, peanut oil and flax oils, according to board-certified family physician Cate Shanahan, M.D., who is based in Florida.
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Shanahan, who specializes in using traditional food to promote health and reverse disease, shared with Fox News Digital which seed oils should be avoided.
“I had to create a term that described the harmful oils in our food supply … the ‘hateful eight seed oils’ or the ‘hatefully eight oils,’” she said.
Dr. Cate Shanahan shared the “hateful eight” seed oils that are criticized by those in the MAHA movement for their potential health risks and lack of nutrients. (iStock)
Those eight include corn, canola, cotton seed, soy, sunflower, safflower, rice bran and grape seed.
There are several factors that make these eight specific oils unhealthy, according to Shanahan.
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The process to extract the oil is “not selectively bred to yield their oil easily,” she noted — it requires high heat and pressure, leading to the presence of a neurotoxin called hexane.
The oils contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can break down and turn into toxins during the heating process, according to Shanahan.
The so-called “hateful eight seed oils” are corn, canola, cotton seed, soy, sunflower, safflower, rice bran and grape seed. (iStock)
“Even after processing, they can continue to degrade, especially when exposed to heat during cooking, leading to further toxin generation,” she said.
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It’s necessary to refine the oils to make them edible, but that process removes nutrients.
“Some of these nutrients are very important, like choline and lecithin and other phospholipids,” noted Shanahan. “They’re important for our brain and our nervous system and our cellular division and fertility and key things in life like that.”
The process of refining oils removes nutrients, leaving them almost devoid of beneficial components, the expert noted. (iStock)
Seed oils are commonly found in processed “junk” food, as well as foods served in restaurants and in hospitals.
“What makes a ‘junk food’ a ‘junk food’ is in the ingredients,” Shanahan said. “When you pay attention to the ingredients, are they wholesome or not? These hateful eight seed oils are not wholesome.”
Seed oils overall have been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer, as Fox News Digital recently reported.
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Some health agencies, however, have spoken in defense of seed oils.
In 2024, the American Heart Association (AHA) published a piece asserting that “there’s no reason to avoid seed oils and plenty of reasons to eat them.”
The American Heart Association has stated that “there’s no reason to avoid seed oils and plenty of reasons to eat them.”
The piece argued that it is “misleading” to state that the fatty acids in seed oils “break down into toxins when used for cooking, causing inflammation, weakening the immune system, and contributing to chronic illnesses.”
The AHA also pointed to other ingredients beyond seed oils that could lead to unhealthy outcomes.
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“The real concern should be overeating ultraprocessed foods, which may contain harmful ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, added sugar and sodium,” the post reads.
“It’s so odd that the internet has gone wild demonizing these things,” said Dr. Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in California and a nutrition scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “They are not to be feared.”
