This Common Cooking Oil Can Damage Your Memory

Every year, Americans consume more than 12 tons of soybean oil. The oil is used to prepare and cook food in restaurants-- from salad dressings and sauces to fried foods—as well as in home kitchens and in food manufacturing. However, that tsunami of oil threatens to submerge our bodies in a long list of dangerous health problems affecting the brain, heart, and other organs.

So, read on to learn if any of your health troubles could be related to a megadose of soybean oil and how to avoid its worst side effects.

Researchers at the University of California who have studied the health effects of soybean oil point out that while humans have been consuming soybeans for more than 5,000 years, it’s only in the past couple of decades that soybean oil has started to be used in vast quantities in our food. And while occasional small servings of soybean oil might be compatible with good health, our current daily megadose of the stuff is believed to be causing serious problems in our hearts, brains, and other organs.1

Why Soybean Oil?

The origins of the widespread use of soybean oil was initially based on a public health mistake – or, if you’re cynical about the politics of food, you could say it was all just a lie.

In the 1960s, public health officials believed that the American epidemic of heart disease was linked to consumption of the saturated fats in meat. As the California researchers point out, medical experts jumped to the faulty conclusion that “most if not all saturated fats are unhealthy and conversely that all unsaturated fats are healthy.” Of course, we now know that’s not true and unprocessed saturated fats are not only good for your heart, they’re good for your brain.

So, public policy encouraged the use of soybean oil and other vegetable oils even though any evidence for these oils superiority for cardiovascular health was ambiguous and far from conclusive.2

These researchers further explain that in the 1970s soybean oil began to widely replace animal fat in the typical American diet. That huge rise in soybean oil consumption parallels the increase in the rates of American obesity. In fact, as the number of Americans battling weight gain and obesity ballooned, soybean oil became the single biggest component of the American diet that has increased the most in the past 100 years.

Our Imbalance of Omega-3 Fats and Omega-6 Fats

One of the main problems with devouring huge amounts of soybean oil and similar vegetable oils (such as corn oil and sunflower oil) is that most of their fat content consists of what are called omega-6 fats. That refers to their molecular structure. In contrast, the fats in fish and some plants are mostly omega-3 fats. Up until about 100 years ago our ratio of consumption between omega-6 to omega-3 fats was about four to one. Now, however, we’re slurping down a ratio of 20 to one as reported in a study in Germany (and other similar studies).3

According to researchers at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, that lack of omega-3s and an overly large helping of omega-6s increases the body’s inflammation, boosts the chances of suffering more allergies and can endanger the heart and lungs with an increased risk of blood clots.4

They also note that today’s meat contains more omega-6s than they have in the past. When cattle used to graze in pastures, the grass they ate contained high levels of omega-3 which was incorporated into their meat. But today’s cattle, whose meat we consume, mostly feed on corn, grains and soy – which are all high in omega-6s. (Though you still can buy meat from pasture-raised cows.)

So, what does all of this do to your brain?

Increased Risk of Depression, Memory Problems

The latest research shows that soybean oil can negatively affect the brain by altering more than 100 genes within the hypothalamus. This can affect mood and memory. In fact, studies in mice show that elevated Pcsk1n gene levels in the mice fed soybean oil suggest a potential link to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, genetic changes in the brain also lower the level of oxytocin (often called the “love” hormone).5 That drop in oxytocin may be linked to mental health difficulties. At the same time, say the researchers, it can also alter cell-signaling that maintains normal brain health.

Soybean consumption can even:

• Increase your risk for diabetes and weight gain: Lab tests demonstrate that soybean oil may affect your metabolic health in ways that increase your chances of becoming obese and experiencing blood sugar increases that lead to Type-2 diabetes.6
• Leave you more prone to high blood pressure: Tests show that when you eat food that’s been cooked in a restaurant with repeatedly heated soybean oil it “causes blood pressure elevation, which may be attributed to chronic inflammation.”7

Our Takeaway

Our take on this is that we’re obviously consuming way too much soybean oil – along with other industrially processed vegetable oils. If you’re cooking at home, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil is a much better choice. We also need to consume more fish like sardines and salmon that are high in omega-3s. And when you eat meat, look for organic meat from animals that have been allowed to graze on grass.