Is Soybean Oil Good For You Or Bad For You?
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Foods with soybean oil
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m answering a viewer question who asked: is soybean oil good for you or bad for you?
At the end of this post, I also share foods with soybean oil that you need to avoid.
This question was from our #LLTV Q&A series that we filmed for our Live Lean TV YouTube channel back in 2012.
So I’ll first share a quick clip of my answer from 2012, then I’ll answer it again, with my more detailed thoughts today.
Alright lets first jump back to 2012…
Viewer question: Is soybean oil good for you or bad for you? Do you think soybean oil will trigger arthritis?
If you watch my YouTube channel, you know you should get soybean oil out of your diet.
One of the main reasons is soybean oil causes so much inflammation in the body.
Soybean oil has a high omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio
With today’s standard American diet, a.k.a. the SAD diet, our body’s are becoming so inflamed with all the processed foods we’re eating.
This causes our omega-6 to omega-3 ratio to be way out of whack.
Back in the day, our ancestors had closer to a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Today’s standard American diet is closer to a 20 to 1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio
This means our diet is way out of proportion, which is creating a lot of inflammation in our body.
Excessive inflammation is a leading cause of disease and many other ailments.
Try to get soybean oil out of your diet.
If you are going to use cooking oils, go with avocado oil, coconut oil, or under low temperatures, olive oil.
Now lets fast forward to my answer today
My answer is exactly the same.
First of all, soy is one of the highest pesticide sprayed GMO crops because it responds so well to pesticides.
This makes it so cheap to produce, which is why soybean oil and soy protein is found so many cheap processed foods.
A lot of hydrogenated fats also come from soy.
In the western world, since it’s so cheap to produce, the consumption of soybean oil has increased 1000 of times since the early 1900s.
Soybean oil may account for approximately 60% of all oils consumed, and 7% of total calorie consumption in the US.
What is soybean oil?
Soybean oil is a vegetable oil which is highly processed and refined using unhealthy chemicals such as hexane.
In addition to having a high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio, soybean oil is also easily oxidized when heated, thus leading to more free radical damage and inflammation.
When our omega 6 to omega 3 ratio goes up, it may also increase the risk of osteoporosis, cancer, and obesity, via an increase in insulin resistance.
Some studies have shown that diets high in soybean oil could also be causing more cases of obesity and diabetes than high fructose corn syrup.
Plus, there is a lot of talk about soy disrupting hormone levels, including the testosterone to estrogen balance.
Therefore it’s important to be aware of the foods that contain soybean, and avoid them.
Foods containing soybean oil:
The easiest way to eliminate soybean oil is to stop eating processed food.
Make it easy on yourself by simply looking at the ingredients list of all packaged foods.
Soybean oil is usually found in:
- creamers
- condiments
- salad dressing
- bread
- crackers
- breakfast bars
- cookies
- potato chips
- frozen processed foods like desserts and pizza
- fast food
I did a full series on the best fast food menu items that don’t contain soy, here.
If you’re going to have soy, always choose:
- organic soy to avoid GMOs
- fermented soy such as miso and tempeh
Bottom line on is soybean oil good for you or bad for you?
Avoid it.
In addition to all the reasons provided, soy is a major source of allergies and doesn’t provide any nutrients that you can’t get from other foods.
If a food ingredients list contains the ingredient soybean oil, put it back.
I admit, sometimes I have pizza that contains soybean oil.
But it’s definitely not an everyday thing.
Do the best you can and try to cook most of your meals at home
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Question For You:
- Do you actively look at the ingredients list and avoid foods with soybean oil?
- What foods were you shocked that contained soybean oil?
Be sure to share your answers in the comment section below.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
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