Cancer and Vegetable Oils
Learn why you must avoid ALL vegetable oils if you have cancer
Many studies since the 1920’s have shown an association between consumption of unsaturated vegetable oils and the incidence of cancer.
Way back in the fifties, the renowned natural healing pioneer Johanna Budwig added her incredible research to the cancer equation. She said that in normal, healthy cells "we find a bipolarity between the electrically positive nucleus and the electrically negative cell membrane with its highly unsaturated fatty acid."
To determine if food affected breast cancer risk, the diets of 61,000 Swedish women between the ages of 40-76 were followed for four years. The results? For every 5 grams (about a teaspoonful) of vegetable oil consumed per day, breast cancer risk increased by 70%.
The problem with vegetable oils
1. Industrial oil processing
Industrial oil processing creates rancidity (free radicals) in commercial vegetable oils. Rancid oils and fats are dangerous, for they decrease oxygenation and weaken normal cells while strengthening cancerous ones.
Most vegetable oils in the market are highly processed. Refined vegetable oils weaken your immune system. Polyunsaturated oils are particularly vulnerable to oxidation and free radical formation that can encourage cancer.
During processing, the heat, pressure, and chemical deodorizers deform the fatty acids. Once healthy essential omega-3 and -6 fatty acids get transformed into toxic compounds called lipid hydroperoxides, lipid epoxides, cyclic fatty acid monomers, and other cancer causing compounds.
Commercial oils contain such a large number of contaminants and are so heavily processed that they can no longer be regarded as good sources of EFAs.
Most oils are extracted from corn, sunflowers, plants, etc by using extreme heat and chemicals. They are no longer alive but dead oils that cause death to the user. They also are very tough (dead) oils in that they have a 20-year shelf life.
These oils are very much like cholesterol and our bodies just can’t seem to tell the difference. These oils get into our cell membranes (where cholesterol should be) and destroy the electrical charge. Without the charge, our cells
start to suffocate. Without the oxygen, the only way the cell can replicate is anaerobically. They impede the process of cellular exchange, or letting nutrition in and letting wastes out.
2. Rancid essential fatty acids
The process of refining vegetable oil damages the fats and makes the oils very unstable and prone to going rancid quite easily. Rancid oils in any form are particularly bad for your health because they introduce cancer causing free radicals into your body, without the benefit of including an antioxidant like vitamin E.
Most of the omega 6 EFAs in commercially produced oils are ruined— either hydrogenated into trans-fats or adulterated with chemicals and preservatives so the foods that contain them don’t go bad at the supermarket or on your shelf at home. Everything from peanut butter and frozen foods to salad dressings and cooking oils is loaded with ruined omega 6 EFAs.
At the very minimum, the majority (51%) of the oxygen transfer capability in commercial omega 6 oils and oil-containing foods has been ruined from trans-fats, preservatives, and chemicals. The proof of this is that any of these oils can stay open and exposed to air for weeks before going bad, instead of just days, as unprocessed oils do! (It is obvious when oil has turned because it smells and tastes bad and gives off gases when the container is opened.) Most commercially available oils have been ruined through such processing or they would not be so “spoil-proof.”
Refined cooking oils are made by highly intensive mechanical and chemical processes to extract the oil from the seeds. This process removes the natural nutrients from the seeds and creates a final product which oxidizes easily. The oxidation factor makes these oils more likely to break down into cancer causing free radicals within the body.
3. Overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids
Although Omega-6 fatty acids are needed in small amounts, an excess can contribute to cancer. Dangerously high levels of omega-6 fatty acids are due to the overuse of vegetable oils in modern diets.
The American diet is full of omega-6 fats, and many people now believe it is a major factor in inflammatory disease. The ideal omega 6/omega 3 ratio is around 4:1 or 2:1, but most people are much, much higher – up to 40:1.
Researchers found that Oleic acid- the kind of (monounsaturated) fat found in olive oil- had precisely no effect on the spreading of cancer. Linoleic acid, however, had a big effect- the rate of metastasis rose a dramatic 300 percent!
Linoleic acid is Omega-6: it’s the fat found in all those vegetable oils that everyone tells you are so good for you. Corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, etc.
Linoleic acid is found in high concentrations in corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, and canola oil. Most people consume a much higher amount of linoleic acid than alpha-linolenic acid, which has important health consequences.
Foe example, corn oil has 60 times more omega-6s than omega-3s. Omega-6 fatty acids increase inflammation, which boosts your risk of cancer, arthritis, and obesity. This is why we prefer a balanced ratio of omega-3s, which are found in walnuts, fish, and flaxseed.
Avoid even so-called “healthy” canola oil
The oil is removed by a combination of high temperature mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. Traces of the solvent (usually hexane) remain in the oil, even after considerable refining. Like all modern vegetable oils, canola oil goes through the process of caustic refining, bleaching and degumming–all of which involve high temperatures or chemicals of questionable safety. And because canola oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which easily become rancid and foul-smelling when subjected to oxygen and high temperatures, it must be deodorized. The standard deodorization process removes a large portion of the omega-3 fatty acids by turning them into trans fatty acids. Although the Canadian government lists the trans content of canola at a minimal 0.2 percent, research at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found trans levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid oil.
Click here to learn more on the dangers of consuming canola oil.
Even health foods which have been on the shelf (not refrigerated) for too long can be rancid. Try to make sure that the wheat germ, wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed oil, and whole wheat flour are fresh. Natural, unprocessed foods are extremely perishable. Refrigerate as soon as possible after purchasing them.
Conclusion
Avoid all vegetable oils. These include corn oil soy oil canola oil. Consuming ANY kind of vegetable oil is like throwing kerosene on a fire!
Avoid fried foods
University of Minnesota researchers A. Saari Csallany, a professor of food chemistry and nutritional biochemistry, and graduate student Christine Seppanen have shown that when highly unsaturated vegetable oils are heated at frying temperature (365 F) for extended periods–or even for half an hour–a highly toxic compound, HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal) forms in the oil.
HNE is a well known, highly toxic compound that is easily absorbed from the diet, said Csallany. "The toxicity arises because the compound is highly reactive with proteins, nucleic acids–DNA and RNA–and other biomolecules. HNE is formed from the oxidation of linoleic acid.
A recent Swedish report found that when Starchy foods (like flour and potatoes) are baked or fried at high temperatures they produce the carcinogenic chemical acrylamide. Prolonged exposure to acrylamide has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and may do the same in humans. Follow-up reports from five other countries, including the United States, found alarmingly high levels of acrylamide in many baked and fried foods.
Oil of any kind which has been repeatedly heated to its smoking point will lose it’s natural antioxidants and begin to accumulate free radicals and other cancer causing substances. Whether this has actually caused cancer in humans has never been proven. Commercial industrial kitchens which fry foods would be where this sort of thing might happen
The healthiest oil to use if you have cancer is Coconut oil
Because it is 92% saturated, coconut oil is extremely resistant to oxidation and free radical production. By simply using coconut oil instead, you can vastly decrease your chances of developing cancer.
For cooking purposes use Organic Virgin Coconut oil. Coconut oil is perfectly safe for you and will not affect you cancer in any way.
