Seed Oils Linked to Early 20th Century Heart Disease Surge
Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health · Dr. Joseph Mercola
February 16, 202616m 4s
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Show Notes
- My paper, Seed Oils as a Hypothesized Contributor to Heart Disease: A Narrative Synthesis, explains that heart disease was rare before the 20th century and surged only after industrial seed oils became a dominant part of the food supply, pointing to a long-term dietary driver rather than sudden biological failure
- Linoleic acid (LA) from seed oils accumulates in your tissues and oxidizes easily, creating inflammatory damage inside arteries that builds silently for decades before symptoms appear
- The rise in seed oil consumption preceded the explosion in heart disease by 10 to 20 years, matching the slow timeline of plaque formation inside blood vessels
- Even if you avoid seed oils at home, LA remains embedded in packaged foods and restaurant meals, creating constant exposure that keeps arterial damage ongoing
- Tracking and reducing LA intake transforms heart disease from an inevitable outcome of aging into a long-term process you can influence