Because they’re running counter to big agribusiness and other evil government and corporate types, it piques my interest, but most of these people seem dangerously adjacent to “carnivore diet” weirdos. I’m vegan I’m not gonna use tallow dude. Coconut oil would be fine thanks.
Anyone smarter than me know the real score?
It's mainly if the polyunsaturated fatty acids in the seed oil oxidizes, it produces trans fats and lipid peroxides. This can be pretty bad especially when it comes to reusing fryer oil (which is what most deep fried food is cooked in), I notice it can make my inflammation worse. And most industrial seed oils oxidate easily, some even go rancid just sitting on the shelves. So antioxidants are put into the oils. But antioxidants can also have bad effects. TBHQ being the worst, it can produce a heightened allergy response.
Seed oils are really high in polyunsaturated fats, canola oil is 61g of polyunsaturated fats per 100g, both olive oil and coconut oil are under 10g I think. Olive oil has a low smoke point though so it's really bad for stuff like deep frying or really high temperature cooking. Medium heat only.
As for why seed oils are so popular, it's mainly based off of bunk science by Proctor and Gamble and the sugar industry that demonized saturated fats during the cold war. This is also why sugar is in everything, and why low fat = healthy on supermarket labels.
I'm gonna chime in here and say that while stuff like the keto diet has allowed dipshits to justify gorging on endless amounts of meat, I feel like more recent science that's not backed by big business seems to really push the fact that many traditional sources of fat are absolutely fine. If anything it seems kind of clear that processed carbohydrates are the bane of the Western diet and eliminating them as much as possible (not saying keto, just avoiding anything that isn't a complex carb) would do most people a big favor in terms of health and wellbeing.
I can say personally that I've been on keto for long periods of time and I felt much better doing it. The primary downside was that it felt like if you weren't dieting that you had to eat animal product in order to reach a subsistence level of calorie intake.