The Most Thyroid Harmful Ingredient In Your Cooking Oils

A guest article by Tom Brimeyer, a Functional Medicine Practitioner and Author of Hypothyroidism Revolution and Hypothyroidism Exercise Revolution programs

Today I want to talk about a very important but confusing topic that has a much bigger impact on your thyroid than you realize. There is a lot of confusing and false information that continues to circulate across the globe regarding what fats and oils are truly healthy.

Unfortunately, you and millions of other people have been led to believe that all of these so called “heart healthy” oils in your diet are preventing future health problems while the reality is that they are not only heart UN-healthy but are linked directly to hypothyroidism.

One of my favorite quotes that I find applicable to many situations in life, including this one, is…

“Insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results”

–       Albert Einstein

The entire “heart healthy” marketing movement was driven by the fact that polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) could lower cholesterol.

Even though it’s still going strong today, the entire cholesterol myth has been debunked by science long ago which I cover in some detail in one of the videos in Hypothyroidism Seminar: The Right And Wrong Ways To Heal.

If all of these polyunsaturated fats were so “heart healthy” then why has heart disease continued to rise in spite of our drastic increase in the use of these oils?

According to statistics from the FDA, our use of “heart healthy” polyunsaturated oils has increased by more than 330% since 1970 with the average person today consuming 51.9 lbs. per year as opposed to only 15.4 lbs. per year in 1970.

If over the course of 40 years these “heart healthy” oils have not made any bit of impact in heart health then why do we continue to push them as if another 40 years might provide some different results?

That’s not wishful thinking… That’s pure insanity.

That also doesn’t paint a good picture for polyunsaturated fats but believe it or not, polyunsaturated fats can paint a good picture, so to speak…

Use PUFAs For Paint But Not For Your Thyroid Diet

Polyunsaturated fats were once used almost exclusively for paint varnish. You see, polyunsaturated fats work great for paints because they oxidize and dry very easily allowing paint to be liquid and then dry when applied to a wall.

But somewhere between the lines of ignorance and “insanity”, as Albert Einstein would have said, we’ve completely ignored the obvious dangers of these fats in favor of unscientific research and false promises.

It is very well known that polyunsaturated fats oxidize rapidly when exposed to oxygen and heat, and this oxidation creates free radicals, oxidative damage, and cell death. Killing your own cells definitely doesn’t improve your health in case you were wondering.

Regardless of how these oils are processed and manufactured, oxygen is abundant in the human body which is heated to roughly 98.6 °F. Needless to say, your body is a perfect environment for the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

But that’s only part of the problem…

3 Sneaky Ways How Polyunsaturated Fats Cause Hypothyroidism

1. Polyunsaturated fats block the thyroid gland from secreting thyroid hormone.
2. Polyunsaturated fats block the transport of thyroid hormone to your cells within your bloodstream.
3. Polyunsaturated fats block your cells from properly utilizing the thyroid hormone that is available.

5 Worst Oils When You Are Cooking For Thyroid

The only way to stop the thyroid suppressive effects of most cooking oils is to avoid them altogether. Unfortunately, this is difficult because these toxic oils are so inexpensive.

Because of this, people continue to use them in their kitchens and they are used extensively in restaurants and commercial food products where inexpensive oils lead to greater profits.

Below are five of the worst oils you can use which are highest in polyunsaturated fat and pose the greatest risk to your thyroid.

Vegetable oil, which is not included in the list below, is nothing more than a generic name for the combination of one or more of these oils, but predominantly consists of soybean oil, which is likely the worst of them all.

1. Soybean Oil – Saturated fat: 15% Monounsaturated fat: 23% Polyunsaturated fat: 58%
2. Corn Oil – Saturated fat: 13% Monounsaturated fat: 28% Polyunsaturated fat: 55%
3. Cottonseed Oil – Saturated fat: 26% Monounsaturated fat: 18% Polyunsaturated fat: 52%
4. Sunflower Oil – Saturated fat: 10% Monounsaturated fat: 45% Polyunsaturated fat: 40%
5. Peanut Oil – Saturated fat: 17% Monounsaturated fat: 46% Polyunsaturated fat: 32%

When Will the Insanity End?

How much longer do they have to keep repeatedly pushing and promoting the use of these oils before we realize that ignoring the science that is right in front of our eyes is true insanity?

By continuing to follow the health advice of the masses, how can you logically expect different results?

How can you expect anything but more hypothyroidism, heart disease, and cancer?

Sometimes the only way to achieve opposite results is to take opposite action.

Do yourself a favor, and if you use any of these worst cooking oils, then stop and replace them with a fat known to help support healthy thyroid function.

Learn about what cooking oils to use for your thyroid in my Hypothyroidism Program and start finally see improvements in your thyroid health that you can achieve with just making some tweaks in your diet alone.