All vegetable oils are not created equal
Around 1907, a German scientist contacted Procter & Gamble to tell them he had invented a way to turn liquid fat into a solid, and suggested it would transform their soap products. But when the company’s scientists found that they could
turn cottonseed oil into a creamy, lardlike substance, they decided to forget soap! They saw it as a perfect replacement for animal fats used for cooking, and so did America. The company sold 2.6 million pounds of what it branded as
Crisco in 1912, and 60 million pounds four years later.
Although this vegetable fat was marketed as the healthier way to cook, it was 50 percent trans fats, which are hydrogenated fats commonly used in processed and fast foods.
Current studies show trans fats are heart-stopping: For every 2 percent increase in consumption of trans fat, the risk of heart disease increases by 23 percent! Studies also implicate trans fats in adverse effects on the brain and nervous system, and increased risk of depression and dementia.
Nonetheless, for 100 years, all vegetable oils were touted as the solution to Americans’ health problems. Instead we have grown more obese, more likely to have diabetes and dementia, and more depressed.