Prioritize your health efforts on high-impact behaviors like managing caloric intake and increasing physical activity, rather than disproportionately worrying about minor dietary details like specific cooking oils.
Prioritize improving your strength, lean mass, and overall activity levels (e.g., VO2 max, grip strength), as these are enormous predictors of longevity with massive impacts on mortality risk.
Actively manage your LDL cholesterol and get your ApoB measured to ensure these critical markers of cardiovascular health are under control.
Recognize that cardiovascular health involves multiple interconnected factors beyond just LDL, including blood pressure, cardiovascular fitness, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation, and address them holistically.
Be open to changing your deeply held beliefs and opinions when presented with new, compelling evidence, even if it contradicts your previous understanding or academic background.
When assessing scientific claims, look for the overall consensus and converging lines of evidence from various study types to build stronger or weaker confidence in a statement’s accuracy.
When evaluating health interventions or dietary components, prioritize the overall net effect on hard outcomes (like disease events) rather than getting fixated on individual mechanisms that might appear negative in isolation.
Prioritize reducing the overall number of LDL particles (ApoB) in your bloodstream, as this is a more significant factor in preventing atherosclerosis than the individual oxidizability of each particle.
To reduce oxidized LDL, focus on preventing LDL particles from penetrating and being retained within the arterial intima, as this is where most oxidation occurs.
Be upfront and vocal about your personal biases and beliefs, especially when they differ from consensus or evidence, to maintain transparency and intellectual honesty.
Be aware that personal beliefs can be as powerful, if not more powerful, than financial incentives in influencing adherence to evidence, especially in information-siloed social media environments.
To accurately understand scientific findings, always read the original research paper rather than relying on headlines or social media summaries, which often misrepresent or oversimplify results.
Recognize that negative health outcomes often stem from an overall low-quality diet high in ultra-processed foods (like chips and fries), rather than solely from the presence of seed oils.
Restricting seed oils can be beneficial by proxy, as it often leads to reducing consumption of low-quality, ultra-processed foods like chips and sugary dressings, but avoid being overly restrictive.
If you choose to avoid seed oils, ensure you are still actively reducing saturated fat in your diet by opting for leaner cuts of meat and other lower saturated fat protein sources.
When reducing saturated fat intake, consider substituting it with fiber-dense sources of carbohydrates, as this is likely to lead to a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.
If you are concerned about seed oils, opt for monounsaturated fats like olive oil or avocado oil as a cardioprotective alternative to saturated fats.
Be aware that frying in thin layers of oil or reusing oil repeatedly, especially in restaurant settings, can quickly lead to the accumulation of oxidized and negative byproducts.
Be critical of marketing claims that frame unhealthy foods (like fries) as ‘healthier’ due to specific ingredient changes (e.g., using lard instead of seed oils), as this can lead to overconsumption based on a false perception of health.
Recognize that interpreting scientific research requires specific skills; seek out experts who can cut through the noise and provide accurate, contextualized information.
When engaging in debates or discussions, pre-submit all evidence and agree on source materials upfront, only referencing pre-submitted information to ensure rigor and prevent misinterpretation.
When communicating complex information, especially in public forums, be extremely careful with wording to prevent misinterpretation, as audiences may draw incorrect conclusions.
Understand that data can be selectively presented or analyzed to support a desired conclusion, so critically evaluate how data is framed and presented.
When evaluating research, acknowledge that all studies have limitations, and use this understanding to carefully interpret findings and avoid overgeneralization.
Recognize that evolutionary biology prioritizes reproduction and genetic propagation, not necessarily maximum individual longevity, which explains why health declines after reproductive age.
When evaluating dietary components or health interventions, base your decisions on the overall net effect supported by the best available evidence, rather than relying on naturalistic or evolutionary arguments alone.
Do not be overly concerned about trace amounts of processing chemicals like sodium hydroxide in refined oils, as the quantities are negligible and often chemically transformed, requiring impossibly large consumption to cause harm.
Do not fear using seed oils like safflower or canola oil in moderation (e.g., in salad dressings) if you prefer their taste, as the data does not suggest significant harm in such contexts.
Even if LDL is pharmacologically controlled, continue to consider other health benefits and risks associated with dietary choices, such as the impact of frying oils on other health markers.
If you are a restaurateur, remove ’no seed oils used’ claims from your menu, as this marketing is often based on misinformation and can be misleading to consumers.
When evaluating the safety of trace chemicals in food, consider whether they bioaccumulate in the body or if the body can clear them quickly enough to prevent negative outcomes.
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