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At this point, it’s worth asking: if polyunsaturated seed oils and plant sterols disrupt red blood cells, fuel oxidation, promote inflammation, and crystallise in plaques — then why are they still recommended as “cardioprotective”?

The demonization of saturated fat wasn't malice but a cascade: panic-fueled hypothesis, flawed cornerstone study, buried null results, and politicized policy. Vegetable oil industries lobbied (visiting scientists to yank papers), while a small cadre controlled grants and journals, stifling dissent.

Progesterone and estrogen repeatedly stimulate breast tissue and the uterine lining. Without the “breaks” of pregnancy and lactation, this repeated turnover is thought to increase the risk of fibroids, endometriosis, and possibly breast and endometrial cancers.

Your hormones aren’t the enemy. They’re the original biohack — refined over millions of years to help you survive and thrive. When you learn to work with their rhythm, you unlock a level of ease and effectiveness that no one-size-fits-all diet can match.

Seed oils rich in linoleic acid (LA), such as soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, and canola oil, provide the exact substrate (PUFAs) that enzymes like lipoxygenase (LOX) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) use to oxidise LDL particles.

What’s actually most prone to oxidation in LDL is the fatty acid tail of the cholesteryl ester in the “oil barrel” (and the PUFA in the phospholipid shell). Cholesterol itself — the rigid steroid ring — is remarkably stable. Pure cholesterol won’t just oxidise easily in the body.

When the metabolic environment is calm — low inflammation, low oxidative stress, good insulin sensitivity — LDL particles circulate, deliver nutrients, and return to the liver without incident. But in an inflamed environment, those same particles can get trapped, oxidised, and turned into plaque.

The simple claim “saturated fat raises LDL, therefore causes heart attacks” is outdated. A more accurate view must consider biochemistry, particle quality, metabolic health, and dietary context.

Saturated fat became a convenient scapegoat, while the role of refined carbohydrates, ultra-processed foods, and chronic inflammation in driving heart disease was largely overlooked.