What gives salad dressings such a bad rap? Many people choose salads as “healthier options” when dining out. However, they don’t realize that what they’re eating is just as bad or worse as the other items on the menu. Unfortunately, most salad dressings at restaurants and stores in the US contain one or multiple types of seed oils.

Seed oils are highly-processed, highly-refined oils from the “seeds” of plants.

What’s frustrating is that many of these oils are touted as “heart healthy.” Just the other day, I heard a commercial on the radio sponsored by the American Heart Association that was telling listeners to consume heart-healthy oils like canola and vegetable oil. Since the 1980s, animal-derived saturated fats such as butter and tallow have been demonized because there were claims early on that saturated fats contributed to heart disease. These claims couldn’t be further from the truth.

The first issue with seed oils is that they’re incredibly high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). I bet you’ve been told that foods low in saturated fats and high in polyunsaturated fats are good for you, right? Yep. Me too.

However, it’s not really that simple. There are 2 types of polyunsaturated fats:

Most ancestral diets consisted of a 1:1 ratio of omega-6:omega-3. This is healthy. It’s not that we shouldn’t ever consume omega-6, it’s that we shouldn’t be upsetting this balance. Both of these fatty acids are essential for cell growth and brain function. We have to derive them from food because our bodies don’t create them.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) consists of an average consumption of these fatty acids in anywhere from a 12:1 to 25:1 ratio. This is significantly higher than the ideal 1:1 ratio. Omega-6 fatty acids cause inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation has been shown to cause or trigger the following.

Yet, despite these scientific facts, oils like canola and vegetable are highly touted by many professional organizations as “healthy” alternatives to animal-derived fats. We’ll get into why animal-derived fats are healthy in another post!

Polyunsaturated fats contained in seed oils are highly unstable and easily oxidize under heat. Oxidation occurs naturally in all oils over time due to factors like light or atmospheric exposure. However, oxidation is high in seed oils right out of the gate! Oxidation leads to rancidity and degradation of the quality of the oil.

Yet, these are the main ingredients in nearly all salad dressings and restaurants use these oils to cook and fry food. When these oils are heated, their toxicity skyrockets.

Seed oils aren’t found naturally in the environment. They must be extracted using chemicals like hexane and heat processes. Hexane causes negative central nervous system effects and has been shown to create neurotoxicity in rats. Furthermore, if that wasn’t enough, manufacturers use more chemicals to deodorize and change the color of these seed oils. Because oxidation makes oils rancid, they develop a foul odor during the extraction process.

Highly-processed foods like seed oils increase inflammation in the body which has been shown to increase the risk of cancer and heart disease.

Okay, so salad dressings are terrible for us, fair enough. But, now what? What are the alternatives? “I’m a busy mom or dad and I don’t have the luxury to be picky about what types of oils I’m consuming.” I get it! I’m going to tell you how to live this out practically in your day-to-day.

Whether you’re eating out or making a salad at home, you should opt for other healthier oils with a better omega-6:omega-3 ratio. Healthy alternative oils include the following.