Most Popular Cooking Oil Reduces Amount Of Love Hormone In Brain, Per New Study

Seed oils, also known as vegetable oils, are oils extracted from the seeds of plants. These oils are a common component of many diets worldwide, particularly in the United States, due to their wide use in cooking, frying, and as an additive in processed foods. The most common seed oils in the U.S. include soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and sunflower oil.

Despite their prevalent use, a growing body of research suggests that seed oils can have a range of negative effects on both physical and mental health. One of the primary concerns with seed oils is their high content of omega-6 fatty acids. While these fats are essential for the body, they need to be balanced with omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. Modern Western diets often have an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio as high as 16:1, significantly higher than the recommended 4:1 or even 1:1 ratio. This imbalance can lead to inflammation, a root cause of various chronic diseases.

Another issue with seed oils is their stability, or lack thereof. Many seed oils are polyunsaturated, meaning they have multiple double bonds in their chemical structure. These double bonds can easily be broken, leading the oils to oxidize and produce harmful compounds when exposed to heat, light, and air. These compounds can cause cellular damage and have been linked to a range of health issues, from heart disease to cancer. New research also suggests that seed oils have a detrimental effect on brain function.

Soybean Oil Reduces Amount of Love Hormone in the Brain

New research from the University of California, Riverside suggests that soybean oil, a commonly used oil in the United States, may not be as healthy as we think. Its consumption has been linked to obesity and diabetes, but the latest studies indicate that it may also have adverse effects on neurological conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

In studies conducted on mice, diets high in soybean oil led to obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and fatty liver. Even when the soybean oil was modified to be low in linoleic acid, a component that has been linked to these health issues, it still had considerable effects on the brain, particularly on the hypothalamus, where many crucial processes take place.

"The hypothalamus regulates body weight via your metabolism, maintains body temperature, is critical for reproduction and physical growth, as well as your response to stress," says Margarita Curras-Collazo, a UC Riverside associate professor of neuroscience and the study's lead author.

One significant finding was the reduced levels of oxytocin, the "love hormone," in the hypothalamus of mice fed on a soybean oil diet. This hormone plays a significant role in social bonding, and its decrease could potentially affect social behaviors.

Furthermore, around 100 other genes were discovered to be functioning incorrectly in the soybean oil-fed mice. This revelation could have implications not only for energy metabolism but also for optimal brain function and diseases like autism or Parkinson's disease. Nonetheless, it's important to note that there's no proven causality between soybean oil consumption and these diseases.

This research was conducted on male mice, so it's essential to consider its limitations. Mice studies don't always correlate with human results, and since oxytocin is pivotal for maternal health and mother-child bonding, further research on female mice is necessary. The research team has not yet identified the specific compounds in the oil responsible for the observed changes in the hypothalamus. However, they have eliminated linoleic acid and stigmasterol, a cholesterol-like compound, as possible culprits. Uncovering the problematic compounds is a significant focus of future research, potentially leading to healthier dietary oils.

As Poonamjot Deol, an assistant project scientist, says, "The dogma is that saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fat is good. Soybean oil is a polyunsaturated fat, but the idea that it’s good for you is just not proven." However, coconut oil, high in saturated fats, caused far fewer changes in hypothalamic genes.

This study should serve as a caution against excessive soybean oil consumption. As our understanding of dietary fats becomes more nuanced, it's crucial to make informed dietary choices to ensure brain health alongside physical well-being. We now live in a country where more than 40% of people are obese, and obesity's impact on the body extends beyond physical health and reaches into the realm of cognitive function and neurological health. A growing body of research indicates that obesity can have significant implications for brain function, potentially contributing to cognitive decline and increasing the risk of neurological disorders. It's more important than ever that people carefully choose what kind of food they eat because it might impair their brain function.

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