Australia’s Pill-Popping Problem: The Persistence of Preventable Chronic Disease, a Decade in Review

By | Addiction, Mental Illness, Sugar, Vegetable Oils | No Comments

The Australian Government spent a staggering $17 billion on prescription drugs last year.  But here’s the alarming truth: most of those pills are for conditions that are largely preventable.  We’re in the grip of a pill-popping epidemic, where our reliance on medication masks a deeper health crisis fueled by addiction, sugar and seed oil.

A decade of data on Australia’s most prescribed drugs reveals a troubling lack of progress in tackling preventable, chronic conditions. The data shows the extent to which these medications have become part of daily life for many Australians.

Here’s the 2023 breakdown along with comparisons to 2013 and 2020:

DrugConditionRank 2023Rank 2020Rank 2013
AtorvastatinCholesterol111
RosuvastatinCholesterol222
AmlodipineBlood Pressure347
PerindoprilBlood Pressure435
TelmisartanBlood Pressure568
CandesartanBlood Pressure65
SertralineDepression & Anxiety79
EscitalopramDepression & Anxiety8
MetforminType II Diabetes9106
IrbesartanBlood Pressure107

These numbers tell a stark story:

  • Cholesterol: A staggering 1 in 5 Australians are popping statins, a drug that treats nothing but is meant to lower the risk of future heart attacks. These powerful medications alter liver function, and evidence suggests the only clear beneficiaries are younger men who’ve already had a heart attack. For most, the risks of diabetes and dementia outweigh any potential gain.
  • Blood Pressure: An alarming 1 in 3 Australian adults have high blood pressure, with a third of them relying on medication. Ironically, while many shun salt, recent research suggests fructose – the sweet half of sugar – may be the main culprit behind hypertension.
  • Mental Health: Approximately 1 in 5 Australians took a mental health related drug last year, a concerning increase since 2020. This surge in medication use, coupled with rising rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm, is a stark reminder that we are in the midst of a mental health crisis in this country.  This crisis has been massively accelerated by the unchecked proliferation of addictive gaming and gambling apps and social media platforms among teenagers.
  • Diabetes: The prevalence of diabetes has more than doubled since the turn of the century, with prescriptions for diabetes medications surging by 24% in just the last three years.

The prevalence of these medications in the daily lives of so many Australians highlights the need for a shift in our approach to healthcare. We consume a mountain of statins in the hope (based on little to no convincing evidence) that they will prevent a disease caused by consuming sugar and seed oils. We rely heavily on blood pressure and diabetes medications for diseases definitively caused by sugar consumption. And we are massively increasing our consumption of medications aimed at relieving mental health problems associated with addictions to gaming, social media, and gambling. But rather than focusing on eliminating these problems or at least admitting they are problems, the solution appears to be to keep handing money to drug companies hawking dubious band-aids for mortal wounds.

It’s time for a radical shift in our healthcare approach. We must tackle the root causes of chronic diseases rather than pouring petrol on the bonfire of overmedication. We need to start holding policymakers accountable for promoting genuine health over pharmaceutical profits.

The Real Spermageddon: Are Seed Oils Destroying Our Fertility?

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Sperm counts are in freefall, plummeting by 75% since 1940. The culprit isn’t the weather – it’s in your pantry. Australia’s scorching temperatures might be grabbing  headlines, but they’re a distraction from the real threat to our fertility. Dr Devini Ameratunga, Clinical Lead of Fertility Preservation at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital has urged bosses to protect their workers’ fertility, as climate change, rising temperatures and tight tradie shorts all add to a rapid decline in the sperm quality of Queensland men.  But could the real culprit behind “spermageddon” be something far more common – hiding in plain sight on our supermarket shelves – polyunsaturated, vegetable oils?

Since the 1940s, sperm counts across the Western world have been mysteriously dropping. The situation has dramatically worsened since the 1990s, with modern sperm counts now a mere quarter of those measured in 1940. Our reproductive capacity is in a tailspin, and the rate of decline is accelerating.

Like applying a bandaid to a broken leg, frantically addressing surface-level issues won’t solve the problem. While lowering the heat and making better fashion choices definitely won’t hurt, the real danger lies within: the cheap, industrial seed oils that have ruthlessly infiltrated our food supply. This isn’t about a heatwave, it’s about a century-long war on our reproductive health.

The science tells a chilling tale. Seed oils are laden with highly reactive polyunsaturated fats. When these fats meet with the oxygen we breathe, they create toxic substances – aldehydes. Think of aldehydes as tiny biological bombs, wreaking havoc on our cells. Sperm cells, with their delicate membranes, are particularly vulnerable to these attacks. These toxic compounds attack sperm directly, causing mutations, reduced motility (how well they swim), and decreased fertility. 

Our bodies have natural antioxidant defences to neutralise these damaging aldehydes. But when we flood our systems with seed oils – through deep-fried foods, processed snacks, and even supposedly “healthy” margarine – we overwhelm our protective systems. This creates a state of internal oxidative stress, a biological inferno where our cellular structures, including sperm, are systematically assaulted.

The statistics are alarming. Testicular cancer, a clear sign of DNA damage, has increased fourfold since the 1940s. Meanwhile, the amount of seed oils in our diet has skyrocketed – multiplying by a factor of five. The correlation is too significant to ignore.

Focusing on Australian heat and restrictive clothing misses the bigger picture. This isn’t about swapping tradie shorts for breezy linen pants, but taking a hard look at what’s on our plates. The real issue lies within our bodies, poisoned by a flood of toxic , so called ‘healthier’, seed oils.

Framing this crisis as a mere matter of temperature or fashion is a convenient smokescreen. It shifts the blame onto individuals, absolving the corporations that mass-produce and aggressively market these potentially harmful fats. Don’t get me wrong, working in extreme heat and wearing tight clothing won’t help, but it misdirects attention from the true culprit.

The heat narrative is a distraction concealing the deeper crisis. What lurks beneath the surface is a potential catastrophe fueled by a century of dietary manipulation. To regain control, we need a drastic shift in our food system. We will not accept anything less than:

  • Transparency: Clear labelling of all seed oils in our food supply.
  • Science-backed dietary guidelines: Information that reflects the growing research on the potential dangers of excessive seed-oil consumption. 
  • Consequences for health bodies that continue to recommend seed oils despite the danger: Demand accountability from these institutions and call attention to the potential harm caused by outdated and potentially harmful recommendations.
  • Support for a return to traditional fats: Promotion of healthy fats like butter, ghee, fruit oils (Olive, Avocado and Coconut), and animal fats. Reframing these as a safer and more sustainable option.

It’s time to question the ingredients (and institutions) we’ve blindly trusted. Silence from health authorities is complicity in the deliberate poisoning of our population. 

Our future depends on our ability to demand better from the food industry. It’s time to question the status quo and make the hard choices necessary to reclaim our reproductive health. If not, the consequences could be devastating – a silent unravelling of our ability to reproduce.

Ditching seed oils, rediscovering the joys of real butter and animal fat will give our swimmers a fighting chance. And let’s be honest, a world where good food fuels both a healthy body and a healthy population sounds like a win-win.

Parkinson’s Disease: The Dietary Time Bomb the Food Giants Want You to Ignore

By | Big Fat Lies, Vegetable Oils | 3 Comments

Imagine watching a loved one’s hands tremble uncontrollably, their steps falter… This heartbreaking reality confronts the families of over 200,000 Australians battling Parkinson’s disease. In Australia, someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s every 27 minutes. These aren’t just numbers – they’re stolen futures. This isn’t a mysterious affliction, it’s a mass poisoning, and the culprits line the aisles of every supermarket. Today, April 11th, World Parkinson’s Day, isn’t just a day of awareness – it should be a day of defiance against the seed oils they’ve spent decades normalising.

Imagine your body as a battlefield. Every cell, every organ is under relentless attack by an invisible enemy called oxidative stress. This normal biochemical process is turbo charged by seed oils, and your brain’s command centre, the pars compacta, is a prime target.  The pars compacta is your body’s dopamine factory.  Think of dopamine as the fuel that powers smooth movement, thought, and  coordination. If the neurons responsible for producing dopamine are damaged, Parkinson’s disease is the result.

Our brains are incredibly resilient. We can lose around 50% of our dopamine-producing neurons before those first tremors appear. But once those neurons are gone, they’re gone forever. That’s why Parkinson’s is so insidious.  As the destruction  continues, even the best medications can only squeeze a little more dopamine out of those remaining neurons –  a temporary fix at best.   Before medication was introduced in the 1970s, a Parkinson’s patient was expected to live just 9.5 years after diagnosis. The drug-assisted life expectancy is now around 15 years. Still, Parkinson’s steals years, independence, and ultimately, lives.

Forget the myth of Parkinson’s as an inevitable consequence of ageing.  Researchers in Olmstead County, Minnesota meticulously tracked cases for decades, uncovering a shocking truth: new diagnoses nearly doubled between 1944 and 1984. And it hasn’t slowed down. A recent global study revealed a staggering 86% increase in Parkinson’s cases in the US alone over the past 30 years.

Even more alarming, Parkinson’s is striking younger people.  The incidence in the 45-49 age group has skyrocketed by 167% in the last three decades. This dramatic acceleration coincides perfectly with the rise of processed foods and the explosion of seed oil use.

The connection isn’t a coincidence. Populations who consume traditional, whole-food diets have far lower rates of Parkinson’s. In Italy, for example, the incidence has actually decreased over the last 30 years. The message is clear: Parkinson’s isn’t an inevitable fate. It’s a disease fueled by the modern diet.

The primary weapon in this assault is deceptively mundane: seed oils. Canola, sunflower, soybean… they sound harmless, almost healthy. But the reality is far darker. These oils overflow with unstable omega-6 fats, turning your cells into battlegrounds of oxidative stress. This relentless assault breeds a molecular toxin called 4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) – a toxin that zeroes in on the dopamine-producing neurons that Parkinson’s systematically destroys.

This isn’t a fringe theory; it’s backed by disturbingly clear science. Yet the deafening silence from the health authorities and the Big Food corporations they protect makes them complicit in this crisis. The seed oil invasion has been nothing short of brilliant from a profit perspective.  These oils – think canola, sunflower, soybean – carry an undeserved aura of healthiness. This has helped them become the backbone of the processed food industry.  They’re endlessly malleable, incredibly cheap, and we can’t taste the difference, making us easy targets. This is how Big Food gets away with poisoning us for profit. They flood every aisle with products overflowing with hidden seed oils, fueling a wildfire of inflammation within our bodies.

You have the power to turn the tide, but it starts with brutal honesty. The neurons you’ve lost won’t magically return. But with every bite, you decide whether to keep feeding the enemy within. Every bag of chips, every restaurant meal where you don’t ask the hard questions about how the food is prepared, every “healthy” snack bar laced with seed oils – they are all acts of surrender.

Don’t. Eat. Seed Oils. This is your fight, your body, your future on the line.

The Battle Cry: No More Business as Usual

  • Support independent farmers and small businesses committed to real, unprocessed food. Use your wallet to fuel a food revolution.
  • Demand a change in Parkinson’s research – one that dares to examine the role of diet and seed oils in the disease.
  • Hold Big Food accountable. Demand they remove seed oils from their products or face consumer boycotts. Push for clear labelling of all products containing seed oils, giving you back the power of choice.
  • Spread the word. Educate yourself and those around you. Expose the truth they don’t want you to know.

Let’s make sure this World Parkinson’s Day isn’t just about awareness, but a declaration of war against a preventable disease.

Your Grandma Wouldn’t Eat This: The quiet disappearance of real food and the hijacking of our health

By | Big Fat Lies, Sugar, Vegetable Oils | No Comments

Have you ever looked closely at the ingredients in your so-called “food?” Odds are, your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize half of them as edible, let alone healthy. In an incredibly short span of time, we’ve outsourced our meals to corporations whose main goal isn’t our well-being – it’s profit. The history of how we got here is a shocking tale of backroom deals, twisted logic, and the slow death of real food.

The Rise of “Imitation”

In these days of regulation, it’s easy to forget how recently food was routinely adulterated. To stretch profits, milk was watered down, bread bulked up with sawdust, and you were lucky if your jam contained actual fruit. These practices weren’t just dishonest, they were dangerous.

The US took action first. In 1938, the FDA was given the power to create “standards of identity” for common foods. Think of them as legally binding recipes. If you wanted to sell jam, your product had to meet specific requirements for fruit content. This wasn’t about gourmet standards; it was about ensuring a baseline level of quality and preventing outright fraud.

By 1950, almost half of US food had a standardised recipe. This meant that if you wanted to make something resembling real food, but cheaper, you had to clearly label it “Imitation.” And that wasn’t a great marketing strategy.

The War on Fat and the Death of Standards

The food industry didn’t love this system, and their grumbles grew louder in the 1970s. The low-fat trend was taking off, spurred by groups like the American Heart Foundation in their ill conceived fight against saturated fat. The problem? Traditional food descriptions rarely included vegetable oils, and fat content was regulated.

What followed was a classic case of unintended consequences. After relentless lobbying, legislation changed in 1973. No longer did “fake” foods require the “Imitation” label – they just had to provide the same level of nutrients as the original. Calories and fat were exempt, opening a loophole you could drive a truck through. The stage was set for a massive shift in what lined our grocery shelves.

The Disappearance of Everyday Foods

Want blatant examples? That little carton of “Up&Go” markets itself as a healthy breakfast which describes itself as having “The protein, energy and fibre of 2 Weet-Bix and milk”. But look closely – it doesn’t contain a single Weet-Bix! Its primary ingredients are water, skim milk powder, sugar, and a disturbing list of chemicals. Sure, it might have similar protein to real food, but so would a sawdust and offal smoothie. It’s a classic bait-and-switch, designed to appeal to our desire for convenience and the illusion of health.

And how about those mayonnaise jars? If yours doesn’t list eggs and olive oil as the first ingredients, it isn’t mayonnaise – it’s a carefully concocted emulsion of sugar, water, and who-knows-what. The same goes for countless other products. Things we once took for granted have been quietly replaced with cheaper, cleverly engineered imitations.

The Health Fallout

We’re paying the price for this deception. Skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease aren’t just about eating too much – they’re about eating the wrong things. Our bodies weren’t designed to run on the seed oil and sugar infused highly processed, nutrient-poor concoctions that now pass for food. Mass-produced “food” is addictive, unsatisfying, and disastrous for our long-term health.

The Loss of Control

Bring back the “Imitation” label! It would be a wake-up call, exposing the sheer amount of factory-made substitutes we’re consuming. This change wouldn’t lead to perfectly healthy aisles overnight, but at least we’d have a fighting chance to make informed choices.

Sadly, that’s never going to happen. Too much money, too much power, stands in the way. That in itself reveals how far we’ve fallen. In less than one lifetime, we’ve surrendered control of our most basic need to profit-driven corporations.

Taking Back Our Kitchens

We don’t have to accept this. While we can’t undo a century of changes overnight, we can start reclaiming our kitchens. Make changes now:

  • Learn to read a label ruthlessly. If the ingredient list includes ‘vegetable oil’ or sugar, put it back.
  • Shop the perimeter of the store – that’s where real food usually hides.
  • Cook at home, even simple meals. It’s an act of rebellion against the industrial food system and the pervasive use of seed oils in everything.
  • Last but certainly not least, ditch the sugar, the poison lurking in everything, labelled or not.

This fight isn’t just about better health. It’s about reclaiming the very act of feeding ourselves and our families – an act too precious to outsource.

 

The Hidden Ingredient: Vegetable Oil & the Cancer Crisis

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Has there been a rise in younger people getting cancer? In short, yes. And it’s a terrifying reality that Princess Kate’s recent diagnosis tragically underscores. The news that someone seemingly vibrant and healthy is battling cancer at just 42 is a stark reminder that this disease doesn’t respect age, fame, or fortune. Sadly, her experience mirrors a disturbing trend.

We’ve become accustomed to thinking of cancer as a disease of old age, something to worry about if we’re lucky enough to reach our later years. But the latest statistics paint a deeply disturbing picture. For those aged 25-49, cancer rates aren’t just creeping up, they’ve exploded in just two decades. This translates into over 300 diagnoses a day in Australia alone. But even that number hides the true horrors:

  • Kidney cancer: up by a mind-boggling 51%
  • Uterine cancer: a devastating 45% increase
  • Colorectal cancer: up by a shocking 42%
  • Even breast cancer, heavily researched and discussed, is impacting younger people more often.

These aren’t random fluctuations. This is a full-blown crisis unfolding right in front of us, stealing away parents, partners, and friends who should have decades ahead of them. Princess Kate’s battle puts a human face on these grim numbers, reminding us that no one is immune.

Yet, the standard health advice feels tragically out of touch. Quitting smoking, reducing drinking, and managing weight are important, but they don’t address the elephant in the room. Why this explosion in younger people, even among those who seemingly do everything ‘right’? Could our modern food supply hold a devastating answer?

Here’s where things get chilling: a massive eight-year controlled trial found that men who replaced saturated fat with vegetable oils experienced a twofold increase in cancer deaths.  The study, considered the gold standard of medical evidence, assigned participants to either a standard diet or one where saturated fat was swapped for vegetable oils. While the vegetable oil group did have fewer heart-related deaths, overall mortality remained the same.  The shocking twist?  Cancers became the leading cause of death in the vegetable oil group, with nearly double the number of fatal diagnoses compared to the control group. Yet today, those same oils are pumped into nearly every processed food on the shelf. We’ve been sold a story that they’re “heart-healthy”, but a growing body of research suggests they might be anything but.

In fact, a recent re-analysis of decades-old data casts serious doubt on the very foundation of our modern dietary advice.   For years, we’ve been told that replacing saturated fats with vegetable oils lowers cholesterol and saves lives.  But this study found the opposite:  lowering cholesterol did not reduce deaths from heart disease, and in some cases, might even increase the risk. If the very basis of the “healthy” push towards vegetable oils is flawed, it raises urgent questions about their long-term safety.

The processed food industry, focused on maximizing profit over our wellbeing, won’t give us easy answers. They’ve spent decades and billions vilifying natural fats while pushing cheap, chemically-altered oils as the solution. It’s a classic tactic: create the problem, then sell us the ‘cure’ that only exacerbates the issue. This isn’t a conspiracy theory – it’s the cynical reality of a food system designed to enrich corporations, not nourish the population.

Could this be more than a tragic coincidence? Could our obsession with ultra-processed, factory-made “food” be fueling this cancer epidemic? It’s a question we can no longer ignore. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and to the memory of those lost to this disease far too soon. It’s time to demand a radical shift – food that truly heals, policies that prioritize our health over corporate greed, and research that dares to challenge long-held assumptions about what ‘healthy’ means. Our lives literally depend on it.

The Calorie Count Con

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Tired of “eat this, not that” advice? Brace yourself for the UK government’s latest “solution”: calorie counts that won’t solve anything and might even make things worse.

This feel-good trend swept through the US and much of Australia over the last decade. Since 2011, many Australian jurisdictions have mandated kilojoule (calorie) counts on menus at chain restaurants. They tout it as a weapon against our obesity crisis, but haven’t the numbers on the scale budged? Nope.

Proof it doesn’t work? A recent Australian study found fast food calorie content hasn’t changed a bit since menus started showing them in New South Wales in 2013. Turns out, those labels do nothing to make the food healthier, they just shift our focus to the wrong problem.

No less than four other Australian jurisdictions have fallen for the same empty promise. They insist this will magically fix our obesity crisis. But there’s one huge, inconvenient fact: calorie counts are useless when our broken appetites are the problem. So why are politicians so eager to embrace this idea?

Here’s the deal: most food provides a predictable amount of energy per gram. That’s why a calorie difference often just means more or less fat. Our bodies handle those calories just fine… until sugar enters the picture. Sugar hijacks our appetite hormones, making us crave more and more, regardless of calories. Slapping a number on a burger doesn’t fix that. Worse, it makes us feel like we’ve done something healthy when we haven’t.

Of course, science rarely stands in the way of flashy pronouncements. Which brings us to New York City, the pioneer of mandatory calorie counts. After years of this policy, guess what? A major study revealed absolutely no change in what people ordered. In fact, they stuffed themselves with even more calories once those numbers were staring them in the face! This complete failure should have sent governments scrambling for a different approach.

Instead, the copycat syndrome has kicked in. The US, most Australian states and now the UK have leapt on the bandwagon, desperate to look like they’re doing something, anything! And why not? It’s political theater at its best. Politicians get to feel virtuous, nutritionists feel ‘heard’ even if their advice is wrong, and food companies? They win twice. Calorie counts neatly focus our attention on fat, obscuring the true villain – the mountains of sugar they’re adding to everything – and they let them replace fat with even more sugar without blowing up the calorie count. A cynical strategy, but effective.

So here we are, the unwitting participants in a grand charade. A charade where we’ll keep getting fatter and sicker, armed with information that not only doesn’t help but gives us a false sense of control. But hey, at least we’ll know exactly how many calories are in that milkshake we shouldn’t be having… as if that’s ever stopped anyone. Bon appétit! After all, the worse this crisis gets, the better our leaders look for pretending to address it, while the food giants rake in the profits.

On Chickens, Cottonseed, and the Curious Case of Ashkenazi Ailments

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Jewish grandmothers. Those benevolent despots with the power to guilt-trip a scorpion into submission. Their cooking? Weaponized love in the form of brisket and blintzes, all bound together with liberal lashings of glistening schmaltz. Schmaltz, the rendered essence of a chicken’s corpulence, is the liquid gold of Ashkenazi cuisine. But schmaltz was a compromise forced on the Ashkenazi. There were no olive trees in northern Europe. Butter, that unctuous nectar of the Gentiles, was strictly off-limits to anyone trying to keep kosher. Lard – well, that’s a hard no, folks. Then there’s rendered beef fat. Good luck finding a reliable supply of that in the shtetls of 12th century Poland.  So chicken fat it was.

But schmaltz, like any precious resource, is subject to the laws of supply and demand. And for the Jews who fled pogroms and poverty in Eastern Europe to the tenements of turn-of-the-century New York, those laws were positively draconian. Picture, if you will, a pious Yiddishe mama attempting to raise a brood of chickens in a cramped Brooklyn apartment. Imagine the clucking, the feathers, the stench of kosher poultry mingling with tenement squalor… It’s a scene out of Kafka on acid.

No chickens meant no schmaltz, and that meant a culinary crisis for the Ashkenazi. This culinary pickle is where the good folks at Procter & Gamble, purveyors of fine soaps and industrial lubricants, seized their moment. Those corporate Einsteins realised that their newly concocted Crisco– a greasy, white brick of cotten-seed oil – could play the part of ersatz schmaltz. It was odourless, shelf-stable, and more importantly, pareve (i.e., neither meat nor dairy, and thus kosher-friendly).

Crisco became the manna of the masses. Rabbis were recruited to bless it, Yiddish cookbooks sang its praises, and before you could say “Oy vey!”, Jewish households were frying, basting, and baking with industrial zeal. Crisco was the culinary equivalent of Esperanto – a neutral zone where tradition met convenience, where Old World tastebuds could assimilate into the American melting pot.

But fate, that fickle mistress, had other plans. While Ashkenazi Jews were deep-frying their latkes in Ohio, a seismic shift was taking place. Israel was born, and with it, a wave of Sephardic Jews from the Mediterranean and North Africa crashed onto its shores. These sun-kissed Semites didn’t know schmaltz from schmutz. Their culinary tradition revolved around olives and their blessed oil, a world away from the pale ghettos of Europe.

And – bless their healthy hearts! – It seems that their seed oil free diet might hold the key to a rather puzzling paradox: why is testicular cancer so staggeringly common among Ashkenazi Jews, yet virtually unheard of among their Sephardic brethren? Scientists mumble about genetics and other such nonsense, but could the answer be staring us in the face? Could it be as simple as ersatz schmaltz vs. olive oil?

The irony, of course, is delicious. Just as Crisco solved one culinary dilemma for the Ashkenazi, it may have unwittingly created another far darker problem. It’s a lesson in unintended consequences, and a sobering reminder that even the most seemingly innocuous of dietary choices can have echoes down the generations.

Seed Oil Deception: The Untold Story of How ‘Heart-Healthy’ Oils Can Harm Your Body

By | Big Fat Lies, Vegetable Oils | 5 Comments

In a world where our choices dictate our health, a silent epidemic has been brewing – one that has gone largely unnoticed. It’s a story of the hidden dangers lurking in the most unsuspecting places, where the heroes and villains are anything but clear-cut. This is the story of seed oils and the biochemistry that connects them to the nefarious world of smoking and alcohol.

At the heart of this tale are yeast – single-celled organisms that make up the fungus kingdom. These microscopic creatures have mastered the art of survival, thriving by producing ethanol, a toxic byproduct that eliminates their competition. Ethanol, the same ingredient found in hand sanitizers and disinfectants, is also present in rotting fruits and vegetables, and it fuels our alcoholic beverages.

As humans, we’ve evolved defense mechanisms to deal with ethanol, starting with ADH, an enzyme that converts ethanol into acetaldehyde – a substance 30 times more toxic. But why would our bodies make such a counterintuitive move? The answer lies in time. By turning ethanol into acetaldehyde, we buy ourselves precious moments to convert the toxic substance into harmless acetic acid.

This delicate dance between ethanol and acetaldehyde has consequences. When acetaldehyde lingers in our system, it brings hangovers, nausea, and more severe health issues. Some people, particularly those of Northeast Asian descent, possess a genetic mutation that makes them more susceptible to the dangers of acetaldehyde. This “Asian Flush” may deter alcoholism but puts them at a higher risk for liver damage, dementia, and cancer.

The villainous aldehydes don’t stop at acetaldehyde. Our bodies also encounter acrolein, a cancer-causing compound produced when plants burn, such as in cigarette smoke. And then there’s 4-HNE, a lethal aldehyde derived from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats found in nuts, seeds, and legumes.

In the past, our consumption of omega-6 fats was limited. But with the rise of seed oils in the 19th and 20th centuries, we now consume over ten times the ancestral amounts. These oils, marketed as heart-healthy and endorsed by dietitians, have infiltrated our food supply.

From margarine to mayonnaise and even restaurant fryers, seed oils are inescapable. Our bodies create 4-HNE from these oils, but we also consume it directly when we cook with them, inhaling and ingesting a double dose of the toxic compound.

Like its aldehyde cousins, 4-HNE wreaks havoc on our DNA and proteins, leading to an array of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, and cancer. In a sinister twist, 4-HNE even undermines our genetic defenses against cancer.

While smoking and alcohol consumption are not marketed as healthy choices, seed oils have been cloaked in a veil of “heart-healthy” propaganda. The dangers of aldehydes produced by these oils far outweigh those from alcohol and smoking. The science behind this may be new, but it’s not so new that our health authorities should be unaware.

As this story unfolds, it’s clear that we can no longer afford to ignore the hidden dangers of seed oils. It’s time to reevaluate our relationship with these omnipresent substances and reconsider the choices we make in the name of health.

Aldehydes cause cancer. So why are health experts telling us to consume them?

By | Big Fat Lies, Vegetable Oils | One Comment

No-one would suggest smoking or drinking are good for us. But recently scientists have discovered the biochemistry of how they cause harm has a lot in common with seed oils. The difference is you get a choice about how and when you drink or smoke, but seed oils are now an inseparable component of the food supply and we are being actively encouraged to consume them.  Never before have so many been harmed by so few for so much money.

Yeast are single cell organisms which are part of the fungus kingdom. Like all organisms, their job is to win the replication game. Yeast win by killing the competition with their waste.  When they turn sugars into energy a by-product is ethanol, a substance which is lethal to most organisms. This is why it is a primary ingredient in Hand Sanitizer and disinfectants used to eliminate bacteria and viruses. Ethanol is also found in rotting fruit and vegetables and the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks.

Fruit is a naturally rich source of sugar, so as it rots, yeast produce more and more ethanol. Any animal that eats overripe or rotting fruit needs to have evolved a defence mechanism against poisonous ethanol.  In humans that defensive mechanism starts with ADH (Alcohol dehydrogenase), a group of enzymes which diffuse alcohol.

The ADH oxidizes ethanol into acetaldehyde, a Class 1 Carcinogen.  At first glance this is not the smartest thing to do.  Acetaldehyde is up to 30 times more toxic than ethanol. But we do it to buy time. The body diffuses an acutely toxic substance, ethanol, by turning it into a substance which while more toxic, takes longer to do harm. All being well, we use that extra time to oxidise the acetaldehyde to relatively harmless acetic acid (the primary ingredient in vinegar). We do that using ALDH (Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase) enzymes.

Acetaldehyde is the part of the process responsible for the consequences of alcohol abuse such as hangovers, nausea and ultimately liver damage and cancer. The longer it remains in our system, the worse and longer lasting those effects will be. We can however only process so much acetaldehyde at a time, so front loading the system by binge drinking means it stays with us for longer and does more harm.

For some people acetaldehyde can be even more dangerous. Up to 80% of people of Northeast Asian descent possess a mutation of ALDH which is less effective at diffusing Acetaldehyde.  This causes a condition nicknamed the “Asian Flush”. Their face goes red, they become nauseous, and their heart and respiration rates increase.  That reaction is sure to put you off the booze and the research shows people affected by Asian Flush are less likely to become alcoholics.

A similar logic is used with the drug Antabuse (disulfiram) which impairs ALDH, effectively causing Asian flush in people not otherwise affected.  It makes people less keen on drinking and is sold as a treatment for alcoholism.

The downside to Asian Flush and Antabuse induced Asian Flush is that it happens because it is slowing down the disposal of an extraordinarily toxic aldehyde. So while they are less likely to become alcoholics, these people are more likely to suffer the consequences of aldehyde exposure such as liver damage, dementia, and cancer.

Acetaldehyde is not the only aldehyde we are likely to encounter and it is not the only one that ALDH can deal with. It also diffuses Acrolein, one of the primary cancer-causing aldehydes created when plants are burned.  We are most likely to encounter acrolein in cigarette smoke but most smoke contains it. Even more importantly ALDH removes one of the most lethal carcinogenic aldehydes, 4-HNE.

4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), first discovered in 1991, is created from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. Nuts, seeds and legumes and the meat of animals that eat those things are the primary sources of omega-6 fats in the ancestral human diet.  Just as with limited ancestral alcohol and smoke exposure, our ALDH system has evolved to deal with the relatively small amounts of 4-HNE created by eating those foods.

But the modern diet contains a vast new source of those fats which dwarfs ancestral quantities, seed oils.  The invention and introduction of mass produced, cheap seed oils during the 19th and 20th centuries has resulted in the average person increasing their consumption of omega-6 fats more than 10 fold, well beyond any evolutionary limit.

Seed oils are extracted from seeds (such as Canola/Rapeseed, Sunflower, Safflower, Grape, Corn, Almond, Cotton, Hemp and Sesame) or legumes (such as Soy and Peanuts).  They all have one thing in common – very high levels of omega-6 fat. They are marketed as heart healthy vegetable oils and have received Dietitians’ seal of approval. This is why, since the 1990’s almost everything on the supermarket shelves contains it. And why everything cooked in a fryer in a restaurant or a burger ‘restaurant’ or a fish and chip shop is fried in it (although Maccas resisted Heart Foundation pressure until 2004 and KFC held out until 2012). Even the humble take-away sandwich is swimming in the stuff.  It is in the margarine smeared on the canola filled bread and the primary ingredient of the mayonnaise or most other dressings.

Our body creates 4-HNE from the seed oils we eat.  But that isn’t the only source. We directly consume it as well.  4-HNE is produced when food containing seed oils is cooked.  If we are nearby when it is cooking, we will inhale it directly. And if we then eat that food we are, in effect, receiving a double dose.

Just like acetaldehyde and acrolein, 4-HNE is dangerous because, when it exceeds our ability to remove it, it reacts with DNA and proteins that are critical components of our cells.  Accumulate enough damaged DNA or proteins and those cells begin to malfunction or die.  This is why 4-HNE has (so far) been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart Disease, Stroke, Type II Diabetes, Liver disease and almost every form of cancer.  It is so diabolical that when created or consumed in excess, it even alters the parts of our DNA which defend us against cancer.  It not only causes the attack but also disables the defence.

Messaging around smoking and the consumption of alcohol is clear.  They are not sold as health foods.  And it is up to us to choose how much of these substances we are exposed to.  ‘Heart Healthy’ Vegetable (really seed) oils are significantly more dangerous and yet have been relentlessly promoted by our peak health bodies ensuring they are everywhere in our food chain

Aldehydes produced by drinking and smoking are dangerous, but they are insignificant compared to those produced by consuming ‘heart healthy’ oils. The science on this is new but it is not so new that those we trust with our health should not be aware of it.  And yet, they continue to behave like sales agents for the seed oil industry.  This must stop now.

Don’t give kids sugar flavoured seed oil masquerading as Health Food

By | Big Fat Lies, Sugar, Vegetable Oils | No Comments

Do you have a fussy eater? Are your kids refusing to eat their greens?  Worry no more, you should just give them a chocolate milkshake instead. Well, that’s what the makers of PediaSure would have you believe.  But is filling a kid with flour, sugar and seed oil really a better alternative to telling a kid to eat their greens for dinner or risk getting them for breakfast?

The latest Television Commercial for PediaSure shows a ‘busy kid’ playing basketball, riding his bike and sucking down a ‘delicious PediaSure health shake’ to ‘help support immunity, growth and a healthy appetite.’  The ad was in high rotation on Sunday night prime-time telly. The packaging looks a little like an infant formula tin but was clearly being sold as something active kids should be inhaling by the bucket-load. So what is it?

Here’s the ingredient list for vanilla PediaSure:

Hydrolysed corn starch, sucrose, PROTEIN (milk protein concentrate, soy protein isolate), VEGETABLE OIL (canola oil, high oleic sunflower oil, sunflower oil, medium chain triglycerides (MCT) oil), maltodextrin, MINERALS (potassium citrate, sodium citrate, calcium phosphate tribasic, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium phosphate monobasic, calcium carbonate, potassium phosphate dibasic, sodium chloride, magnesium phosphate dibasic, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, potassium iodide, chromium chloride, sodium selenite, sodium molybdate), oligofructose (FOS), EMULSIFIER (soy lecithin), flavoring, DHA from C. cohnii oil , choline chloride, VITAMINS (ascorbic acid, Vitamin E, niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, thiamin hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, Vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, phylloquinone, biotin, Vitamin D3, cyanocobalamin), ascorbyl palmitate, taurine, myo-inositol, carnitine tartrate, Lactobacillus acidophilus, mixed tocopherols

As delicious as that explosion in a chemical factory sounds, it boils down to garbage. Here’s my translation of the ingredient list (in descending order by calories supplied)

  1. Seed oil (35% of the calories)
  2. Pre-digested corn flour (for volume and ‘creaminess’ – also used in cosmetics) (30%)
  3. Table sugar (20%)
  4. Protein extracted from milk and soy (12%)
  5. Multi-vitamin
  6. Man-made soluble fibre
  7. Emulsifier (so the oil doesn’t layer out)

Yes, that’s right, this swill can summarised as Seed oil, Corn Flour and protein extracts with a serious dose of sugar to make sure the ‘busy kid’ will actually swallow it. It has a very similar make-up to so-called Toddler formula, the completely unnecessary marketing extension to actual infant formula. It also looks pretty similar to the shakes being sold to the elderly.

The omega-6 fats which dominate the seed oils are implicated in (at least) osteoporosismale infertilityrheumatoid arthritisParkinson’s diseaseallergies, asthmamacular degenerationimpaired intelligence and cancer. And the sugar will put the kid on track to an even more spectacular array of chronic diseases including Type II Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Erectile Dysfunction and Alzheimer’s.

This is all part of powder-creep. Baby formula is a, sometimes, vital food for infants who cannot be breast fed. But manufacturers are legally prohibited from filling infant formula with sugar and the margins are thin. If the manufacturers want to grow their revenue, they need new tummies to fill. So, we can expect more and more ‘nutritional supplements’ that look and taste like a milkshake but spouting dubious medical sounding benefits.

The reality is that a child in Australia today has about as much risk of being clinically undernourished as I do of being elected Pope. Yes, there are an exceedingly small number of Australian kids who could be considered at risk and they probably already have the support of a medical diagnosis and supervision.  So, let’s stop pretending that flogging this sugar flavoured seed oil on prime time TV is anything other than a cynical attempt to sell cornflour at a massive markup.  If you really want a kid to be well nourished give them a glass of milk or an egg.  Both are almost perfect foods from a human nutritional perspective.

Corn flour, sugar and seed oil will not boost the average kid’s immune system or help them grow (well at least not vertically).  PediaSure is no more a health food than the similarly composed seed oil and sugar effluent sold as Up&Go.  It should be avoided with just as much diligence. And under no circumstances should it be given to children.