Source: Original Article
Linked to soaring rates of most chronic diseases including high blood pressure,
stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and macular degeneration—this doctor believes
it’s a global human experiment that’s driving chronic degenerative disease
levels in modern society.
STORY-AT-A-GLANCE
Ophthalmologist Dr. Chris Knobbe says most chronic diseases such as
heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, obesity,
metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, and macular degeneration are
linked to the consumption of processed seed oils.
Knobbe says the large consumption of omega-6 seed oil in everyday Western
diets is so dangerous it is “a global human experiment … without informed
consent.”
Polyunsaturated fatty acids, also called PUFAs, found in vegetable oils, edible
oils, seed oils, trans fat, and plant oils, owe their existence to “roller mill
technology,” which replaced stone mill technology and removed their
nutrients.
Many people now consume 80 grams of PUFAs a day, which amounts to
720 calories and one-third of their caloric intake.
Results from studies of tribal peoples and animals have demonstrated the
deleterious effects of PUFAs in the diet.
What do heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, obesity,
metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and other
chronic health conditions of modern society have in common? They all
have increased by shocking amounts in the last decades. And, they are all
linked to the consumption of seed oils.
In a recent speech at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, titled
“Diseases of Civilization: Are Seed Oil Excesses the Unifying Mechanism?,”
Dr. Chris Knobbe reveals startling evidence that seed oils, so prevalent in
modern diets, are the reason for most of today’s chronic diseases.[1]
Knobbe, an ophthalmologist, is the founder of the nonprofit Cure AMD
Foundation, dedicated to the prevention of vision loss from age-related
macular degeneration (AMD).
[2] He is a former associate clinical professor emeritus of the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center.[3]
His research indicts the high consumption of omega-6 seed oil in everyday
diets as the major unifying driver of the chronic degenerative diseases of
modern civilization. He calls the inundation of Western diets with harmful
seeds oils “a global human experiment … without informed consent.”
The Rise of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs)
Trans fats and polyunsaturated fatty acids, also called PUFAs, found in
vegetable oils, edible oils, seed oils, and plant oils, are a fairly recent
invention and include cottonseed, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, rice bran,
soybean, corn, and other popular oils. PUFAs owe their existence to “roller
mill technology,” which around 1880 replaced stone mill technology that
was used to grind wheat into flour.[4]
Roller mill technology facilitated the entire removal of the bran and the germ
of a grain, leaving only the endosperm, a refined product with its nutrients
removed.[5] According to Knobbe, writing on the Cure AMD Foundation
website:[6]
“The first of these [PUFAs] was cottonseed oil. This was soon followed by
the hydrogenation and partial hydrogenation of cottonseed oil, producing
the first ever artificially created trans-fat. The latter was introduced by
Proctor & Gamble in 1911 under the name ‘Crisco,’ which was marketed as
‘the healthier alternative to lard … and more economical than butter.’”
Crisco, the grandfather of commercially produced PUFAs or trans fats, is still
widely sold today. The plan of vegetable oil producers, says Knobbe, was to
undersell and therefore replace animal fats, which were priced higher.[7] The
plan was successful.
PUFAs became so popular that they now make up 63 percent of the
American diet, form the basis of USDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]
food recommendations and are found in 600,000 processed foods sold in
the United States today.[8] In 1909, Americans ate 2 grams a day of
vegetable oil, says Knobbe, and by 2010 they were eating an astounding 80
grams of vegetable oil a day.[9]
There are several reasons PUFAs are harmful, says Knobbe. Unlike animal
fats, they lack vitamins A, D, and K, so they are nutrient deficient. They
contribute to most of the chronic diseases associated with modern
civilization. And PUFAs also contribute to the epidemic of obesity. The 80
grams of PUFAs a day that Americans are now consuming amount to 720
calories, says Knobbe, which means that one-third of most people’s
calories are “coming out of factories.”[10]
Chronic Diseases Rose With PUFAs
Many people are aware that diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease,
metabolic syndrome, and other conditions were less common in the first
part of the 20th century than they are today. But the rise in the incidence of
these conditions is more dramatic than many realize. According to
Knobbe:[11]
In1900, 12.5 percentoftheU.S. populationdiedofheart-relateddisease—in2010, that
figure was32 percent.
In 1811, 1 person in 118 died of cancer—in 2010, 1 in 3 died of cancer.
In 80 years, the incidence of Type 2 diabetes has increased 25-fold.
Inthe19thcentury, 1.2 percentofAmericanswereobese—in2015, 39.8 percentwere
obese.
In1930, therewerenomore than50 cases ofmaculardegeneration—in2020, there
were 19.6 million cases.
Are the rises in these chronic conditions correlated with the rise in the dietary
consumption of PUFAs? Absolutely, says Knobbe in his lecture. He gives the
following explanation:[12]
“These disorders from heart disease to atherosclerosis to Type-2 diabetes
to macular degeneration and cancer all have the same thing. They all
have mitochondrial dysfunction … The very first thing that happens
when the electron transport chain fails … is that it starts shooting out
reactive oxygen species—these are hydroxyl radicals and superoxide
…“These free radicals lead to nuclear mitochondrial DNA mutations …
which contribute to heart failure … macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s
Parkinson’s … a catastrophic lipid peroxidation cascade [that] leads to
toxic aldehydes.”
At the root of the harmful biochemical reactions enacted by seed oils is linoleic
acid, says Knobbe, which is an 18-carbon omega-6 fat. Linoleic acid is the
primary fatty acid found in PUFAs and accounts for about 80 percent of total
vegetable oils. Omega-6 fats must be balanced with omega-3 fats in order
not to be harmful.
“Most of this linoleic acid, when it oxidizes, it develops lipid hydroperoxides
and then these rapidly degenerate into … oxidized linoleic acid
metabolites,” says Knobbe.[13]
The oxidized linoleic acid metabolites are a perfect storm. They are
cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, atherogenic, and
thrombogenic, says Knobbe. Their atherosclerosis and thrombogenic
actions are especially concerning because they can produce strokes and
clots.
PUFAs Create Insulin Resistance
Diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome have become epidemic
since the
U.S. diet has been based on PUFAs. It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of
Americans are now overweight or obese and a substantial amount are
metabolically unhealthy.[14]
This puts people at risk for Type 2 diabetes as well as the many chronic
diseases associated with insulin resistance, from cancer to Alzheimer’s
disease. In his lecture, Knobbe explains how these conditions
develop:[15]
“When you consume omega-6 to excess … it combines with reactive
oxygen species like hydroxyl radicals … so this begins catastrophic lipid
peroxidation cascade—these polyunsaturated fats are accumulating [in]
your cells, accumulate in your membranes, accumulate in your
mitochondria, and they cause a peroxidation reaction.”
Because there are so many reactive oxygen species it leads to developing
insulin resistance at the cellular level and the production of lipid droplets
in your liver, continues Knobbe: “… that creates a catastrophic lipid part
or it feeds back to the lipid peroxidation … so now you’re not burning fat
for fuel properly so the person gaining weight and getting sick in this
regard is now carb dependent—their glycolysis is working but … [they] start
storing the fat … so this leads to obesity.”
Linoleic acid is especially a culprit in this harmful process, agrees Dr. Paul
Saladino, a physician journalist, in a podcast. Linoleic acid “breaks the
sensitivity for insulin at the level of your fat cells”—it makes them more
insulin sensitive—and, since your fat cells control the insulin sensitivity of
the rest of your body by releasing free fatty acids, you end up with insulin
resistance.
Rat Studies and Indigenous People Show PUFA Harm
Animal studies have dramatically demonstrated the deleterious effects of
PUFAs. In one study Knobbe cites, two sets of rats were put on identical diets
except one group received 5 percent cottonseed oil and the other received
1.5 percent butterfat.[16] The result of the study was that:[17]
“… the rats on the cottonseed oil grew to sixty percent of normal size and
live[d] 555 days on average: they’re weak, fragile, sickly little rats. The rats
on the butterfat are healthy—they grow to normal size and they live 1020
days so they grow to almost twice the size [of the cottonseed oil-fed rats],
live twice as long, and are infinitely more healthy.”
While it’s suggested that the American Heart Association and other medical
groups might discount such studies, potentially calling them paradoxical,
there are also examples of the positive effects of saturated and animalbased fats upon human health, says Knobbe.
For example, the Tokelau people who live on islands in the South Pacific
between Hawaii and Australia eat a diet almost exclusively of coconut, fish,
starchy tubers, and fruit.[18] Between 54 percent and 62 percent of their
calories come from coconut oil, which contains saturated fat, Knobbe points
out.
Nevertheless, a study of Tokelau men between 40 and 69 years found that
they had no heart attacks, no obesity, and no diabetes.[19] They were
“fantastically healthy,” says Knobbe. Whether we’re talking about animal
studies or studies of non-Westernized people, at least 80 percent of obesity
and chronic diseases in Westernized countries come from processed foods,
Knobbe concludes. “It is driven by vegetable oils and trans-fats … fast food
restaurants almost all cook in soybean oil and canola oil.”
Other Experts Agree with Knobbe
In a recent podcast, Both Saladino and journalist Nina Teicholz decry the
popularity and ubiquity of PUFAs in the modern food system and believe in the
healthful benefits of saturated fat.
In the podcast, Saladino and Teicholz review the history of the demonization
of saturated fat and cholesterol, which began, they say, with the flawed
hypothesis in 1960 to 1961 that saturated fat causes heart disease.
The hypothesis was buttressed by the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans,
introduced in 1980, which told people to limit their saturated fat and
cholesterol, all the while exonerating carbs, which were increasingly made
with PUFAs. It should be no surprise that the hypothesis and dietary
guidelines were linked to a rapid rise in obesity and chronic diseases such
as heart disease.
In the podcast, Saladino and Teicholz discuss the reasons why this myth has
been allowed to persist, despite the scientific evidence against it.
If saturated animal fats were acknowledged to be healthy and processed
industrial vegetable oils and grains were exposed as unhealthy, it would
decimate the major processed food and fast food industries, which rely on
vegetable oils and grains.
Moreover, statin sales and other Big Pharma profit areas would suffer. Big Food
and Big Pharma have financial motives for keeping the health benefits of real
food hidden.
Like Knobbe, the experts are convinced that the massive increase in linoleic
acid consumption, because of its ubiquity in industrial vegetable oils and
processed foods, is a key metabolic driver of obesity, heart disease, cancer, and
other chronic diseases.
They stress that the belief that high low-density lipoproteins (LDL)— the socalled “bad” cholesterol—are a risk factor for heart disease and that by
lowering your LDL you lower your risk of a heart attack, is incorrect. The
science simply doesn’t bear this out, they say. The reason for this is because
not all LDL particles are the same. That is why we advocate once a year
having a fractionated cholesterol test performed which analyses the 7
particles that make up the aggregate total commonly known as LDL/HDL
Cutting down on red meat and saturated fat and eating more vegetable oil
may cause LDL to go down, Saladino explains, but those LDLs will not be
oxidized. It is the effect of LDL oxidation that triggers insulin resistance and
related problems, including heart disease— something the LDL tests don’t
detect.
Eating saturated fat, on the other hand, may raise your LDL, but those LDL
particles will be large and fluffy and do not cause arterial damage, says
Saladino.
The take-home message from both doctors Knobbe and Saladino is that
seed oils are responsible for the vast majority of modern diseases and the
best thing you can do for your health is renounce them. One of the worst
offenders is almonds. They have the highest levels of linoleic acid of any nuts so
we have cut out the use of all almond products in our diet.
[1] YouTube June 13, 2020
[2] YouTube June 13, 2020
[3] YouTube June 13, 2020
[4] Cure AMD Foundation 2020
[5] Cure AMD Foundation 2020
[6] Cure AMD Foundation 2020
[7] Cure AMD Foundation 2020
[8] YouTube June 13, 2020
[9] YouTube June 13, 2020
[10] YouTube June 13, 2020
[11] YouTube June 13, 2020
[12] YouTube June 13, 2020
[13] YouTube June 13, 2020
[14] Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol. 17, No. 1
[15] YouTube June 13, 2020
[16] YouTube June 13, 2020
[17] YouTube June 13, 2020
[18] YouTube June 13, 2020
[19] YouTube June 13, 2020
