The seed oil versus animal fat debate has gone from a niche topic among wellness influencers on social media to an entire movement. … Many critics promote swapping seed oils for animal fats like butter, beef tallow and lard. Just two decades after the fat-free era of the early 2000s, people are now fighting about which fat is best.

All seed oils are vegetable oils, but not all vegetable oils are seed oils. Other vegetable oils may be extracted from the fruit or pulp of the plant, such as olive, avocado and coconut oils.

“Seeds are a high-fat food … so we take the seeds and extract all the fat out of them and leave behind the fiber and the protein,” says [Dr. Nate Wood, director of culinary medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

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“Seed oils are largely unsaturated fats, which we know are really healthy,” says Wood. These include polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are “good” fats.

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Many critics believe seed oils are harmful because they have a high omega-6 content and they’re found in ultraprocessed foods. Some people also say the refining process makes seed oils “toxic. Nutritional science can be confusing, but any claims that seed oil is poisonous are “scientifically wrong.

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Animal fats, such as butter or tallow, aren’t exactly superfoods, but they may be healthy when eaten in moderation occasionally, as part of a healthy diet, the experts note.

The main issue is their high saturated fat content, which can raise “bad” LDL cholesterol. “Saturated fats are not beneficial in any way,” says Wood.

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{T]here’s no clear evidence to support using animal fat instead of seed oil

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