Dark Calories: How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back

by Catherine Shanahan MD

Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of Deep Nutrition explains how eight common seed oils cause the cellular damage that underlies virtually all chronic disease, exposes the corruption that deceives doctors and consumers alike, and gives us a clear roadmap to recovery and rejuvenation.

Did you know that consuming a large serving of french fries—cooked in vegetable oil—delivers the toxicity of smoking 24 cigarettes?

Cornell-trained biochemist turned family physician Dr. Cate Shanahan introduces us to well-respected scientists who warn that vegetable oils are a public health disaster, wreaking havoc on our bodies’ cells by depleting antioxidants and promoting free radical toxicity.

Their many effects include:

• Uncontrollable hunger, so we need drugs to maintain our weight
• Inflammatory fat buildup under our skin and within our internal organs and arteries
• Blood sugar swings that promote bad moods and antisocial behavior
• Disrupted brain energy, concentration problems, and mental illnesses
• Intracellular oxidative stress that promotes cancer development
• Gut inflammation, bloating, heartburn, and the runs

Americans were enticed into buying these oils based on their cholesterol-lowering property, but the idea that cholesterol-lowering is beneficial was pushed on us without solid evidence to support it. In Dark Calories, Dr. Cate reveals the financial entanglements between industry and underhanded academics who created and sustain our 1950s-era, arbitrary dietary rules.

As a solution, she proposes a clear, no-nonsense plan that aligns with our genetic needs and nature’s laws. Thankfully, recovering our health is simplified by the fact that nutrients that treat one condition also tend to treat all the rest. As an added bonus, we also revive our sense of taste so that our cravings shift to wholesome, nourishing foods instead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306832413
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	76,496
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Physician-scientist Cate Shanahan, MD, synthesizes complex information into a flawlessly logical argument so that readers can become change-makers for a better world. Her works help to inspire entire movements, including bone broth, live-culture ferments (esp. kombucha), and seed oil-free business empires. Together with NBA legend Gary Vitti, she created the LA Lakers PRO Nutrition program, which has been emulated by elite championship teams around the planet. She runs a telehealth practice as well as a health-education website, DrCate.com, and lives with her family on a peaceful lake in Florida.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2024

Vegetable oils are terrible for one’s health, according to this troubling warning. Physician Shanahan (Deep Nutrition) explains that they contain polyunsaturated fatty acids that undergo a chemical transformation when heated during the manufacturing process, creating “brand-new compounds within the oil that... are mildly to extremely toxic.” Such toxins can cause oxidative stress, a “cellular imbalance that disrupts everything the cell is trying to do” and leads to chronic inflammation. Shanahan’s assertion that vegetable oils are the primary reason why inflammatory diseases have ticked upward in recent decades doesn’t quite persuade, as it relies on circumstantial evidence that vegetable oil use has increased over the same period, and she admits that there’s relatively little research studying a direct link between vegetable oil and inflammatory disease. Still, readers who want to err on the side of caution and steer clear of the substance will benefit from tips for replacing it with healthier fats. For instance, she recommends substituting butter, ghee, or unrefined coconut oil for vegetable oil; loading up on almonds, avocados, and pecans; and eating meats with low polyunsaturated fat content, such as beef and lamb. Shanahan also lists vegetable oil–free meal ideas, recommending steak, roasted vegetables, and hummus made from olive oil. Though this perhaps overstates vegetable oils’ evils, it provides sound guidance on how to reduce one’s intake of the stuff. Health enthusiasts will want to take note. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Dr. Cate offers a compelling and eye-opening exploration into the harmful impacts of vegetable oils on our health, challenging widely held beliefs and shedding light on the root causes of many metabolic diseases. Her rigorous analysis and critique of the healthcare industry’s complicity in promoting these dangerous products, despite overwhelming evidence of their detrimental effects, is both brave and necessary. By empowering readers with knowledge and practical advice to reclaim their health through real food, Dark Calories stands as a beacon for those seeking to navigate the misinformation surrounding diet and nutrition, offering a clear path towards wellness and disease prevention.”—David Perlmutter, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grain Brain, Drop Acid, and more

“Nobody else is focusing on the fact that 30 percent of our calories are now coming from oils that didn’t exist before the industrial era. Instead, we hear about 77 thousand different things we need to avoid. Dr. Cate makes life easier by spotlighting the one action that is the most life changing: avoiding the Hateful Eight toxic seed oils.”—Mark Sisson, New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet

“In plain language, Dr. Cate spells out the science that documents the dangers of seed oils, and her sensible advice guides the reader through all the misinformation and conflicting dogmas about how to eat. Dark Calories is an invitation to join the growing community of people invested in creating true health.”—Andrew Weil, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Spontaneous Healing, Healthy Aging, and more

“In Dark Calories, Dr. Cate does more than pull back the curtain to reveal the slow-poison in factory foods. She tears it down and sets it on fire.”—Ken Berry, MD, author of Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health

“Dr. Cate has taken a comprehensive look at our entire healthcare system. She explains complex chemistry in a way anyone can understand, the why of what we consider healthy, and the common myths about nutrition and medications. But most importantly, there are shopping lists, recipes, and suggested literature to further your nutritional journey. Reading Dark Calories and making the appropriate lifestyle modifications may be the most significant healthcare decision you will ever make.”—Gary Vitti, NBA legend and former Head Athletic Trainer of the Los Angeles Lakers

“Dr. Cate has done it again. Diving into the sordid history of dangerous seed oils, collusion between big pharmaceutical companies and medicine, and the pervasive deception of the public, her new book reads at times like a historical spy novel. Driven by greed, our health has been sideswiped, bought and paid for by industries that have no care for their consequences on our health. Don’t enter a grocery store, restaurant, or especially a doctor’s office until you’ve read this stunning book.”—Jeff Hays, American film director

“Dr. Cate’s important book Dark Calories describes how the consumption of highly processed foods containing toxic vegetable oils and elevated sugar are contributing to the most common chronic disease seen in people today. The information presented will help people make better choices in food selections and lifestyle that can prevent most chronic diseases.”
 —Thomas N. Seyfried, PhD, author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer

“Listen up sports dietitians: you need to read this book to understand inflammation because what most of you guys were telling me didn’t work. I had the best health of my athletic career with the L.A. Lakers thanks to Dr. Cate.”—Chris Kaman, retired NBA player

"Vegetable oils are terrible for one’s health, according to this troubling warning. ... readers who want to err on the side of caution and steer clear of the substance will benefit from tips for replacing it with healthier fats. For instance, she recommends substituting butter, ghee, or unrefined coconut oil for vegetable oil; loading up on almonds, avocados, and pecans; and eating meats with low polyunsaturated fat content, such as beef and lamb. Shanahan also lists vegetable oil–free meal ideas ... Health enthusiasts will want to take note."—Publisher's Weekly

"A timely and well-researched book.... a transformation well worth undertaking."—Ronald Hoffman, MD, past President of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM)

From the Publisher

06/14/2024

For readers steeped in the wellness culture, seed oils have become the new trans fat, the worst kind of fat to eat. Physician-biochemist Shannahan's (The Fatburn Fix) latest book positions itself as an exposé on vegetable oils, which she asserts causes elevated blood sugar levels, inflammation, chronic diseases, and more. She discusses most of the common seed oils. For example, she asserts that canola oil is part of the "hateful eight" of fat sources. Some of her descriptions of seed oil manufacturing processes may come across as heavily biased to some readers and fear inducing to others. There are proven benefits to eating less processed whole foods and many kernels of truth in her assertions. But not all. For example, the longitudinal research presented in this book does not convincingly connect seed oils to the oxidative stress she suggests lays at the root of all chronic diseases. This book also steers readers toward a two-week challenge that will help them "ditch seed oils for good." VERDICT This book contains some intriguing conclusions about seed oils, but not all the arguments to turn readers away from them are proven.—Emily Bowles

Library Journal