325. Seed Oils, Healthy Fats, and Why Nutrition Feels So Confusing | Dr. Cate Shanahan

Simple Farmhouse Life

Lisa Bass

Leisure, Home & Garden

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’ve been trying to eat well but feel stuck sorting through conflicting nutrition advice, this episode is for you. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Cate Shanahan for a practical conversation about why modern nutrition feels so confusing and how traditional diets offer a simpler framework for long-term health. We talk through how seed oils quietly replaced more nourishing fats in the modern food supply, why they play such a big role in how processed foods impact our health, and how simple fat swaps can make a real difference without changing everything you eat. If you’re looking for clarity, common sense, and realistic steps you can apply in your everyday life, I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation!

In this episode, we cover:

- Why so many people feel overwhelmed and confused by modern nutrition advice and how looking to traditional diets helps cut through the noise

- Dr. Cate’s background in genetics and family medicine and how one generation’s food choices can shape the next

- The four pillars found across traditional cultures that support long-term health (fresh foods, ferments and sprouting, bone broth, and organ meats)

- How modern convenience foods quietly replaced nutrient-dense fats with industrial seed oils

- Why seed oils are the true driver behind why junk food makes people feel and look unwell

- A breakdown of the “Hateful Eight” seed oils to watch for when reading ingredient labels

- The difference between toxic seed oils and neutral refined oils and why not all refined fats are equal

- How to identify truly healthy fats by taste, labeling, and how they’re processed

- Why simply swapping fats (without changing the rest of the meal) can have a major impact on health

- The hidden places seed oils show up (even in organic and “healthy” grocery items)

- A realistic, low-stress approach to reducing seed oils without trying to overhaul everything overnight

- Why consumer demand is finally shifting the food industry toward better fat choices and what that means for home cooks

View full show notes on the blog + watch this episode on YouTube.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	One generation's nutrition can affect the next generation's health.
0:05.4	Nothing about our health is random.
0:07.6	I wrote books to help people understand that in spite of what, you know, maybe their doctors
0:13.1	might want to tell them that there's nothing they can do.
0:16.0	It's just bad luck or bad genetics.
0:18.9	There's a heck of a lot that they can do. Nothing about our health is
0:22.8	random and a whole heck of a lot of it relates to diet and nutrition. And that is important
0:28.2	because I didn't learn that in the medical system. My name is Lisa, mother of nine and creator of
0:33.8	the blog and YouTube channel Farmhouse on Boone. On this podcast, I like to talk about
0:38.0	simplifying your life so you can live out your priorities. I help you learn how to cook from scratch
0:42.5	and decorate on a budget through this podcast and my courses simple sourdough in the simple sewing series.
0:48.4	I will leave links to these resources in the show notes and description box below. Now let's get into the show.
0:59.9	Thank you. in the show notes and description box below. Now let's get into the show. Welcome back to the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. You know on here we like to talk about from scratch cooking. We like to
1:05.9	talk about taking our health seriously, but in ways that are simple and doable. I think that you are going to love
1:11.6	this conversation with Dr. Kate. We are going to be talking about seed oils. So Dr. Kate
1:17.9	is the author of Deep Nutrition. You've probably heard about that book if you've been around
1:23.5	the whole food, natural type of world. And then she has a new release called Dark Calories.
1:29.5	So specifically, it is about seed oils.
1:32.1	We've been hearing a lot about seed oils.
1:34.4	And in some ways, it feels like you can't run away from them and how to run away from
1:40.0	them and what to even look for.
1:41.3	So if you find that kind of thing interesting, which I sure do,
	...

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