Inflammation is one of the biggest concerns surrounding soybean oil. And soybean oil can lean pro-inflammatory depending on how much you’re consuming. The polyunsaturated fats in soybean oil are mostly in the form of omega-6 fatty acids. This isn’t a major concern on its own, but it can be problematic when you look at what the typical American is eating.
Before oil refining, humans’ diets were chock full of omega-3 fatty acids from wild-caught fish, wild game, and natural fats. But industrialization brought a shift. As processed foods became more readily available, consumption of omega-6 fatty acids went up drastically, while intake of omega-3 fatty acids started to decrease.8
The ideal ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s is 2:19, but the average American consumes the two fats in a ratio of 10:1 to 20:1. In other words, we’re collectively eating 10 to 20 times10 more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s. The consumption of soybean oil specifically also increased 1,000-fold11 from 1909 to 1999—and it’s likely even higher now.
When consumed in such excess, omega-6 fatty acids can contribute to inflammation12—especially if you’re not eating the omega-3s needed to combat these processes.
