Dark Calories: How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back by Author’s Name

I have several books on this subject. This book has new and additional info compared to the other books.
The book better explains how seed oil causes much of today’s diseases. Cancer, Alz, heart disease, diabetes all pretty much caused by seed oils (often called vegetables oil).

This is the 4th book I’ve read by Dr. Cate, and she never fails to knock it out of the park. In Dark Calories, Dr. Cate explains the physiology of how our bodies utilize fats and why it’s toxic for our cells to ingest seed oils (aka “vegetable” oils). She explains that the toxic sludge of soy, cottonseed, canola, and the other “hateful 8” in its crude form would make anyone gag, yet once it has been processed and deodorized and sanitized, it’s a nonoffensive oil substituted for traditional healthy oils in most restaurants and even home kitchens. She clearly explains what these poisonous substances do to our cells and why we MUST stop using them, even though they are cheaper and basically in everything processed, even that which is labeled organic or healthy. Well, they are after all a byproduct that used to be thrown away but now we eat them and look who is making money (food corporations) and look who is suffering (the people fooled into thinking it’s healthier than the food humans have been consuming for thousands of years).

Her first book, Deep Nutrition was revolutionary for me, pointing me toward a more traditional way of eating even though I’m a busy mom and teacher. She gave the background on why we need to reclaim our traditional HUMAN way of eating, and she gave great tips for modern day living. Then she wrote Fatburn Fix, a manual for how to fix your metabolism, including all the science. Her third book, Food Rules, has rules for eating that are basically summarizing the other two books.

Then she wrote Dark Calories and WOW is it amazing. I didn’t know what else she could write about but she tells us clearly what we NEED to know as a society about the “hateful 8” seed oils and exactly why it’s poison. I have been living mostly seed-oil free, including for my family and the restaurant my husband opened ever since I started reading Dr. Cate’s books. This past year, however, I got sick and it really disrupted my body from my electrolytes to my appetite. I fell back on fast food and easy quick meals because I had no energy and I was constantly chasing sugary food for energy. Dark Calories came at just the right time for me to remember just why I was trying to stay away from seed oils, and her clear explanations of the processes going on inside our bodies helped cement my resolve. I read that whole thing in just a few days, and then went back and reread Fatburn Fix!

Dr. Cate has a great website full of articles that you can peruse, she’s a family physician who cares a lot about the people she works with, and she gives great advice. She’s approachable and has a very friendly writing style, but don’t underestimate her, she really knows what she’s talking about and she doesn’t sugar-coat the truth!

Dr. Cate’s books truly changed my life and the way I eat, and even in the worst of my sick times I still maintained many of the principles of her books because it has now become a fundamental part of my life. My biggest hope is that she will write a book for parents so we can do what’s right by our kids. I want more people to know the truth behind why seed oils are toxic. Thank you, Dr. Cate, for taking the time to do this important work! And if you’re a Kindle Unlimited customer, both Food Rules and Deep Nutrition are free with the monthly subscription, which is an amazing gift, so I recommend you read them as soon as you can.

Is it really that complicated? The more we have followed the health guidelines of the government and groups like the American Heart Association, the sicker we have become. We don’t eat what our bodies are designed to use. There’s probably no better example of what we shouldn’t eat than vegetable oils.

There has been a slow awakening to this in recent years. Witness the increase in use of olive oils, but vegetable oils continue to be dangerously pervasive in our diet. Dr. Shanahan has declared war on the unhealthy narrative. With her she brings the weapons of chemistry and biology, and the disturbing history of how we got here.

Dense with detail, yet readable, this is a must read for anyone who cares about their health, and all who suffer from less than optimal health. Shanahan also gives the practical advice you need to apply to your daily life. The oil pushers will fight back, but science is not on their side.

She mentions the lack of protein in our diet. For more on this other important pillar of our health, see Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s book Forever Strong. If you want more on the history of how our health went so wrong, read Nina Teicholz’s The Big Fat Surprise, or Matt Lysiak’s Fiat Food. Philip Ovadia’s Stay Off My Operating Table is a perfect intro to better health.

Shanahan mentions how protein molecules and cells (p. 67) are perfect biological machines. For more on this fascinating research, see Fuz Rana’s The Cell’s Design, and Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell.

For more on why beef is so important to our diet, and not anti-environment (quite the opposite), see Sacred Cow by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf.

And lastly buy Dr. Shanahan’s indispensable, Deep Nutrition. Human health should be at its peak. It is in free fall. Join the movement to save humanity.