The majority of oils being used by fast food companies is vegetable oil, often used due to its high burning point allowing it to be used for frying, deep frying, and sautéing without there being any issues related to it affecting the food’s flavour and making it taste like burnt toast. However, although this may seem convenient for fast food, it’s pretty much why our whole generation is, and I mean this in the most scientific way possible, fatter than previous generations. There have been multiple studies which have looked at the increase in vegetable oil use with relation to an increased rate in obesity.
There could be a myriad of reasons as to why this is possible. Chemically, although unsaturated fatty acids are more easily broken down in comparison to saturated fatty acids, the removal of flowers and nuts from these oils increase the concentration of omega-6 fatty acids within oil, specifically linoleic acid, and despite this having a role in both providing energy and helping the immune system, these have also been proven to be linked to health issues such as: coronary artery disease, obesity, asthma, and diabetes. The breaking down of linoleic acid also produces aldehydes, which researchers have proven to significantly increase the accumulation of fats within fat tissues found in our bodies, possibly leading to an increase in obesity, more specifically, obesity in children. This is because, by eating oily foods at an early age, children could become more prone to having aldehydes in their bodies, and thus would be more susceptible to being overweight. Basically, what I’m saying is that maybe MacDonalds isn’t as great as it's hyped up to be; maybe everything everyone’s ever told you about Maccers is true!
This increased susceptibility to being overweight, particularly in girls, may contribute to an early onset of puberty, also known as precocious puberty. This can be due to many reasons, but primarily, an increase in the hormone leptin. Usually, this hormone would be directly linked to the release of hormones that controls puberty however, when there’s too much leptin produced by excess fat cells, rather than directly stimulating hormones, it leads to the release of the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), which doesn’t just stimulate the gonads (ovaries and testes), but also stimulates the skeletal growth that is seen throughout the process of puberty at an early age, despite the reduction of gonad hormones. Overtime, this obesity can lead to other problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and finally, low self-esteem, and depression. So yeah, next time your parents tell you that fried food isn’t healthy, I know it’s hard, but maybe just listen to them, acknowledge them, then eat it anyways! I know I’d rather live my life eating yummy food.
Works cited
DiNicolantonio, James J., and James H. O'Keefe. "Omega-6 Vegetable Oils as a Diver of Coronary Heart Disease: The Oxidized Linoleic Acid Hypothesis." National Library of Medicine, 26 Sept. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC6196963/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2024.
Gunnars, Kris. "Omega-3-6-9 Fatty Acids: A Complete Overview." Edited by Alex Marceau. Healthline, James Norman, 31 July 2023, www.healthline.com/ nutrition/omega-3-6-9-overview#omega-3. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.
"Reduction of Unsaturated Compounds." Kognity, Hugo Wernhoff, app.kognity.com/ study/app/ib-dp-chemistry-ib-dp1-y12/sid-426-cid-247718/book/ reduction-of-unsaturated-compounds-id-46494/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.
THE ZERO ACRE EDITORIAL TEAM. "How Vegetable Oils Make Us Fat." Zeroacre, 2 May 2022, www.zeroacre.com/white-papers/how-vegetable-oil-makes-us-fat. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.
Soliman, Ashraf, et al. "Nutrition and Pubertal Development." National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266867/ #:~:text=Girls%20begin%20puberty%20at%20an,likely%20to%20enter%20puberty%20early. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.
Mayo clinic staff. "Childhood Obesity." Mayo Clinic, www.mayoclinic.org/ diseases-conditions/childhood-obesity/symptoms-causes/ syc-
Abonour, Rabi. “20 Crispy, Salty, Just-Greasy-Enough Fried Foods We Love.” Serious Eats, 6 Mar. 2020, www.seriouseats.com/fried-food-recipes.
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