This for That - Sugar, Seed Oils and Emulsifiers, Oh My!
- Springfield [Crunchy-ish] Mama
![Writer: Springfield [Crunchy-ish] Mama](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/dc9987_c8d5bff465a644f5b872777ece38d675%7Emv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_32,h_32,al_c,q_80,enc_avif,quality_auto/dc9987_c8d5bff465a644f5b872777ece38d675%7Emv2.jpeg)
- May 20, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 4, 2025
An easy [healthy-ish] everyday food item swap:
Peanut Butter
The conversation about our food is getting loud, and thank the universe because it's about damn time. I am sure you've heard the ramblings in recent conversations revolving around seed oils. Much of these discussions act as if this is a new thought, seed oils - huh, maybe not so great for our bodies? It's really not a new conversation. Old schoolers in the health and food industry have actually long been advocating against these "healthful" oils. It's just, no one seemed to be listening and it's no wonder, as immense amounts of money have been spent to convince us otherwise. Today, our bodies are screaming for health. The United States is topping the charts, WORLDWIDE, with chronic illnesses, autoimmune disorders, cancers and diseases and more and more hopeful ears are beginning to open up to the conversation about what in the hell might be going on here.
It's really very overwhelming, to me. 🤯 EVERYTHING is poisoning us. I can't fix the world or even my entire pantry in one foul swoop. But, I can start to learn, however slowly it may be. I can start to make easy and affordable swaps for healthier options for myself and my family and I can share the word with my friends. 💕
Some swaps are easier than others. I've been on the sugar lookout for quite awhile now, it's a sneaky motherfucker added to almost every packaged food you look at. WHYYYY?? I've grown accustomed to carefully inspecting all labels and opting for the options with no added, or as little as possible, sugar and seeking processed white sugar alternatives.
BUT, seed oils? It's one that's been a bit more taunting for me to broach. I was first introduced to the idea that oils branded as "healthy" might not be so good for us by Joel Furhman, years ago when I read my first of his books, Super Immunity. He's one of these old schoolers, I mentioned, with his slew of amazing health books like Eat for Life and The End of Dieting, to name just a couple. It wasn't until reading Casey Means new book, Good Energy, that I've had a renewed sense of health urgency and am diligently checking for seed oils on every label. If nothing less, just to be aware of and fret over while I continue to consume, my beloved ranch dressing, for one example. SEE this is why I am a [Crunchy-ish] Mama! 🤣 In fact, since peanut oil is on her no-no list she probably would say to eliminate peanut butter all together. But, I am not there.
I discovered, accidentally, that I can happily and easily make a SWAP for PEANUT BUTTER. We eat a lot of peanut butter in my house. Almost as much as Ranch! 🤣 I put that shit in yogurt, oatmeal, deserts, on apples, toast, sandwiches and celery - peanut butter, not ranch! I've been buying the Organics brand CRUNCHY peanut butter from Albertsons for a while now. It has the least amount of added sugar at 1 gram per 2 tablespoons that I could find, at a reasonable price, and there are no added preservatives, gums or emulsifiers. They use Organic Cane Sugar, Sea Salt and Dry Roasted Organic Peanuts plus...DUN-DUN-DUN....Organic Palm Oil- an ingredient I never thought much about, honestly.
Team Crunchy or Team Creamy?
0%Crunchy
0%Creamy
0%I'll Take it Any Way
It turns Palm Oil is not actually a seed oil. Like Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Avocado Oil, it is not derived from a seed. So, it is a better alternative to a true seed oil but still, not healthy. Still, better than the popular peanut butters on the shelf like Jiff and Skippy which both contain soybean and rapeseed oils plus additional sneaky ingredients. Joel Fuhrman actually makes the claim that, "no oil should be considered a health food". (Supper Imminuty, Joel Fuhrman) No matter the oil, it's 100% fat and a highly processed food at that. Because of the processing there are no fat-binding fibers left in the product. Meaning, 100% of the calories (about 120 per tablespoon) WILL BE stored in your body as fat very rapidly, not to mention seed oils are low in nutrients and contain no fiber.
Palm oil is described as a versatile vegetable oil, used in food manufacturing, beauty products and GET THIS as a BIO FUEL. Turns out the history behind seed oils is, manufacturing; industrial lubrication. Seed oils were developed to be used as INDUSTRIAL LUBRICATION!!!!!! 🤯 Hence, the Farm Bill to subsidize their manufacturing after the product was no longer needed in such high volume at the end of WWII. YUCK!!!!!! 🤮 Here's a quick low down on how this happened.
These Farm Bill subsidies are the reason why we see these oils in EVERYTHING. It's cheaper to produce these INSANELY extravagantly processed seed oils than, the better fat OGs like, animal based fats (butter, ghee, tallow), olive, avocado and coconut oils. Americans are consuming so much soybean oil that it actually accounts for THE MOST calories consumed. The saddest part about consuming these seed oils? They're HIDDEN and virtually "tasteless", an EMPTY calorie! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! You don't even know you're consuming it. It's not like that cravings quenching ice cream cone you choose to accept the caloric, among other, consequences of. These seed oils are sneaky little fuckers that have infiltrated almost every processed food we eat and they're quietly and rapidly fucking up our health.
"These oils are extremely high in omega-6 fats, which skews our omega-6 to omega-3 ratio and increases inflammation in the body." (Good Inside, Casey Means) Yes, omega-6 fatty acids are key nutrients our bodies need. They're a type of polyunsaturated fat that we get only from our food (nuts, seeds, eggs, tofu, chicken) and they are pretty necessary for healthy brain function, growth and development. They're also beneficial for heart, skin and bone health as well as helping to regulate metabolism. Dr. Fuhrman does a good job of explaining in his book (page 55 under the header, The Complicated Relationship Among Insulin, Fat, and Cancer), Eat for Life, how because of the extreme processing of seed oils they are rapidly absorbed and stored as fat in our bodies. "Dietary oils...quickly and efficiently increase body fat accumulation, enhancing insulin resistance." (Eat to Live, Joel Fuhrman) As opposed to if you were getting your healthy omega-6 consumption from nuts and seeds that are absorbed much slower into the bloodstream so that they can be transferred as energy rather than stored as fat plus, they suppress appetite and provide valuable fiber and nutrients.
Ok, this turned into way more "education" than I was anticipating. 🤓 But, it's been a fun exercise for me and I sure hope it's been eye opening and interesting to you - if you didn't already know all this crazy business about seed oils! There's so many good resources out there - I'll link some reading options below. Obviously, I am a fan of Casey Means, we'll be hearing more from her as she was just appointed as our Surgeon General, 🙌 and Joel Furhman but lots of people are talking about seed oils and why they are not so great. Check out this great clip from The Joe Rogan Podcast with Gary Breka. Andrew Huberman discusses seed oils in a variety of podcasts- here's a clip of one with Dr. Mark Hyman. Doctor Ben Bikman gives a short lecture on seed oils and discusses the history of seed oils in the US. Ok, ok back to my "accidental" swap. Thanks for stickin' with me! 🤣 Pun intended!
So, I actually happened upon this swap when I accidentally purchased the, "STIR to enjoy" option rather than my usual, "no stir" option. I was disgusted! 🤣 I was ranting, "who in the world would buy this shit?! WHY would anyone buy this?!?" It's a mess. It's terribly difficult to work with, to mix, to spread, to get out of the jar without an overflow of oil and then you get to the bottom and it's dry. What. The. Fuck. Curious why anyone would choose this "old fashioned" style over the immensely more convenient "no stir" options, I examined the label.
Ah-ha! Zero grams of added sugar and no PALM OIL. Ok, there IS a reason for this madness. But, I was not ready or willing to make the switch. I could not handle the mess. This "old fashioned" stuff just didn't work for me. So, I went back to my "no stir" simplicity and tried to ignore my guilty conscience. When you know better, you do better. UHHHHHHHHGGG! Damnit.
I ruminated on how I could make this work. I should make this work. And then, it happened again BY MISTAKE. We ended up with a "stir to enjoy" jar and I was determined to find a way to make that a reality. So, I busted out my Kitchen Aid hand mixer and emptied the disgustingly messy contents of the 'stir to enjoy' crunchy peanut into one of my beautiful (green!) glass mixing bowls. I wasn't sure it would stay mixed but it mixed beautifully. I used my (green!) silicon spatula to scrape every last drop back into the jar and stuck it back in the pantry, fingers crossed. I'll tell ya what! IT'S WORKING!!!! And now I am one of the weirdos who buys "old fashioned" peanut butter! 🤣 I buy the large jar and we do go through it fairly quickly but, it hasn't separated on me yet! It takes all of 5 minutes to mix it up and for me, it feels totally worth the investment in time to have a ZERO sugar, ZERO added oil option to serve myself and my family.
Check out these amazing nutrition resources!
Casey Means:
Joel Fuhrman:
Melissa Hartwig:
Cooking Whole 30 --- When I looked this was 55% off at only $10!!!!
Other Books on My Nutrition Read List:
Eat Like a Girl - By, Mindy Petz
This is Your Brain on Food - By, Uma Naidoo
By, Deborah McNamara
The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood - By, William Sears
The Brain Warriors Way - By, Daniel Amen
Also Worth a Look at is Joan Mathews Work:
Check out Thrift Books for GREAT deals on used books! I LOVE Thrift Books and have been buying from them since college textbooks were in my cart.
Did you find this post interesting? Would you hit the ❤️ and leave a comment? I'd love your feedback!!! What nutrition books have been life changing for you? What's on your list? Keep an eye out for more "This for That" posts!!!
Thanks for being here.
Let's do this thing together.
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#5 May 20, 2025
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