The Truth About Seed Oils + How They’re Affecting Your Skin & Hormones

It’s no secret that we live in a world of highly processed food, convenience snacks, and fast meals. But one of the most damaging ingredients hiding in almost everything on grocery store shelves is something you may not even think about: seed oils.

Seed oils — like canola, soybean, sunflower, safflower, corn, and vegetable oil — are often marketed as “heart-healthy” or “light” oils. But the truth is, these highly processed oils are anything but nourishing. They’re contributing to inflammation, hormone imbalance, and even how your skin ages.

Today, I want to unpack why these oils are so problematic, how they quietly sneak into your daily life, and simple, old-fashioned swaps that can radically improve your health, skin, and hormones.

🌾 What Are Seed Oils?

Seed oils are extracted from seeds like soybeans, sunflowers, safflowers, canola (rapeseed), corn, and cottonseed.They don’t naturally flow from the plant — they require high heat, chemical solvents, and deodorization to become the clear, flavorless oil you see in bottles or ingredient labels.

These oils are ultra-processed, stripped of nutrients, and prone to oxidation, which leads to free radical damage inside the body.

🧬 How Seed Oils Affect Your Skin & Hormones

You may not realize it, but seed oils are hiding in:

Chips & crackers
Restaurant and fast food
Packaged snacks
Salad dressings
Baked goods
Nut butters
Non-dairy milks

And here’s why that matters for your wellness:

1. They Increase Inflammation

Seed oils are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. While we need a small amount of omega-6, the modern diet is way out of balance — high in omega-6 and low in omega-3s. This imbalance creates chronic, low-grade inflammation that shows up in:

Skin breakouts
Puffiness
Premature aging
Hormone imbalances

2. They Contribute to Oxidative Stress

When seed oils are heated during processing (and again when you cook with them), their unstable fatty acids oxidize, creating free radicals.This damages cells, collagen, and can even lead to skin issues, autoimmune flares, and hormone dysfunction.

3. They Impact Hormone Production

Your hormones are built from cholesterol and healthy fats. When your body is overloaded with damaged, unstable fats from seed oils, it struggles to produce and balance hormones — affecting your skin, mood, metabolism, and menstrual cycles.

🌿 What Oils & Fats Should You Use Instead?

Thankfully, ancestral wisdom gives us better options — fats that have nourished generations before us without chronic inflammation, hormone disruption, or skin issues:

✅ Grass-fed butter or ghee

✅ Tallow (rich in fat-soluble vitamins)

✅ Extra virgin olive oil (for low-heat cooking & dressings)

✅ Avocado oil (for higher-heat cooking)

✅ Coconut oil (stable, antimicrobial, great for skin too)

✅ Unrefined animal fats from healthy animals

🍟 Simple Recipe: Tallow Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into fries
2 tbsp grass-fed tallow (melted)
Sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika (to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
Toss sweet potato fries in melted tallow and seasonings.
Spread evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden and crispy.

Why tallow? Tallow is stable at high heat, unlike seed oils, and rich in skin-nourishing vitamins A, D, E, and K. It’s the perfect ancestral cooking fat that supports hormone health and clear skin.

🧈 Simple Recipe: Homemade Butter

Making butter is one of the easiest (and most satisfying) old-fashioned kitchen skills.

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream (preferably grass-fed, non-ultra-pasteurized)
Pinch of sea salt (optional)

Instructions:

Pour cream into a stand mixer or food processor.
Whip on medium-high speed until the cream turns into whipped cream — then keep going until it separates into butter and buttermilk (about 10 minutes).
Drain off the buttermilk and save for baking.
Rinse the butter under cold water to remove extra buttermilk.
Mix in a pinch of sea salt if desired.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for later.

Why homemade butter? Grass-fed butter is full of healthy saturated fats, omega-3s, and fat-soluble vitamins that nourish your hormones, metabolism, and skin — unlike inflammatory seed oils.

✨ What Happens When You Ditch Seed Oils?

Many people notice changes within weeks of cutting seed oils from their diet:

Clearer, calmer skin
Less bloating and water retention
Improved menstrual cycles
Better digestion
More stable energy and mood
Less joint pain and puffiness

You’ll likely notice that your skin glows more naturally — because your body is no longer fighting constant, hidden inflammation.

🌸 Final Thoughts

The good news is, you don’t need to overcomplicate wellness. Sometimes, the most powerful changes come from simply eating and living the way God designed — with whole, unprocessed foods, nourishing fats, fresh air, and gentle movement.

When you stop feeding your body with unstable, toxic oils and start giving it real nourishment, everything begins to shift — including your skin, your energy, and your hormones.

✨ Ready to glow from the inside out?If you’re craving a gentle, results-based, supportive roadmap to healthier habits and radiant wellness, I created the 30-Day Glow-Up Reset Challenge just for you.This challenge will help you reduce inflammation, balance your hormones, and reset your mind, body, and spirit — all with small, sustainable daily shifts. 🌿

👉 Join the 30-Day Glow-Up Reset Challenge Here → (COMING SOON)

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