Rage against the seed (oil)

Wellness influencers are at it again

Sage Vegan Bistro was one of my go-to restaurants when I was a vegetarian, then vegan, while living in Los Angeles. While I visited infrequently—it wasn’t the most inexpensive of options—I was well aware the mini-chain had captured the hearts of Angelenos.

So when chef Mollie Engelhart announced her restaurant would be rebranded as Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery as part of a move to serve meat and dairy, vegans were pissed. 

Leaving aside Engelhart’s questionable notions about regenerative farming—the driving reason was economic, so let’s be honest—this line from the LA Times article jumped out:

Additionally, a new initiative to remove seed oils from the restaurants will mean a switch to nut-based vegan cheeses.

I read this article while researching for Monday’s Conspirituality bonus episode, which is on 10X Health Systems cofounder, Gary Brecka. In one video, Brecka, who holds an undergraduate degree from a chiropractic college, says that everyone should permanently remove all seed oils from their diets.

Fear mongering about certain foods or food groups is common in wellness spaces. The pattern is identifiable enough: don’t eat this, buy my product instead. Yet the path to the shopping cart isn’t always linear. 

For example, in Engelhart’s case, it appears to be a case of “don’t hate me because my restaurants are no longer vegan, look, I’m still on your team, right?” (To be clear, Engelhart’s larger message is regenerative farming; seed oils are one component of this supposed health-conscious move.)

Brecka also doesn’t have a direct line, yet given the fact that he talks about mitochondrial damage in his seed oil rants, the next step is a visit to his online supplements store. This form of marketing is also well-founded in wellness: look at the ravages of toxic modern culture; buy my “natural” supplements instead.

These figures are not alone. There’s Seed Oil Scout, a “seed only free dining app” that’s amassed nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram, and Seed Oil Disrespecter, a supposed physician (hard to tell given it’s a meme account), which makes it seem as if the key to perfect health is a simple matter of abandoning all seed oils. 

Then there’s Seed Oil Free Alliance, an organization that claims to be offering the “worlds’ first seed oil free certification.” This would allow businesses to put a logo on their products in the style of “gluten free” and “certified organic” certifications currently in existence. The cost? $400 per ingredient to test, plus a $500 annual licensing fee. Dr Andrew Weil is an advisor and partner in the company. 

Monetizing certifications is not new. Some people need to avoid gluten. Others like assurance that their choice is vegan. If you’re a company that wants consumers to quickly confirm they’ve made the right choice, these labels makes sense, as it makes sense to charge for the vetting service.

The problem with the seed oil free label—and the entire movement—is that it’s not based in science.