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Toxic Oil: Why Vegetable Oil Will Kill You And How To Save Yourself
'Vegetable oils give you cancer. Every extra mouthful of vegetable oil you consume takes you one step closer to a deadly (and irreversible) outcome.' David Gillespie believes that our bodies are not adapted to eat a diet which contains polyunsaturated fats in huge quantities. Our extraordinarily complex biochemistry works on an assumption that we will have a very small quantity of these fats in our diet and that every other fat we consume will come from animals or other sources of saturated fat or monounsaturated fat. This was the case until 200 years ago, but the industrial replacement of all fats with cheaper man-made vegetable oils has meant that it is almost impossible to buy food that does not contain polyunsaturated fats in the form of seed oils. They are in cooking oils, margarines, sauces, spreads, crackers, biscuits, pastry, fast food and most processed food. In Toxic Oil he reveals the evidence to support his argument that an excess of seed oils can not only cause cancer and heart disease but also damage our eyes and immune systems. This practical guide also helps you navigate the supermarket, with recommendations for brands that are low in sugar and seed oils, and provides recipes for food that would normally be made with seed oils. This accessible, entertaining and sometimes shocking book is an essential first step towards living a longer, healthier life.
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2013
About the author
David Gillespie
45 books99 followersDavid Gillespie is a recovering corporate lawyer, former co-founder of a successful software company and investor in several software startups.
He is also the father of six young children (including one set of twins). With such a lot of extra time on his hands, and 40 extra kilos on his waistline, he set out to investigate why he, like so many in his generation, was fat.
He deciphered the latest medical findings on diet and weight gain and what he found was chilling. Being fat was the least of his problems. He needed to stop poisoning himself.
His first book, Sweet Poison, published in 2008 is widely credited with starting the current Australian wave of anti-sugar sentiment.
He is also the father of six young children (including one set of twins). With such a lot of extra time on his hands, and 40 extra kilos on his waistline, he set out to investigate why he, like so many in his generation, was fat.
He deciphered the latest medical findings on diet and weight gain and what he found was chilling. Being fat was the least of his problems. He needed to stop poisoning himself.
His first book, Sweet Poison, published in 2008 is widely credited with starting the current Australian wave of anti-sugar sentiment.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 28, 2017
Another must read for parents and those wanting to live without getting heart disease or cataracts.
May 24, 2013
Great that there is a book about fats so readily available that really tells the truth about fats. I didn't agree with absolutely everything he said and was disturbed that Penguin don't have editors that pick up on the incorrect use of "which" (when it should be "that"). This happened constantly throughout the book and drove me nuts. However, I hope everyone reads this and realises that saturated fats are NOT evil!!
July 6, 2018
Health and nutrition experts have been advising us for years to reduce our saturated fat intake, and instead choose "healthier" vegetable oil options. In his controversial new book Toxic Oil: Why Vegetable Oil Will Kill You and How to Save Yourself, David Gillespie turns this idea on its head, stating that "everything you believe about fat is wrong."
Gillespie has become something of a health crusader in Australia. He wrote his first book Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat, after his personal battle with an excess 40 kilos led him to explore the role of sugar in the ever-increasing weight of the Western world. Now, in Toxic Oil, he both alerts readers to the not so favourable truth behind vegetable and seed oils, and reframes the bad press that saturated fats have previously received. The book provides a background to food manufacturing, and food studies and research, and also highlights the implications of polyunsaturated fat intake on health. Additional chapters explore food labels, and recipes and meal plans geared to help you reduce polyunsaturated fats in your diet.
I think the key to Toxic Oil is not to take it too seriously, and to allow it to plant the seed that not everything the experts tell us should be taken as gospel - there are two sides to every coin, after all. For those who are not familiar with scientific jargon, this book may be difficult, in parts, to navigate, however, the overall gist will still be accessible. Gillespie's former career as a corporate lawyer provide him with practiced evidence gathering and analyse skills, however, I found myself dubious about his lack of health related experience or training. Additionally, health professionals will dislike the absence of referencing. That said, although health professionals have pooh-poohed his publications, he has enticed important public health debate.
The bottom line is that in our modern Western society, we eat far too much vegetable oil containing processed foods: cooking oil, margarine, fast food, spreads, sauces, snack-foods to name a few. While Toxic Oil is an interesting and informative read, I would suggest using it as a guide, rather than a prescription. It is a reminder that returning to the basic, natural, whole-food that our grandmothers ate, combined with a bit of common sense and moderation is, ultimately, the way to better health.
Gillespie has become something of a health crusader in Australia. He wrote his first book Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat, after his personal battle with an excess 40 kilos led him to explore the role of sugar in the ever-increasing weight of the Western world. Now, in Toxic Oil, he both alerts readers to the not so favourable truth behind vegetable and seed oils, and reframes the bad press that saturated fats have previously received. The book provides a background to food manufacturing, and food studies and research, and also highlights the implications of polyunsaturated fat intake on health. Additional chapters explore food labels, and recipes and meal plans geared to help you reduce polyunsaturated fats in your diet.
I think the key to Toxic Oil is not to take it too seriously, and to allow it to plant the seed that not everything the experts tell us should be taken as gospel - there are two sides to every coin, after all. For those who are not familiar with scientific jargon, this book may be difficult, in parts, to navigate, however, the overall gist will still be accessible. Gillespie's former career as a corporate lawyer provide him with practiced evidence gathering and analyse skills, however, I found myself dubious about his lack of health related experience or training. Additionally, health professionals will dislike the absence of referencing. That said, although health professionals have pooh-poohed his publications, he has enticed important public health debate.
The bottom line is that in our modern Western society, we eat far too much vegetable oil containing processed foods: cooking oil, margarine, fast food, spreads, sauces, snack-foods to name a few. While Toxic Oil is an interesting and informative read, I would suggest using it as a guide, rather than a prescription. It is a reminder that returning to the basic, natural, whole-food that our grandmothers ate, combined with a bit of common sense and moderation is, ultimately, the way to better health.
April 30, 2018
I mean, it gets the job done. All fine, of course would need to read a wider range of similar texts to obtain an more astute insight but it’s a good precursor. There is this concerning food snack regarding the weet-bix/ vita brit:
‘Or, simply eat them dry with a nice layer of butter spread on top (my favourite)’ 😄
‘Or, simply eat them dry with a nice layer of butter spread on top (my favourite)’ 😄
April 8, 2020
The history and the concepts on polyunsaturated fat are really good. This book can be read for that part alone. The author talks about sugar as well. However he does not talk about avoiding carbohydrates in general in this book or may be in his other boos as well.
September 27, 2020
This book gives the true reasons why foods have oils and other things added by manufacturers. Contains graphs for sugar and fat contents of items like pestos, dips, dressings and others. The last chapter is a bunch of recipes tried and tested by the author's family.
February 21, 2017
This book was fascinating, terrifying, empowering and wonderful all at the same time!!
I feel ready to tackle my kitchen and improve our health by making MUCH smarter choices for myself and my family.
David Gillespie has done all the exhaustive research making grocery store choices easier for the reader, AND he has six children so his suggestions and recipes are ones that children will actually try!
I recommend that ANYONE looking to greatly improve their health, STOP listening to what is "fed" to us through the mass media as "healthy" and do more grass roots study. The food industry isn't interested in our health... they want to make money!!
I feel ready to tackle my kitchen and improve our health by making MUCH smarter choices for myself and my family.
David Gillespie has done all the exhaustive research making grocery store choices easier for the reader, AND he has six children so his suggestions and recipes are ones that children will actually try!
I recommend that ANYONE looking to greatly improve their health, STOP listening to what is "fed" to us through the mass media as "healthy" and do more grass roots study. The food industry isn't interested in our health... they want to make money!!
November 9, 2014
A very interesting, thought provoking and well researched look at how vegetable oils have made their way into so many of our every day foods and why they are so bad for us. I felt a little overwhelmed by the author's conclusions regarding saturated fats... it's confronting when everything you think to be true, and are told is true by industry 'experts', is asserted to be false. The history of how vegetable oils became so prevalent and explanation of why they are so bad for us is written in a truly accessible way and is absolutely fascinating. Like others I did not read the meal plan as it didn't fit with my philosophy of eating, but in saying that this book has definitely changed the way I eat.
May 5, 2013
An interesting read but I wonder about its credability. The writer is not a health expert and I am not sure how credible his statements and arguments are, though there are some truths to what he claims but I want to do some research of my own to see how biased his argument is. Food for thought though.
December 22, 2013
Eye opener about whats in packaged and take away foods, but only focused on oil and sugar. super interesting story about the whys behind vegetable oil uses. great research done by the author.
i haven t read the meal plan - the story was enough for me and I don t like supermarket foods anyway. the recipes are not made from healthy natural foods most of the time.
i haven t read the meal plan - the story was enough for me and I don t like supermarket foods anyway. the recipes are not made from healthy natural foods most of the time.
July 21, 2016
Very interesting and a straight forward read, despite the alarmist title. 99% of books in this genre are US-centric so it was an absolute bonus to read about the issue from an Australian author, discussing Australian food brands and supermarkets.
June 29, 2013
An easy to read introduction to the changing paradigm in nutrition about fats and sugar. But can be a little over-prescriptive. Obsessive-compulsive types should be particularly careful!
October 15, 2014
Everything interesting is in the first chapter...
July 18, 2015
Great info everyone should read.
February 2, 2016
Not bad...
Decent amount of advice... Quit sugar as well as see oils ... Rather eat more fatty meats, eggs, full fat milk and nuts instead of fried items and seeds...
Decent amount of advice... Quit sugar as well as see oils ... Rather eat more fatty meats, eggs, full fat milk and nuts instead of fried items and seeds...
August 28, 2013
Good to read and great to reference in the future...wish I had read this 30 years ago...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews