53. What Happens to Seed Oils After You Eat Them?

What actually happens to seed oils once they enter your body?

In this first episode of a new Healthy AF series, Zane Griggs breaks down the metabolic chain reaction he argues can begin when dietary polyunsaturated fats become incorporated into the membranes of your mitochondria.

Your mitochondria produce the ATP that powers your cells—but the fats you eat can become part of the physical structure of the mitochondrial membrane. Zane explores research around membrane composition, polyunsaturated fats, oxidative vulnerability, proton leak, mitochondrial uncoupling, and cardiolipin.

You'll learn why Zane believes the conversation around seed oils needs to go much deeper than calories or inflammation—and why mitochondrial health may be an important piece of understanding metabolic health, energy production, and longevity.

Zane also discusses research suggesting mitochondrial membrane composition can change in response to dietary fat composition, meaning what your mitochondria are built from isn't necessarily fixed.

This is Part 1 of Zane's deep dive into seed oils, mitochondria, and metabolic health. In the next episode, he'll explore how this chain of events may connect to hunger and why you can feel hungry even when you're consuming plenty of food.

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Research & Resources

Want to dig into the research behind this episode? Here are some of the studies and reviews referenced in Zane's deep dive into dietary fats, mitochondrial membranes, oxidation, and longevity:

• Life and Death: Metabolic Rate, Membrane Composition, and Life Span of Animals — Hulbert et al. (2007)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17928583/
• Role of Cardiolipin Peroxidation and Ca²⁺ in Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Disease — Paradies et al. (2009)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19368971/
• Role of Cardiolipin Alterations in Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Disease — Chicco & Sparagna (2007)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16899548/
• Improved Mitochondrial Function with Diet-Induced Increase in DHA or Arachidonic Acid in Membrane Phospholipids — Khairallah et al. (2012)
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3316678/
• Effects of Fatty Acids on Mitochondria: Implications for Cell Death — Penzo et al. (2002)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12206909/
• Extended Longevity of Wild-Derived Mice Is Associated with Peroxidation-Resistant Membranes — Hulbert et al. (2006)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16620917/
• Modification of Fatty Acid Unsaturation, Oxidative Damage & Longevity — Pamplona et al. (2004)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15130667/
• Allometry of Mitochondrial Proton Leak: Membrane Surface Area & Fatty Acid Composition — Porter, Hulbert & Brand (1996)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8997352/

YouTube Chapters

0:00 What Happens to Seed Oils After You Eat Them?
2:15 How Your Mitochondria Produce Energy
3:25 The Fats You Eat Become Part of Your Mitochondria
4:20 Why Polyunsaturated Fats Are More Vulnerable to Oxidation
6:40 Mitochondrial Membranes and the "Pacemaker of Aging"
8:00 How Seed Oils May Contribute to Proton Leak
10:40 Cardiolipin and the Mitochondrial Damage Cycle
14:00 What Long-Lived Species Can Teach Us About Membrane Fat
15:20 How This May Connect to Metabolic Disease
16:05 Can You Rebuild Your Mitochondrial Membranes?
17:00 What's Coming Next + Free Fit Over 40 Plan