THE PAUSE

THE SLENDERNESS SERIES

SEED OILS AND MIDDLE AGE

A client asked me this week: "Doc, what's the big deal about seed oils? Aren't they just fat like any other fat?"

My answer: "Sure, and paint is just like wood, until you try to build a house with it."

If you're navigating your mid-life pauses and wondering why your body suddenly feels like it's working against you, this might be the missing piece.

Your Body's New Reality After 50

Remember when you could eat anything and bounce back the next day? Those days are gone, and it's not about willpower.

When you are middle-aged, three things shift dramatically:

• Hormone production drops (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone)
• Cellular repair slows down
• Inflammation has exponentially more impact

Your margin for error has shrunk. The foods that didn't bother you at 30 can quietly sabotage you at 50.

And industrial seed oils? They're among the worst offenders.

You Are Literally Made of Fat

Every single cell in your body is wrapped in a membrane made of fat. These membranes act as gatekeepers, controlling what enters your cells, what exits, and how your cells communicate with the rest of your body.

Think of them as your cells' "ears" and "eyes."

Here's what matters: Your body constantly rebuilds these membranes using the fats you eat.

The question is: What quality of materials are you giving it?

God-Made Fats: Your Mid-Life Allies

Natural fats, the ones humans have eaten for millennia, include:

• Olive oil
• Avocado oil
• Butter and ghee
• Coconut oil
• Tallow and lard (from quality sources)
• The fats naturally present in eggs, fish, meat, avocados, and olives

These fats share three critical properties:

1. They're Chemically Stable

Saturated and monounsaturated fats don't break down easily when exposed to heat, oxygen, or light. Your body can use them as intact, reliable building blocks, not damaged fragments.

2. They Create Strong But Flexible Cell Membranes

This is crucial in middle age. Your cell membranes need to be:

• Firm enough to protect
• Flexible enough to allow communication

Why this matters more as we age:

• Insulin must dock onto cell surfaces to regulate blood sugar (which often spikes when paused due to increased resistance to insulin)
• Thyroid hormones must pass through to regulate metabolism (which slows as we age)
• What little estrogen and testosterone you're still producing needs to pass its messages through healthy cellular membranes
• Brain cells communication breaks down, recall the brain is made from fat (brain fog, anyone?)

As we age, cell membranes naturally stiffen. You can't afford to make them even more rigid with poor-quality fats.

3. They Reduce Inflammation at the Cellular Level

Most inflammation begins at the cell membrane, not in your joints, gut, or brain where you feel the symptoms.

Natural fats keep membranes calm, responsive, and repairable.

Industrial Seed Oils: The Quiet Saboteur

Industrial seed oils include:

• Soybean oil
• Canola oil
• Corn oil
• Cottonseed oil
• Safflower oil
• Sunflower oil
• Grapeseed oil
• Rice bran oil

These oils are everywhere:

• Restaurant food (especially fried items)
• Salad dressings and mayonnaise
• Chips, crackers, packaged snacks
• Frozen meals
• Most "healthy" spreads and processed foods

If you eat out regularly or consume foods from bags, boxes, or drive-thrus, seed oils are likely your primary fat source.

Why These Oils Are Different (And Dangerous)

To extract oil from seeds, manufacturers use:

• High heat
• High pressure
• Chemical solvents
• Refining, bleaching, and deodorizing processes

The result? A highly processed, chemically unstable fat that's already partially oxidized before you even eat it.

Oxidized fat is the dietary equivalent of rust.

When your body uses "rusty" materials to rebuild cell membranes, things start to corrode.

What Seed Oils Do to a Middle-Aged Body

1. They Build Weak, Leaky Cell Membranes

2. They Drive Chronic Inflammation

3. They Make Fat Loss Nearly Impossible

4. They Amplify Cravings and "Food Noise"

5. They Get Worse with Heat

"But My Doctor Said Vegetable Oil Is Heart-Healthy."

For decades, fats were judged primarily by their effect on cholesterol numbers, not by how processed, oxidized, or biologically disruptive they might be.

The science is evolving. Your body doesn't wait for committees to catch up.

The Simple Truth

In youth, your body can tolerate sloppy materials.

In middle age, with:

• Lower hormone production
• Slower repair cycles
• Heightened inflammation response

The quality of fats matters more than ever.

This is why as we age we need to eliminate seed oils to experience:

• Easier weight loss (especially belly fat)
• Mental clarity
• Reduced joint pain
• Improved energy
• Better lab results

How to Avoid Seed Oils (Without Living in a Cave)

You don't need perfection. You need direction.

Step 1: Learn to Read Labels

If you see these words, it's a "no": Soybean, canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, rice bran

Step 2: Control the Big Rocks

• Stop buying dressings and sauces made with seed oils
• Eliminate chips, crackers, and packaged snacks
• Limit fried restaurant food

Step 3: Stock Your Kitchen with Real Fats

For cooking:

• Avocado oil (high-heat cooking)
• Butter or ghee
• Coconut oil
• Tallow or lard (from quality sources)

For finishing:

• Extra virgin olive oil (not for high-heat frying)

Whole-food fats:

• Avocados
• Olives
• Eggs
• Fatty fish
• Nuts (in moderation)

Step 4: Make Home Base Safe

The Bottom Line

Your cells are constantly rebuilding themselves—every single day.

The only question is: What materials are you giving them?

Give your body natural fats, and it rebuilds with strength and flexibility.

Give it industrial fats, and it patches cracks while creating new ones.

Same body. Different outcome.

Ready to Take Control Your Aging Journey?

If you're tired of feeling like your body is working against you

If you're ready to understand what's really happening

Get a personalized roadmap—let's talk.

​Schedule Your Free Hormone and Weight Optimization Session​

In this session, we'll:

• Identify the hidden dietary saboteurs specific to your situation
• Create a realistic action plan that fits your lifestyle
• Discuss how to optimize your nutrition for this stage of life

Your body isn't broken. It just needs the right materials to rebuild itself.

Let's give it what it needs.

— Doc

THIS WEEK'S US-IE

Vicky and I are retired, and our passion, besides teaching others how to optimize their hormones and weight through this newsletter, is traveling.

Where the Ancients Still Whisper

We recently climbed the stone steps at Lamanai Archaeological Reserve in Belize. It wonders me how they are worn smooth by centuries of footsteps. I stood where my ancestors stood, thousands of years before my name existed, before borders, before the world became what it is now.

The temples rise from the jungle like prayers made solid. Vines cling to ancient limestone. Howler monkeys call from the canopy above. We climbed stairs built by engineers whose mathematics still astound us today.

From the top of the High Temple, the jungle stretches endlessly, the same view that priests and kings once commanded. The same sun that warmed their faces warmed mine.

And for a moment, time collapsed.

I wasn't a tourist. I wasn't a visitor. I was home.

This is what they built. This is what they left us.

Not just ruins, but proof. Proof that we come from brilliance. From vision. From people who reached toward the heavens and built monuments that would outlast them by millennia.

Standing there, I understood: I carry them with me. Their resilience. Their ingenuity. Their refusal to be forgotten.

Lamanai means "submerged crocodile" in Mayan.

But nothing here is submerged.

Everything is rising.

🇧🇿🛕 The Macs

Hormone and Weight Optimization Author and Coaches

​HOPE isn’t just a feeling. It’s a protocol

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DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this newsletter is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, nor should it be construed as medical advice or a substitute for professional medical care. No doctor–patient relationship is created by this content. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider before beginning, modifying, or discontinuing any supplement, medication, diet, or health program, especially if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or nursing, or are taking prescription or over-the-counter medications. Individual responses and requirements vary, and any reliance on the information provided is solely at your own risk.
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