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Seed Oils Aren’t the Silent Killer TikTok Says They Are

The “seed oils cause inflammation” claim is one of the most repeated food myths in wellness media right now. The actual research points the other way.

Johns Hopkins researchers reviewing the literature found no evidence that typical seed oil intake causes inflammation, and traced the fear back to a misunderstanding of omega-6 to omega-3 ratios that doesn’t hold up under direct testing. A large 2025 cohort study went further: people with the highest seed oil intake had meaningfully lower total mortality than those who ate the most butter, and swapping butter for seed oil was linked to a lower cancer death rate. Multiple 2025 systematic reviews of randomized trials found seed oils improved cholesterol and blood sugar markers rather than worsening them.

None of this means all oils are equal — highly processed, deep-fried, or repeatedly reheated oils behave differently than the oil in your pantry. But swapping butter or lard for canola or olive oil, the mainstream advice for decades, still holds up.

Cold Plunges Work — For About Three Months

Cold plunging isn’t fake — but the “boosts immunity and torches fat” version sold online outruns what’s actually been measured.

The review, led by researchers at the University of South Australia and published in PLOS ONE, is the most comprehensive analysis of cold-water immersion to date. It also surfaced something counterintuitive: cold plunges cause a short-term spike in inflammation immediately afterward, even though athletes use them specifically to reduce soreness — a paradox the researchers say still isn’t fully explained. Evidence quality across the underlying studies was rated as generally weak, with small sample sizes and few long-term randomized trials.

Bottom line: a cold plunge is a legitimate stress-management tool with decent short-term evidence behind it. It is not a metabolic hack, and the research doesn’t support most of the longevity claims attached to it.

Carnivore Builds Muscle. It Doesn’t Build Longevity.

This one has real nuance, so it’s worth separating the two questions people actually mean when they ask “which diet is healthiest.”

A 2025 scoping review of the carnivore diet specifically found only nine human studies exist, all short-duration with no control groups, showing some short-term benefits alongside real risks: deficiencies in vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and fiber, plus elevated LDL cholesterol. The researchers concluded long-term adherence can’t currently be recommended, simply because the long-term data doesn’t exist yet.

Meanwhile, the evidence base for plant-forward eating is much larger and more consistent: decades of cohort data associate vegetarian and vegan patterns with meaningfully lower cancer incidence, and major diabetes and cardiology guidelines continue to recommend plant oils over animal fats. The strongest, most boring conclusion the data supports: red and processed meat in moderation, built around a mostly plant-based plate, outperforms either extreme.

Most Supplements Are Expensive Urine. A Few Aren’t.

The honest answer here is unsatisfying: it depends entirely on which supplement, and most of the shelf doesn’t clear the bar.

The pattern that shows up across the research: supplements correct a deficiency reliably, but rarely improve outcomes in people who aren’t deficient in the first place. Creatine is the standout exception — it’s one of the most-studied supplements in existence, with consistent evidence for strength and lean mass gains regardless of baseline levels. Before buying anything, a blood panel is more useful than a bottle; it tells you whether you’re actually deficient in what the supplement claims to fix.