A producer offers eggs averaging 17 to 20 milligrams of linoleic acid (LA), about one-quarter the LA found in conventional eggs. A private member food system supplies farm-fresh milk, cheese, low-PUFA pork and low-PUFA chicken shipped to the door. Seed oil extraction technology in the late 1800s caused dietary LA to rise from pre-industrial levels under 5 grams per day to much higher modern intakes. Conventional animal products often contain elevated LA due to PUFA-rich feeds. Elevated LA impairs mitochondrial function and acts as a metabolic toxin, so returning to low-LA foods reduces exposure.
It was, in my opinion, probably easier to source food back then. And now we're inundated with not just PUFAs from vegetable oils, but also from animal products as well, because some animals are just vehicles for vegetable oils. The statement that 'You are what you eat' has never been more true because of how much the agriculture industry has changed over the last 100 years.
Around the advent of the American Civil War, in the 1870s or so, is when they developed the technology to extract oils from seeds. Before then, the average LA intake was less than 5 grams a day, and likely closer to 2 or 3 grams. Today, most people exceed that by the time they're done with breakfast. As noted by Armstrong, eggs and bacon are two sources that, today, have very high LA levels, thanks to being fed an unnatural and PUFA-rich diet.
Collection
[
|
...
]