The seed oil + skin cancer claim (let's get this right)
Published 24 days ago • 5 min read
And I was wrong about Mother's Day in my last email
The seed oil + skin cancer claim (let's get this right - because it is making us look bad)
Hi Reader,
I've been seeing this claim everywhere in the wellness space lately and I need to address it directly - not because seed oils are fine (they're not, and I don't recommend them) but because the way we're talking about this is making it easy for people to dismiss the whole conversation.
My goal is to get the message about health and sunlight out to as many people as possible & when we make claims that aren't 100% accurate and defendable - we lose people (that's my concern with this claim).
So today I want to shed some light on this debate & give you some resources so you can make your own decision (don't just take my word for it).
And - Mother's Day is May 10th. If you're looking for something genuinely thoughtful for the mom in your life, I've put together three lists I love. My hair care collection is one of my favorite pampering picks - the kind of thing moms actually want but never buy themselves. And my Amazon curated Mother's Day list has something for every budget.
As always - my Free Product Guide has tons of great gift ideas - but many are small businesses & you will want to order soon so you don't miss the shipping deadlines.
Ok. Now let's talk about seed oils and skin cancer. Because this conversation has been driving me a little bit crazy.
First - if you are a video person - I made a short video breaking this down in full. [VIDEO LINK HERE]
And I also put together a carousel post walking through the studies if you want to go deeper. [POST LINK HERE]
But here's the summary:
What the research actually shows:
A 2025 study using nationally representative US data (NHANES 2005–2018) found that people eating a pro-inflammatory diet were more than twice as likely to report skin cancer compared to those eating an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant-rich diet.
About a quarter of that link runs through accelerated biological aging -meaning a pro-inflammatory diet is literally aging your cells faster, and that accelerated aging is part of how dietary patterns increase skin cancer risk.
A separate large prospective study following nearly 70,000 US adults for up to 28 years found that higher omega-6 intake was associated with modestly increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.
But when linoleic acid - the primary fatty acid actually in seed oils - was isolated in that same dataset, it was not independently associated with skin cancer risk on its own. And omega-6 intake was not significantly linked to melanoma.
Here's the part where the Seed Oils Cause Skin Cancer debate weakens & critics can poke holes:
The Dietary Inflammatory Index used to define an "anti-inflammatory diet" in that NHANES study can actually score certain vegetable oils as anti-inflammatory depending on context.
Which means people consuming seed oils could have been classified in the healthy diet group.
So what does the evidence actually point to?
A chronically skewed omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. When omega-6 dominates - which it does in basically every modern diet built around processed food and industrial oils - you get chronic low-grade inflammation, higher oxidative stress, impaired UV repair mechanisms, and an immune environment that struggles to catch and clear abnormal cells.
That imbalance sitting on top of sun avoidance, circadian disruption, alcohol use, blue light exposure - and baseline immune dysregulation is the terrain where skin cancer develops.
Seed oils are the primary driver of that ratio being off. That's worth saying clearly. The mechanism is the ratio though - not the oil in isolation.
When we say "seed oils directly cause skin cancer" we're handing skeptics the exact ammunition they need to dismiss the whole conversation (and as I mentioned in the top of this email - my goal is to spread the message of sunlight and health far & wide). Someone debunks it, walks away, and keeps cooking with canola oil - because the person warning them couldn't back it up accurately.
The actual evidence for seed oil causing health problems is alarming enough. We don't need to exaggerate it.
Read my full article on what actually does cause skin cancer here (or click on the photo below
Where methylene blue potentially fits in for the right person
This is actually a natural segue because everything I just described - oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, impaired cellular repair, accelerated biological aging - is exactly what methylene blue works on at the mitochondrial level.
Methylene blue is one of the most researched mitochondrial antioxidants we have. It works by supporting the electron transport chain directly, reducing oxidative stress, lowering lipid peroxidation, and supporting cellular redox balance. All of which are mechanisms directly implicated in the skin cancer terrain I just described.
It also has emerging research behind its photoprotective properties - meaning it may help support how your cells respond to and repair UV-related damage.
This isn't a magic bullet & nothing truly is. But if you're building a genuinely anti-inflammatory foundation - which is the whole point - methylene blue could be a helpful tool.
Last call for Blueprint
We start Monday May 4th and there are only 5 spots left. This is where we address your entire lifestyle and diet to reduce inflammation and finally help you feel your best!
If you're ready, I'd love to have you in (reply to this email if you have any specific questions on if Blueprint is right for you!)
