Before anything else, I want to make it clear that I am not a medical professional.
What follows is the result of reading research papers, studying historical records, and trying to understand how certain food habits were shaped. I am sharing this only to raise public awareness.
For centuries, people around the world relied on simple, natural fats — pure ghee, butter, mustard oil, coconut oil, and olive oil. These fats were part of our daily life, passed from one generation to the next. They were familiar, nourishing, and accepted without hesitation. But somewhere in the past hundred years, a dramatic shift occurred: refined “vegetable oil” and vanaspati ghee found their way into our kitchens and quietly replaced the fats our grandparents trusted.
Refined oil did not begin as a food. Its origins lie in the factories of the late 1800s and early 1900s, where oils pressed from cottonseed, soybeans, and other low-value seeds were used mainly for soap, candles, lubricants, and even animal feed. Nobody imagined that these chemically treated oils — bleached, deodorized, and heated to extreme temperatures — would one day be promoted as healthy cooking options.
When manufacturers first tried to introduce these oils to American households, the effort failed. People preferred butter and traditional fats. Newspapers raised concerns about adulteration and safety. Many simply did not trust a product that had no cultural or culinary history. It smelled odd, tasted unfamiliar, and needed heavy chemical processing to become even remotely acceptable.
Then came the turning point. By the mid-20th century, companies producing hydrogenated oils and margarine realized that scientific endorsement was the key to winning public trust. In 1948, Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest vegetable-oil producers, made a substantial financial donation to the American Heart Association (AHA). Before this, the AHA was a small, largely unnoticed group. The donation gave it national prominence.
Not long after, the AHA began recommending vegetable oils and margarine as “heart-healthy.” Advertisers seized the opportunity. Traditional fats, especially butter and ghee, were suddenly painted as harmful. Refined oils were sold as modern and superior. It was a major victory for marketing, not science.
Years later, research began uncovering what earlier claims had overlooked: Hydrogenated oils produced dangerous trans-fats. Highly refined oils lost natural nutrients and formed harmful compounds when repeatedly heated.Natural fats like pure ghee and cold-pressed oils were never the villains they had been made out to be. Today, health experts around the world advise minimizing refined oils and avoiding trans-fats altogether.
A Few Words of Advice: As a society, we need to step back and ask ourselves what we are putting on our stoves every day. Returning to natural fats — pure desi ghee, extra-virgin olive oil, and cold-pressed mustard, canola, or coconut oil — is not just nostalgia. It’s common sense. These fats nourished our forefathers and do not carry the hidden chemical burden of refined oils.
References: 1. K. D. Brownell & K. E. Warner, Public Health Advocacy and the Food Industry 2. Nina Teicholz, The Big Fat Surprise 3. Gerald Carson, The Food and Drink of America 4. American Heart Association historical funding records 5. USDA reports on hydrogenated oils
—The writer is former Regional Executive Inclusive Development at NBP, Mirpur AK.
