TOXIC OIL

'Vegetable oils give you cancer. Every extra mouthful of vegetable oil you consume takes you one step closer to a deadly (and irreversible) outcome.'

With these words David Gillespie begins his follow-up to the bestseller Big Fat Lies: How the diet industry is making you sick, fat & poor. In Big Fat Lies he analysed the latest scientific evidence to show us that vegetable oils, specifically seed oils, are dangerous to our health, despite that fact that they are recommended by government health agencies.

David believes that our bodies are not adapted to eat a diet which contains polyunsaturated fats in huge quantities. Our extraordinarily complex biochemistry works on an assumption that we will have a very small quantity of these fats in our diet and that every other fat we consume will come from animals or other sources of saturated fat or monounsaturated fat. This was the case until 200 years ago, but the industrial replacement of all fats with cheaper man-made vegetable oils has meant that it is almost impossible to buy food that does not contain polyunsaturated fats in the form of seed oils. They are in cooking oils, margarines, sauces, spreads, crackers, biscuits, pastry, fast food and most processed food.

In Toxic Oil he reveals the evidence to support his argument that an excess of seed oils can not only cause cancer and heart disease but also damage our eyes and immune systems. This practical guide also helps you navigate the supermarket, with recommendations for brands that are low in sugar and seed oils, and provides recipes for food that would normally be made with seed oils. This accessible, entertaining and sometimes shocking book is an essential first step towards living a longer, healthier life.

David Gillespie is a recovering corporate lawyer, co-founder of a successful software company and consultant to the IT industry. He is also the father of six young children (including one set of twins). With such a lot of extra time on his hands, and 40 extra kilos on his waistline, he set out to investigate why he, like so many in his generation, was fat. He deciphered the latest medical findings on diet and weight gain and what he found was chilling. Being fat was the least of his problems. He needed to stop poisoning himself