Yeah, I read the first study because it seemed crazy.
TFA:
"The group consuming more vegetable oil had a 62% higher rate of death during the seven-year study compared to the group eating less vegetable oil. . .To put that into perspective, of the commonly cited diet and lifestyle risk factors, only severe obesity and heavy smoking are more dangerous"
The study in question, emphasis mine:
n=458
"Eligible patients were men aged 30-59 years admitted . . . for an episode of acute myocardial infarction (86%), or acute coronary insufficiency or angina (14%) . . . The intervention group received instructions to increase their PUFA [PolyUnsaturated Fatty Acid] intake to about 15% of food energy, and to reduce their intake of SFA[Saturated Fatty Acid] and dietary cholesterol to less than 10% of food energy and 300 mg per day, respectively. To achieve these targets. . . Liquid safflower oil was substituted for animal fats, common margarines and shortenings in cooking oils, salad dressings, baked goods, and other products, and was also taken as a supplement. . .Safflower oil is a concentrated source of [Omega]-6 LA and contains no other reported PUFAs Therefore, the intervention oil selectively increased [Omega]-6 LA without a concurrent increase in [Omega]-3 PUFAs."
TFA represents it as a population wide conclusion about all people consuming "more" "vegetable" oils, and then has the audacity to directly compare this misrepresentation to the results of large scale longitudinal and prospective studies, comparing it to a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, etc. Absolutely ridiculous. Like I actually think that's a valuable study to have read, but the Author's article is being sensationalist and dishonest with their representation.
FWIW as someone who reads a fair amount about nutrition to the point I consider it a hobby; I don't find this result on Safflower oil surprising, but the sensationalism in TFA is insane. There is a lot to unpack with that study–are people in that group predisposed to having biological processing or other confounding factors that make high Omega-6:Omega-3 diets particularly unhealthy? Is there something specifically bad about linoleic acid, or perhaps about a fatty acid regimen of specifically and primarily linoleic acid?