Why do we need stearic acid (or do we even need it). Isn't it made from cottonseed oil and bad for the health?
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Where do people get these ideas?
Stearic acid is one of the most common of saturated fats. If you think saturated fat is bad for you, your information is from the 1970s.
Stearic acid is one of the major fats in beef, in cocoa, in olive oil. It's everywhere. Anyone eating a semi-normal diet consumes quite a bit of it.
Yes, it is also found in cottonseed oil--though most stearic acid isn't 'made from' cottonseed oil. Even if it were, once it is converted to high-purity stearic acid, it doesn't matter where it is sourced.
In addition, the fear of cottonseed oil is overblown. Yes, there is a toxic compound--a phenol--in cottonseed called 'gossypol'. If you don't want any gossypol in your diet, then you'd better eliminate a lot of other things from your diet, starting with okra and other relatives of hibiscus.
Many of the beneficial phytochemicals from plants everyone is urging us to eat are phenols--and a lot of them are poisonous at high doses. So are most things.