OxoLog Entry

Mozart Didn’t Have Canola. Neither Did Da Vinci.

2025-05-25

🎯 Clickbait? Maybe. But Here's the Science.

Yes, we said it — Mozart didn’t have canola. And it’s more than a meme. It’s a metabolic red pill.

We’ve normalized brain fog, mood swings, and cognitive decline. But genius — creative, high-output cognition — demands clean biochemistry.

Mozart, Beethoven, and Da Vinci all had two things in common:

  • Uninterrupted neurochemistry
  • Zero industrial seed oils

🧠 The Real Villain: Oxidized Linoleic Acid (LA)

Linoleic acid is the dominant fat in:

  • Canola oil
  • Soybean oil
  • Corn oil
  • Sunflower/safflower oil

These aren’t just “processed fats.” They’re molecular landmines.

Under heat or oxidative stress (aka real life), LA breaks down into:

  • 4-HNE — a reactive aldehyde that binds to mitochondrial enzymes
  • MDA — mutagenic, neurotoxic, and linked to cognitive decline
  • 9-HODE/13-HODE — markers of lipid peroxidation and neural inflammation

These byproducts literally melt your mitochondria, damage DNA, and wreck your neurons before symptoms show.

🧪 The Path of Collapse: From Oil to Oxidation

Here’s how the cascade unfolds:

  1. Consume seed oils → high LA intake
  2. LA oxidizes during cooking or in the body under stress
  3. Oxidized LA becomes 4-HNE, 9-HODE, MDA
  4. These reactive aldehydes:
    • Damage mitochondrial membranes
    • Impair neurotransmitter synthesis
    • Promote neuroinflammation
    • Cross the blood-brain barrier

This is not theory. It’s mechanistically verified in dozens of studies.

🧬 The Historical Baseline

Prior to the 20th century:

  • Average LA intake was ~1-2% of daily calories
  • Today, it's over 10% (and in some people, 20%+)

There were no deep fryers. No shelf-stable seed-oil-laced junk. No processed fats oxidizing into neuron-killers.

🎨 The Cognitive Edge of Simplicity

  • Mozart ate meat, dairy, bread, eggs
  • Da Vinci fasted, painted, and ate whole food
  • Beethoven? Let’s just say he wasn’t pounding corn oil ramen

Their fuel wasn’t perfect — but it wasn’t corrupted.

🧬 Citation Highlights

  • 4-HNE is elevated in Alzheimer’s brains and binds to mitochondrial proteins (Lovell et al., 2001)
  • MDA is elevated in ADHD and cognitive dysfunction (Bulut et al., 2013)
  • 9-HODE impairs astrocyte function and increases neuroinflammation (Spickett et al., 2011)
  • LA consumption rose 300% in 100 years — in lockstep with metabolic and mental illness

🧪 The Modern Mind Is Drowning in PUFA

Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) oxidize faster than any fat in the human diet. The result: chronic low-grade neuroinflammation, impaired memory, fatigue, ADHD-like symptoms, and more.

You don’t need Adderall. You need a detox from seed oil sludge.

📉 Cognitive Collapse Starts Silent

The brain is 60% fat — and extremely vulnerable to peroxidation. You won’t notice the damage immediately. But 4-HNE accumulates. MDA binds to proteins. And eventually, your “normal” becomes distracted, dull, and depressed.

✅ What You Can Do Now

  • Ditch industrial seed oils completely
  • Eat saturated, stable fats (tallow, coconut, butter, olive oil)
  • Test your oxidative burden with the OXO Panel
    • 4-HNE
    • 9-HODE
    • MDA
    • Pyroglutamate

🧠 TL;DR

Mozart didn’t have to detox from salad dressing.
Da Vinci didn’t supplement choline because he wasn’t frying his neurons in soybean sludge.
Beethoven didn’t know what a triglyceride was — because he didn’t need to.

Genius didn’t die. It got peroxidized.

Check your oxidative burden.