Here we go again… A group of researchers recently presented a paper at NUTRITION 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, putting the lie to claims that seed oils are unhealthy…
Recent scientific studies have suggested that certain seed oils may
be dangerously unhealthy. The latest says just the opposite!
What they did
The investigators performed a cross-sectional analysis on data from 1,894 people in an observational cohort focused on COVID-19, an abstract of the study report explains.
“Our study used objective biomarkers rather than diet records or food frequency questionnaires to assess linoleic acid intake,” said Dr Kevin C. Maki, adjunct professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. “We also measured a range of markers of inflammation and indicators of glucose metabolism.”
What they found
Linoleic acid, which is found in vegetable oils – especially seed oils like soybean and corn oil – and plant foods, is the primary omega-6 fatty acid consumed in the diet.
“There has been increasing attention on seed oils, with some claiming these oils promote inflam-mation and raise cardiometabolic risk,” Maki explained. “Our study, based on almost 1,900 people, found that higher linoleic acid in blood plasma was associated with lower levels of biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk, including those related to inflammation.”
The researchers also found that higher levels of linoleic acid in plasma – indicative of dietary intake – were consistently associated with lower levels of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
The takeaway
“We saw consistent results across the different biomarkers measured,” Maki concluded. “People with higher levels of linoleic acid in their blood tended to have a healthier overall risk profile for heart disease and diabetes.”
The researchers say their findings support the need for additional intervention studies to test whe-ther increasing linoleic acid intake improves cardiometabolic risk factors and lowers the incidence of heart attacks, strokes and type 2 diabetes.
Next, they plan to investigate how different types of oils with varying fatty acid content affect cardio-metabolic risk factors.
My take
My question is… Why did these researchers come up with findings so much different than previous groups who found the exact opposite?
They both can’t be right. I want to know – before the researchers settle down to splitting other hairs – who IS right. When I went to culinary school, seed oils – especially soy products – were considered some of the healthiest such foods you could consume!
~ Maggie J.