America’s Most Popular Cooking Oil May Be Linked to Obesity, New Study Finds
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A new study published in the Journal of Lipid Research suggests that soybean oil, the most consumed cooking oil in the United States, may play a direct role in promoting obesity, and the effect appears to be related to the way the body processes one of its main components.
The researchers fed mice a diet rich in soybean oil and tracked how they metabolized linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that makes up a large portion of soybean oil.
Linoleic acid is broken down in the body into molecules called oxylipins, and eating a lot of linoleic acid can increase the amount of these oxylipins. The study shows that certain oxylipins are linked to weight gain in mice.
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“This may be the first step toward understanding why some people gain weight more easily than others on a diet rich in soybean oil,” Sonia Deol, a UCR biomedical scientist and corresponding author of the study, said in a news release.
The researchers asked a simple question: If we reduce the mice’s ability to convert linoleic acid to oxylipins, will they still be obese on a soybean oil diet?
Soybean oil is the most consumed cooking oil in the United States and a staple of processed foods, according to data presented in the study. (iStock)
To test this, they used a line of genetically modified mice that express a different version of a liver regulatory gene, P2-HNF4α.
The genetic change alters many metabolic pathways, including reducing the activity of several families of enzymes that normally convert linoleic acid to oxylipins.
These enzymes also exist in all mammals, including humans, and their activity can vary due to genetics, diet, and other factors.
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The team then fed both the altered mice and normal mice a diet rich in soybean oil.
At the end of the experiment, the modified mice had healthier livers and gained much less weight compared to normal mice on the same diet.
Because the study was conducted in mice, the results highlight a possible mechanism, but cannot be directly applied to human obesity. (iStock)
The researchers identified specific oxylipins made from linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid (another fat in soybean oil) that were linked to obesity in normal mice.
These oxylipins were present in higher amounts in the mice that became obese.
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The findings suggest that the body’s internal processing of linoleic acid may play a key role in how soybean oil contributes to fat accumulation.
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In other words, the problem may not just be the calories in the oil itself, but what the body converts those fatty acids into once they enter the metabolic system.
Specific oxylipins made from linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids were strongly related to obesity in normal mice. (iStock)
The study was carried out entirely in mice and the authors point out that human metabolism is more complex.
Still, the work raises questions about whether a high intake of oils rich in linoleic acid could contribute to obesity through biochemical pathways that go beyond simple energy balance.
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According to the study, soybean oil is the dominant cooking oil in American homes, restaurants and processed foods. Due to its affordability and neutral taste, it is also widely used in packaged snacks, fast foods, and fried products.
The findings suggest that it is not just the calories in soybean oil, but also the way the body metabolizes its fats, that may drive weight gain. (iStock)
The researchers emphasize that the study does not claim that soybean oil inevitably causes obesity in humans.
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Instead, it highlights a biochemical mechanism that may help explain why diets rich in this oil can promote weight gain in animal models.
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The authors also note that the genetically modified mice differ from humans because they were engineered to express much lower levels of enzymes responsible for converting linoleic acid into its metabolites.
That allows scientists to see the effects more clearly, but limits the direct application of the results to people.
Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant at News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of topics including food and drink, travel and health.