Seed oils have always been under heavy scrutiny, often blamed for a wide range of health issues, including inflammation, metabolic disorders, and chronic disease. However, new scientific research is challenging these claims, highlighting linoleic acid, the primary fatty acid in seed oils, as potentially protective against heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
According to two new studies presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meet-up, linoleic acid—the main fatty acid found in seed oils—might actually lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Yes, the very oils that a lot of us hate could be quietly doing your body a solid.
Linoleic acid is not some synthetic lab-brewed danger; it is an essential nutrient, found naturally in vegetable and seed oils, nuts, seeds, meat, and eggs. It is a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), aka one of the “good fats” your body cannot make on its own. Which means you have to get it from food.
What did the researchers find?
They analysed blood samples from 1,894 participants and checked out biomarkers for blood sugar, inflammation, and insulin resistance. Turns out, people with higher levels of linoleic acid in their system also had lower levels of glucose, insulin, and inflammation.
Nate Wood, MD, a Yale Medicine obesity and internal medicine physician, is done with the fearmongering. “Despite growing concern by the public that seed oils are health-harming, this study adds to the already sizable body of research that says this is just not true,” Wood told Health.
This study is not a fluke either. According to researchers, it backs up previous findings that linoleic acid is linked to a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes.
But here is the thing...
“The problem is not linoleic acid; it is the foods that contain [it],” Nyree Dardarian, RDN, LDN, and director of the Center for Nutrition and Performance at Drexel University, told Health. She explains that fried foods and ultra-processed snacks are often soaked in these oils, and that is where things go sideways.
“When linoleic acid comes from whole foods like nuts, seeds, and soy, it is not only safe; it is beneficial,” Dardarian said. In other words, roasting carrots in a bit of canola oil? Go for it. But diving face-first into a bag of fried chips? Maybe not the best source of your PUFAs.
Her tips? Keep your oils diverse with canola, sunflower, and soybean in moderation, but also mix in olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, and even a dab of butter. It is not just about the ingredient; it is how you cook it that counts.
