Sunflower oil

Studies in people

• Open question

  Fatty liver in women⁵

  In women with PCOS, sunflower oil did not improve fatty liver or cholesterol as much as canola oil did.

• Open question

  Blood fats in diabetes⁶

  In women with type 2 diabetes, sunflower oil kept blood fats steady while canola and rice bran oils lowered them.

• Benefit

  Blood fat levels⁸

  In active Spanish men who ate sunflower oil, most had blood fat levels linked to a lower risk of heart disease.

• No harm found

  Antioxidant levels in blood⁹

  Eating tomatoes with sunflower oil did not raise antioxidant levels in people's blood, unlike olive oil.

• Concern

  Cholesterol and blood vessel health¹⁰

  In people with narrowed leg arteries, sunflower oil left LDL cholesterol more prone to oxidation than olive oil did.

• Benefit

  Heart disease risk factors¹¹

  In 28 healthy adults, a sunflower oil diet raised HDL cholesterol and lengthened LDL oxidation lag time.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol levels in young men¹³

  In young men, a corn oil diet lowered LDL cholesterol more than a mix of olive and sunflower oil.

• Open question

  Cholesterol and blood fats¹⁴

  In people, high-oleic sunflower oil lowered cholesterol, but fish oil taken with it worked less well.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol levels in people¹⁵

  In people, sunflower oil lowered total and LDL cholesterol, but less than rapeseed oil did.

• Benefit

  Blood clotting¹⁶

  In postmenopausal women, a diet with high oleic sunflower oil clotted blood less than one with palmolein.

• Benefit

  Breast-milk vitamin A¹⁷

  Sunflower oil seems to help keep breast-milk vitamin A levels steady in women who used it in cooking.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar control¹⁸

  In exercising, normal-weight women, CLA lowered insulin after glucose, compared with high-oleic acid sunflower oil.

• Concern

  Blood fat after meals¹⁹

  In young men, sunflower oil raised blood fats after eating more than butter did.

• Concern

  Blood clotting after meals²⁰

  In young men, sunflower oil left blood clotting activity higher after a fatty meal than olive oil did.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol levels in older women²¹

  In older women, eating oleic acid-rich sunflower oil was tied to lower LDL cholesterol than palmolein.

• Benefit

  Blood cholesterol and clotting²²

  Swapping saturated fats for high-oleic sunflower oil lowered LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and a clotting factor in people.

• Benefit

  Breast inflammation after birth²³

  In women, sunflower oil rich in vitamin E lowered a milk sign of breast inflammation, though only one measure changed clearly.

Allergies and intolerances

These are about people with an allergy, an intolerance or coeliac disease. The signal is about the ingredient itself, and these are about the person eating it, so the signal does not count them.

• Allergic reactions to cooking oil⁷

  A protein in sunflower oil can still trigger allergic reactions in people very sensitive to sunflower seeds.

How it’s made and used

• Daily fat needs³

  No single oil, including sunflower oil, gives you all the fats your body needs each day.

• Appetite and snacking⁴

  In women, ice cream made with sunflower oil and coconut oil changed how much they ate later, but only slightly.

• Blood fat makeup¹²

  In people with high blood pressure, high-oleic sunflower oil changed the fats their liver released into the blood.

• Oil going stale on the shelf²⁴

  Adding rosemary extract to sunflower oil helped it stay fresh longer in these lab tests.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.