Blending coconut, flaxseed, olive and sunflower oils for better nutrition
What it found
Blending these four oils improved their fatty acid balance and stability in many studies, and some blends showed health benefits in people, animals and lab tests.
No single oil on its own meets recommended fatty acid levels.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol in people
In a 143-person trial, blends of rice bran, flaxseed and sesame oils lowered total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure in people with borderline high cholesterol.
Animal and lab studies
Weight and fat in animals
In rats, a blend high in oleic and alpha-linolenic acids reduced body weight, fat weight and liver weight compared to lard or peanut oil. A high-linoleic blend led to more weight gain and fat deposition.
Growth in pigs and fish
Piglets fed a mixed plant oil blend grew faster and had better immune and antioxidant markers than those fed soybean oil alone. Tilapia fed plant oil blends grew similarly to those given fish oil.
Studies in people and animals
Inflammation and liver
In cell tests, a flaxseed and palm oil blend reduced inflammatory markers. In rabbits, repeatedly heated blend oils harmed liver function and increased oxidative stress.
Other findings
Fatty acid balance
Blending these oils improved the balance of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Some blends came close to the recommended ratio of 1:1.5:1.
Stability and shelf life
Blends generally had better oxidative stability and longer shelf life than single oils. Coconut oil, rich in lauric acid, helped stabilize blends with more fragile oils like flaxseed.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that blending vegetable oils with contrasting fatty acid profiles is a cost-effective way to improve nutrition and health.
- They say this could help the oil industry develop products that play a role in preventing chronic diseases.
- They recommend future research on other oil varieties and characteristics.
How it was done
The authors say no single vegetable oil provides the right balance of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, or the recommended omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. They wanted to see whether blending contrasting oils could fill those gaps and offer a cheap way to improve health.
They collected recent studies on blends made from coconut, flaxseed, olive and sunflower oils, including binary and ternary mixes. The studies looked at fatty acid profiles, stability, and health effects in people, animals and cells.
What it can’t tell you
- Many of the health findings come from animals or cells, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- The human trial was short and in a specific group, so it cannot show long-term effects or cause and effect.
- The review did not test a single blend in a controlled trial, so it cannot say which blend is best for health.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Agriculture, Pakistan; Waclaw Dabrowski Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology, Poland; Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Poland
The paper
- Title
- An Intricate Review on Nutritional and Analytical Profiling of Coconut, Flaxseed, Olive, and Sunflower Oil Blends
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Rabail R, Shabbir MA, Sahar A, Miecznikowski A, Kieliszek M, Aadil RM (2021). An Intricate Review on Nutritional and Analytical Profiling of Coconut, Flaxseed, Olive, and Sunflower Oil Blends. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/molecules26237187Free full textPubMed 34885769DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error