Rapeseed and sunflower oil in overweight adults
What it found
In adults with overweight or obesity, swapping habitual fat for 20 mL a day of rapeseed or sunflower oil for 12 weeks made no difference to urine markers of heart or kidney disease.
One oxidative stress marker was about 50% higher in the sunflower oil group at 12 weeks.
What they found
Studies in people
Heart and kidney markers
Urine peptide scores for coronary artery disease and chronic kidney disease did not differ between the rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and usual diet groups at 6 or 12 weeks. No change was seen within any group either.
Blood fats and glucose
There were no differences between groups in total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol or fasting blood glucose at 6 or 12 weeks. Small within-group changes in total cholesterol at 6 weeks did not last to 12 weeks.
Oxidative stress marker
At 12 weeks, median 8-isoprostane in urine was about 50% higher in the sunflower oil group than in the rapeseed oil and usual diet groups. There was no difference between groups when the change from the start was compared.
Weight and blood pressure
No differences in body weight, BMI, systolic or diastolic blood pressure were seen between groups at 6 or 12 weeks. A small drop in body weight was seen within the rapeseed oil group at 12 weeks, and a drop in systolic blood pressure within the usual diet group.
Inflammation markers
Levels of fructosamine, advanced glycation end-products, sRAGE, IL-6, TNF-alpha and MMP-9 did not change between groups or within groups over the 12 weeks.
What the authors conclude
“The replacement of habitual fat with either RO or SO for 12 weeks does not lead to an improvement or worsening in cardiovascular health markers in people with overweight or obesity.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that replacing habitual fat with either rapeseed oil or sunflower oil for 12 weeks does not lead to an improvement or worsening in cardiovascular health markers in people with overweight or obesity.
- They say further research is needed to understand which components of dietary oils have a protective effect on cardiometabolic health, to help inform dietary guidelines.
How it was done
The authors say the perceived benefits and risks of seed oils remain controversial, and few studies have looked at their effect on a range of cardiometabolic markers. They wanted to compare two commonly consumed UK seed oils with different fatty acid profiles.
They recruited 84 healthy adults aged 25 to 72 with overweight or obesity in the Greater Glasgow area. Participants were randomly assigned to keep their usual diet, or to eat 20 mL a day of rapeseed oil or sunflower oil, uncooked, as a partial replacement for their usual fat, for 12 weeks. Blood, urine and body measurements were taken at the start, 6 weeks and 12 weeks.
What it can’t tell you
- The study was designed to detect an effect as large as one seen with olive oil in an earlier study, so smaller effects may have been missed.
- Many participants dropped out by 12 weeks, and some blood samples were missing, which the authors say left the study underpowered for some secondary outcomes.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- BM and EC are in receipt of funds (for unrestricted use) from Filippo Berio UK (Hempstead, England) and the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC). Latosinska is an employee of Mosaiques Diagnostics GmbH (Hannover, Germany) which commercialises the proteomic biomarker assays.
- Authors work at
- University of Glasgow, UK
The paper
- Title
- No evidence of differential impact of sunflower and rapeseed oil on biomarkers of coronary artery disease or chronic kidney disease in healthy adults with overweight and obesity: result from a randomised control trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Nicol K, Mansoorian B, Latosinska A, Koutroulaki A, Mullen B, Combet E (2022). No evidence of differential impact of sunflower and rapeseed oil on biomarkers of coronary artery disease or chronic kidney disease in healthy adults with overweight and obesity: result from a randomised control trial. European journal of nutrition. doi:10.1007/s00394-022-02810-5Free full textPubMed 35381848DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error