Vegetable oils and health outcomes across 48 reviews
What it found
Different vegetable oils had different effects on cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and weight in adults.
The strength of the evidence ranged from very low to moderate for most findings.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol effects
Canola oil, virgin olive oil and rice bran oil reduced total cholesterol. Coconut oil, olive oil and palm oil increased total cholesterol. Canola oil and rice bran oil reduced LDL cholesterol, while coconut oil, palm oil and olive oil increased it.
Blood pressure
Flaxseed oil and sesame oil were found to reduce blood pressure. Other oils studied did not show this effect.
Blood sugar control
Coconut oil, olive oil and sesame oil reduced hemoglobin A1c. Olive oil and sesame oil also reduced fasting blood glucose. Canola, peanut, coconut and palm oils showed no significant effect on fasting blood glucose or HOMA-IR.
Weight and body measures
Canola oil and sesame oil reduced body weight. Peanut oil increased weight. No significant effects were found on waist circumference, body fat, waist to hip ratio, android to gynoid fat ratio, hip circumference or lean mass for other vegetable oils.
Cancer risk
One study found that olive oil consumption was linked to lower odds of developing cancer, including breast cancer and digestive cancer.
Heart and death risk
Olive oil had no significant effect on the risk of cardiovascular events, cardiovascular deaths or all-cause deaths. Very weak evidence suggested olive oil could reduce the risk of stroke.
What the authors conclude
“This review suggests that different vegetable oils offer different health benefits, which provide potential primary preventive effects of diseases.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that different vegetable oils offer different health benefits, with potential primary preventive effects of diseases.
- They advise that the reported health benefits are based on amounts recommended in dietary guidelines and not by overconsumption or increasing total daily calories.
- They call for future research to focus on long-term clinical outcomes such as cardiovascular events and mortality, and to obtain comprehensive dietary data.
How it was done
The evidence on how different vegetable oils affect health is controversial. The authors wanted to bring together the existing evidence to serve as a reference for future researchers.
They searched 12 databases up to 31 July 2023 for systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies in adults that looked at vegetable oil consumption and health outcomes. They included 48 studies containing 206 meta-analyses.
What it can’t tell you
- The evidence for most findings was low or very low certainty, so the results may change with more research.
- The studies included were mostly short-term, often 6 months or less, so long-term effects are not known.
- The populations studied were diverse and may not reflect a direct comparison of the effects of different oils.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia; International Medical University, Malaysia
The paper
- Title
- Health Effects of Various Edible Vegetable Oil: An Umbrella Review
- Type
- Systematic review
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Voon PT, Ng CM, Ng YT, et al (2024). Health Effects of Various Edible Vegetable Oil: An Umbrella Review. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.). doi:10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100276Free full textPubMed 39053603DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error