Canola Oils Cut Belly Fat, Boost Heart Health

WINNIPEG, ManitobaCanola and high-oleic canola oils can lower abdominal fat when used in place of other selected oil blends in a heart-healthy diet for weight maintenance, according to new research presented at the American Heart Associations EPI/NPAM 2013 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.

According to results of the Canola Oil Multicentre Intervention Trial (COMIT) that assessed dietary influences on U.S. and Canadian adults at risk for metabolic syndrome, consuming certain vegetable oils may be a simple way of reducing their risk of this medical condition that affects about 1 in 3 U.S. adults and 1 in 5 Canadian adults.

For the study conducted by researchers at University of Manitoba, in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, Laval University and the University of Toronto, 121 participants at risk for metabolic syndrome were given a weight maintenance, heart-healthy diet with a daily smoothie containing one of five study oils. The process was repeated for the remaining four oils.

Results showed participants who consumed canola or high-oleic canola oils on a daily basis for four weeks lowered their belly fat by 1.6%. Abdominal fat was unchanged by the other three oils, which included a flax/safflower oil blend, corn/safflower oil blend and high-oleic canola oil enriched with an algal source of the omega-3 DHA. Both the flax/safflower and corn/safflower oil blends were low in monounsaturated fat.

Monounsaturated fat appears to be responsible for these benefits," said lead author Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., professor of nutrition at the Pennsylvania State University. Reducing abdominal fat is one way that dietary MUFA may decrease metabolic syndrome risk factors."

It is evident that further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms that account for belly fat loss on a high-MUFA diet," she continued. The Canola Oil Multicentre Intervention Trial (COMIT) indicates that simple dietary changes, such as using a high-MUFA vegetable oil, may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and therefore, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes."