Soybean Oil Causes More Diabetes Than Sugar

A diet rich in soybean oil can cause more weight gain and diabetes than a diet rich in fructose - sugar - or a diet high in coconut oil, according to researchers from The University of Riverside (UCR).

For the study, researchers fed male mice four different types of diets that included varying doses of soybean oil, coconut oil and fructose. All four of the diets had the same number of calories and the mice all ate the same amount of food.

What surprised researchers was that mice who ate a heavy soybean oil diet gained about 25 percent more weight than mice on the coconut-oil rich diet and 9 percent more than mice who ate a diet rich in fructose.

“This was a major surprise for us — that soybean oil is causing more obesity and diabetes than fructose — especially when you see headlines everyday about the potential role of sugar consumption in the current obesity epidemic,” said Poonamjot Deol, director of the study and professor of cell biology and neuroscience at UCR.

The obesogenic oil?

Soybean products have become more popular as a plant-based alternative to dairy and meat products that tend to be rich in saturated fats. According to a press release on the study, soybean oil makes up 60 percent of the oil consumption in the U.S. - a number that also mirrors obesity rates.

The study revealed that soybean oil - which is found in foods like margarine and salad dressing - can specifically affect certain genes that metabolize drugs and environmental toxins.

Researchers will next compare the findings against tests done with olive oil.

Source:University of Riverside