Canola 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 research presented this March at the American Heart Association’s EPI/NPAM 2013 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans. The study of American and Canadian adults at risk for metabolic syndrome shows that consuming certain vegetable oils may be a simple way of reducing their risk of this medical condition, which affects about one in three U.S. adults and one in five Canadian adults. In the multi-center, randomized, controlled trial, 121 participants at risk for metabolic syndrome -- a group of five risk factors characterized by increased belly fat; low “good” HDL cholesterol; and above-average blood sugar, blood pressure and triglycerides that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes -- were all given a weight-maintenance, heart-healthy diet with a daily smoothie containing one of five study oils. This process was repeated for the remaining four oils. Results showed that those 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,” says Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., professor of nutrition at the Pennsylvania State University and one of the lead researchers. “Reducing abdominal fat is one way that dietary MUFA may decrease metabolic syndrome risk factors.”

-- Canola Council of Canada, www.canolacouncil.org