Study
Effect of different sources of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids on postprandial inflammation: A double-blind randomized crossover trial.
In 18 healthy adults, flaxseed and corn oil did not show a consistent post-meal inflammation advantage over butter or coconut oil.
Summary Which cooking fats cause less inflammation after a meal? Show / hide ↓
Eighteen healthy adults each ate four similar meals containing butter, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, or corn oil. Each meal provided 40 grams of fat, and blood samples were taken for six hours afterward. The researchers measured inflammation markers, which are blood signs linked to the body’s immune response, along with blood fats. Some markers changed after eating, but no fat consistently caused less inflammation, and the vegetable-oil meals sometimes caused slightly stronger responses.
What this means for you: This small study does not show that flaxseed or corn oil is clearly better than butter or coconut oil for inflammation after one meal. It does not tell us which fat is best for long-term health, so it is not a strong reason to buy one over another.
weak evidenceThis double-blind, randomised four-way crossover trial tested acute inflammatory responses to meals with different fat sources. Eighteen healthy adults ate isocaloric 706 kcal test meals containing 40 g fat from butter, coconut oil, flaxseed oil or corn oil. Blood was collected for six hours after each meal. The investigators measured inflammatory proteins with a proximity extension assay, while glycoprotein acetyls and triglycerides were measured by NMR spectroscopy. Across all meal challenges, 21 of 93 measured proteins, or 23%, changed after eating. The supplied abstract truncates part of the results, so it does not give all individual protein estimates or p-values. Its conclusion is clear: no consistent directional pattern favoured a particular fat source. Polyunsaturated-fat-rich meals produced slightly stronger inflammatory responses than saturated-fat-rich meals, but the overall influence of fat source was modest. This study concerns a single high-fat meal and transient blood markers. It does not test omega-3 supplementation, long-term dietary change, clinical disease outcomes, or longevity. The crossover design controls some between-person variation, but the sample remains very small and the endpoint is an acute surrogate response.
Fat source had a modest influence on postprandial inflammation, with no consistent directional pattern favouring a specific source.
Only 18 healthy adults completed acute meal challenges with six hours of follow-up. The abstract's results section is incomplete, and the outcomes were post-meal inflammatory markers rather than clinical outcomes.
Cited by
1 encyclopedia entries reference this study.