Cottonseed oil has cholesterol lowering benefits

USA: Consumption of high-fat diet enriched with cottonseed oil (CSO) led to drastic improvements in the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) in young adult men, according to a new study published in the journal Nutrition Research. However, no changes were observed with a diet enriched with olive oil (OO).

Jamie Cooper, an associate professor in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ department of foods and nutrition, and colleagues conducted the study to determine the effects of a 5-day, high-fat diet rich in CSO or OO on lipid profiles.

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For the purpose, the researchers conducted a five-day outpatient feeding trial of 15 healthy, normal weight men to test the effects of diets enriched with cottonseed oil and olive oil on lipid profiles.

The subjects, all healthy men between the ages of 18 and 45, were provided high-fat meals for five days in two separate, tightly controlled trials, the only difference being the use of either cottonseed oil or olive oil in the meals.

Based on previous human and animal models, we hypothesized that the CSO-rich diet would lead to lower fasting and postprandial lipid levels, whereas the OO-rich diet would not significantly change lipid levels in 5 days.

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Key Findings:

• Fasting total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG) were lower following CSO diet intervention (total cholesterol: 148.40 ± 6.39 to 135.93 ± 6.31 mg/dL; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: 92.20 ± 5.57 to 78.13 ± 5.60 mg/dL; TG: 80.11 ± 4.91 to 56.37 ± 5.46 mg/dL for pre- to postdiet, respectively; P < .05).


• High-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased following CSO diet intervention (46.67 ± 2.41 to 50.24 ± 2.20 mg/dL for pre- to postdiet, respectively; P < .05).


• Postprandial TGs were lower following CSO diet (area under the curve of 954.28 ± 56.90 vs 722.16 ± 56.15 mg/dL/8 h for pre- vs postdiet, respectively; P < .01).


• No changes in blood lipids were found following OO diet.


• A 5-day CSO-rich diet led to improvements in cholesterol and TGs, whereas no changes were observed with an OO-rich diet.

“One of the reasons these results were so surprising is because of the magnitude of change observed with the cottonseed oil diet,” said Cooper. “To see this amount of change in such a short period of time is exciting.”

“By doing that, it pushes the body to burn more of that fat because it can’t store it properly, so you have less lipid and cholesterol accumulation,” Cooper said.

That mechanism, in addition to the high polyunsaturated fat and omega-6 content of cottonseed oil, seems to be a key component to the beneficial effects on lipid profiles, Cooper said.

Researchers plan to expand the study to include older adults with high cholesterol as well as a longer feeding intervention.

For further reference log on to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2018.09.001