Posted on 11/30/2025 5:32:21 PM PST by Red Badger
Soybean oil appears to cause obesity in mice by producing oxylipins that alter liver metabolism and fat processing. Only mice with altered enzymes avoided weight gain, suggesting genetics and modern diets play a major role. Credit: Shutterstock
Soybean oil is the most commonly used cooking oil in the United States and appears in a wide range of processed foods. Research is now shedding light on how this highly consumed ingredient contributes to obesity in mice.
In a University of California, Riverside experiment, most mice fed a high-fat diet rich in soybean oil put on substantial weight. A separate group of genetically engineered mice did not, even though their diets were the same. These modified mice produced a slightly altered version of a liver protein that affects hundreds of genes involved in fat metabolism. The altered protein also changes how the body handles linoleic acid, one of the primary components of soybean oil.
"This may be the first step toward understanding why some people gain weight more easily than others on a diet high in soybean oil," said Sonia Deol, a UCR biomedical scientist and corresponding author of the study published in the Journal of Lipid Research.
How Differences in Liver Proteins May Influence Metabolism
Humans produce both versions of the liver protein HNF4α, but the alternative form generally appears only in special situations, including chronic illness or metabolic stress from fasting or alcoholic fatty liver. Variations in this protein, along with individual differences in age, sex, genetics, and medications, may help explain why some people are more vulnerable to the metabolic impact of soybean oil.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
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SHOCKER!
Not.
Why aren’t the Japanese fat?
Nasty stuff. Canola is worse, probably. Peanut butter is just peanut butter flavored margarine these days. Took me a while to figure out, but after avoiding the hydrogenated synthetics, and swapping to butter, bacon drippings, tallow, my gut is MUCH happier, never mind the taste and quality of the recipe. Coconut oil and Olive oil is good stuff too. The latter is tough to find that isn’t adulterated I guess.
No, no, no. Several FReepers will tell you, it’s all about calories consumed, and nothing else will matter.
I use lard or peanut oil.
Not enough room..............
baking can be an exception.
I make homefries a lot...never cooked with tallow...makes things taste better?
No idea about the obesity thing, but I cannot consume soybean oil, lecithin, etc. It makes me rather ill.
Agree with all that you said here. The ingredients in a lot of so-called “organic” foods have horrible things, which saves me $$$ by not purchasing. Either make it from scratch or go without, which is fine, too.
The Japanese aren’t fat because they eat a healthy diet in moderate portions.
Please pardon my butt-in :)
Yes, rendered beef, pork, or chicken fat, or duck if you’re lucky, makes amazing roast potatoes or homefries. Or anything else savory you can find to use it in.
I save as much rendered fat as I can and freeze it. Some gets tossed but most gets used.
I never have, but I believe you can boil pork fat in water to remove most of the flavor and use it in baking.
I am olive oil, butter, tallow, fat, and coconut oil.
Hubs has an addiction to Hellman’s regular mayo but after this article he may be convinced to give it up.
Cheers!
“The Japanese aren’t fat because they eat a healthy diet in moderate portions.”
Or it could be the smoking, which everyone there does — at least they used to.
I was raised on Hellmans...I buy the store brand now...tastes the same and saves me a couple bucks.
Miracle Whip.....Yuck
I just put a 16 oz jar of tallow on my Walmart grocery list.
i personally think cotton seed oil is nastier than soybean oil or rape seed oil ... whoever thought cotton was a human food?
for goodness sakes, quit using mayonnaise made with soybean oil ... switch to Chosen Foods 100% Avocado oil mayonnaise; costco has the best price on this by far ...
Many also walk and bike more during the average day than we do. Flipside is alcoholism is really high over there.
The rice factor puzzles me. They consume rice in much larger quantities than we do, but it seems that their bodies process it differently.
.never cooked with tallow...makes things taste better?
YES...I do not use it for everything but it does make things taste better with a hint of beef...think McDonalds french fries from back in the day...
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