You don’t have to eat less or exercise more on the safflower oil diet. To go on the safflower oil diet you simply take a small amount of this common cooking oil daily. Although researchers don't know the long-term effects of the safflower oil diet, short-term results show a number of health benefits. To avoid health complications, consult your physician to see if the safflower oil diet is right for you.
Safflower Oil Supplement
Researchers created the safflower oil diet to investigate the oil's effects in obese, postmenopausal women with diabetes mellitus – type 2 diabetes. In a study published in 2009 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," 36 subjects received a daily dose of approximately 1 2/3 tsp. of safflower oil containing about 6.4 g of linoleic acid. This amount of safflower oil – about 9.8 percent of their total calories – follows the federal vegetable oil consumption guidelines. The subjects did not increase their exercise level or decrease the amount of calories they ate.
Improve Waistline Muscle to Fat Ratio
The safflower diet does did not produce weight loss, but improved the muscle to fat ratio around the participants' waistlines in the study. Participants increased lean muscle mass by an average of 1.4 to 3 lbs. and lost an average of 2.3 to 3.5 lbs. of body fat in their trunk area.
Increase Insulin Sensitivity
The safflower oil diet increased insulin sensitivity by about 2.7 percent, according to the Ohio State University study. Higher insulin sensitivity is important for people with diabetes, because it helps your body absorb and use ingested sugars. The safflower oil facilitated the transfer of ingested sugars to the body tissues to be used for energy.
Reduce Risk of Heart Attack
The safflower oil diet may reduce your risk of heart attack, according to the same study. The daily supplementation reduced the participants' amount of C-reactive protein by 17.5 percent. C-reactive protein levels increase in the presence of inflammation. High levels of C-reactive protein may increase your risk for heart attack.
Decrease Blood Sugar Levels
The safflower diet decreases your blood sugar between meals. The researchers found a daily dose of safflower oil for 16 weeks lowered the participants' fasting blood sugar levels by 11 to 19 points on average.
Increase Good Cholesterol
The safflower oil may not reduce your blood levels of bad cholesterol, LDL, but it increases your levels of good cholesterol, HDL, according to information from a second analysis of the results of the Ohio State University study. Good cholesterol helps counteract the effects of bad cholesterol. LDL, or bad cholesterol, leads to plaque buildup in your arteries and high triglyceride levels.
References
- “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”; Comparison of Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid with Safflower Oil on Body Composition in Obese Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; L.E. Norris et al.; September 2009
- Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center; Two Dietary Oils, Two Sets of Benefits for Older Women with Diabetes; July 2009
- Ohio State University; A Dose of Safflower Oil Each Day Might Help Keep Heart Disease at Bay; Emily Caldwell; 2009
- University of California at Los Angeles: Expressing Achenes
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