Canola oil: the LDL effect is real and small

Canola oil lowers LDL cholesterol, and the effect is small. Pooling 27 randomised trials with 1359 people, it cut LDL by 6.4 mg/dl and total cholesterol by 7.24 mg/dl against the oils it was compared with, and left HDL and triglycerides where they were. A wider review of 42 controlled trials, not all of them randomised, put the LDL drop at 0.23 mmol/l, rising to 0.49 mmol/l when canola replaced saturated fat and shrinking to 0.17 mmol/l against olive oil. The 27-trial review saw the effect only in trials that ran past 30 days. The heart claim you may see on a bottle in the United States belongs to a different product. FDA allows it for high oleic canola oil, at least 70 percent oleic acid, and grades the evidence supportive but not conclusive. Ordinary canola oil cannot carry it. Body weight is the unsettled part. One meta-analysis of 25 trials found 0.30 kg lost, a 2025 update across 32 trials found a slightly lower BMI and a slightly higher waist-to-hip ratio at the same time, and its authors say further studies are needed to explain how canola oil affects body composition. The trials behind those numbers are small, 10 to 119 people each, and weight was rarely what they set out to measure.

The numbers, per 100 g

How much is actually in it

• Canadian harvest samples from 2010 to 2022 show the alpha-linolenic acid content of canola falling from 9.93 to 8.16 mass percent as growing-season temperatures rose, a change the authors say is detectable in oil on shelves. — Canadian Grain Commission Harvest Sample Program, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, 2010-2022 Evidence C source
  ALA 9.93 +/- 0.78 to 8.16 +/- 0.46 mass %; LA 19.21 (2012) to 18.06 (2022) mass %; both negatively correlated with daytime high temperature
• Across five USDA Foundation samples, canola oil holds 17.3 mg vitamin E per 100 g (range 16.5 to 18.6), 6.61 g saturated fat (6.56 to 6.67), 62.6 g monounsaturated and 25.3 g polyunsaturated fat. — USDA FoodData Central Foundation Foods, Oil, canola (FDC 748278), 5 samples (n = 5 samples) Evidence E source
  Vitamin E spread 12%, SFA spread 2%, MUFA spread 3%, PUFA spread 7% between samples

What a real portion looks like

• In a 2021 survey of 1248 Australian adults, only 4.3% named canola oil as their main cooking oil, against 84.5% for olive oil, and half chose their oil for perceived health benefits. — 1248 Australian adults, online survey July-December 2021, 91.6% women (n = 1248) Evidence C source
  Olive oil 84.5% (EVOO 65.4%), rice bran 4.6%, canola 4.3%, vegetable oil 1.8%; health benefit motive 49.6%
• One tablespoon of canola oil is 14 g in USDA survey data and carries about 2.4 mg vitamin E, recalculated from 17.3 mg per 100 g. — US household measures, FNDDS Canola oil (fdc_id 2710188) Evidence E source
  1 tablespoon = 14 g, 1 cup = 224 g; 2.4 mg vitamin E per tablespoon (recalculation from 100 g)

What your body absorbs

• In 16 young men eating a salad dressed with only 3 g canola oil, adding 150 g cooked egg raised alpha-tocopherol absorption more than eightfold (981 versus 117 nmol/L x 10 h). — 16 healthy men, mean age 24, randomised crossover, raw mixed-vegetable salad with 3 g canola oil and 0, 75 or 150 g egg (n = 16) Evidence B source
  Alpha-tocopherol TRL AUC 0-10 h: 981 +/- 162 (high egg) vs 311 (low egg) vs 117 nmol/L x 10 h (control), P < 0.05

What cooking and storage change

• In 20 obese adults fed breakfasts made with oils heated through 20 frying cycles, a sunflower and canola blend with added antioxidants reduced postprandial oxidative stress compared with heated sunflower oil alone. — 20 obese adults, four breakfasts in randomised crossover, oils subjected to 20 heating cycles (n = 20) Evidence B source
  Heated sunflower oil lowered plasma GSH and GSH/GSSG and raised protein carbonyls versus virgin olive oil and the antioxidant-added seed-oil blends

What it does to your health

• Across 42 controlled trials, canola oil lowered total cholesterol by 0.27 mmol/l and LDL cholesterol by 0.23 mmol/l compared with other edible oils, and by 0.49 mmol/l LDL when it replaced saturated fats. — Adults in 42 controlled clinical trials up to January 2020, canola oil versus other edible oils (n = 42 trials) Evidence B source
  TC -0.27 mmol/l (n = 37 trials), LDL-C -0.23 mmol/l (n = 35); vs saturated fats LDL-C -0.49 mmol/l (n = 10); vs olive oil LDL-C -0.17 mmol/l (n = 9)
• A meta-analysis of 25 randomised trials found canola oil reduced body weight by 0.30 kg overall and by 0.63 kg in people with type 2 diabetes, with no effect on waist, fat mass or other adiposity markers. — Adults in 25 randomised controlled trials up to February 2018 (n = 25 studies, 23 effect sizes) Evidence A source
  Body weight WMD -0.30 kg (95% CI -0.52, -0.08); type 2 diabetes -0.63 kg (95% CI -1.09, -0.17); vs saturated fat -0.40 kg

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a randomised double-blind trial of full-term infants, formula containing canola oil gave the same weight and length gain from 4 weeks to 7 months as formula without it, with power to detect a 3 g per day difference. — Full-term infants in the German Infant Nutritional Intervention study, formula with or without canola oil, week 4 to month 7 Evidence B source
  No difference in absolute or WHO-standardised weight and length at 4-6 weeks, 3-4 months, 6-7 months

What people believe that the data does not support

• In 27 randomised trials with 1359 participants, canola oil lowered total cholesterol by 7.24 mg/dl and LDL by 6.4 mg/dl but did not change HDL, triglycerides or apolipoproteins. — 1359 adults in 27 randomised controlled trials up to December 2017 (n = 1359) Evidence A source
  TC -7.24 mg/dl (95% CI -12.1 to -2.7); LDL -6.4 mg/dl (95% CI -10.8 to -2); no effect on HDL, TG, Apo B, Apo A1; effect seen only beyond 30 days
• FDA's 2018 qualified health claim lets high oleic canola oil carry the wording that about 1.5 tablespoons (20 g) of high-oleic oils a day, replacing fats higher in saturated fat, may reduce coronary heart disease risk, with evidence described as supportive but not conclusive. — US food labels; oils with at least 70% oleic acid, including high oleic canola oil (not conventional canola oil) Evidence E source
  Enforcement discretion for a qualified claim; no effect size, evidence graded supportive but not conclusive
• US labelling rules use canola oil as the worked example of a cholesterol-free claim that must still disclose fat content, as in 'canola oil, a cholesterol-free food, contains 14 g of fat per serving'. — Foods sold in the US under 21 CFR 101.62 Evidence E source
  Cholesterol-free claim allowed only with a fat disclosure when cholesterol is not usually present in the food

Who this works differently for

• In 92 adults with type 2 diabetes using the assigned oil for all cooking except frying for 12 weeks, plain canola oil cut waist circumference by 2.2 cm, while fasting glucose and HbA1c fell only with gamma-oryzanol-fortified canola oil. — 92 adults with type 2 diabetes, three parallel groups (fortified canola n=30, plain canola n=32, sunflower n=30), 12 weeks (n = 92) Evidence B source
  Waist -2.2 +/- 0.1 cm plain canola, -2.6 +/- 0.1 cm fortified (p < 0.001); FBG -7.7 mg/dL and HbA1c -0.7% only in fortified group; HOMA-IR unchanged

What is still unknown

• An updated 2025 meta-analysis of 32 randomised trials found canola oil lowered BMI by 0.127 kg/m2 but raised waist-to-hip ratio by 0.003, and its authors say further studies are needed to explain how it affects body composition. — Adults in 32 randomised controlled trials searched to September 2024, sample sizes 10 to 119 (n = 32 RCTs) Evidence A source
  BMI MD -0.127 kg/m2 (95% CI -0.231, -0.024); WHR MD +0.003 (95% CI 0.001, 0.005); other anthropometrics unchanged

The bottom line

Use canola oil the way the trials did, as the everyday cooking oil in place of a fat higher in saturated fat, and expect a cholesterol change you will only see in a blood test. In 92 adults with type 2 diabetes who cooked everything except fried food with the assigned oil for 12 weeks, plain canola oil trimmed the waist by 2.2 cm. The pooled analysis of 25 trials on this page found no effect on waist, fat mass or any other adiposity marker, so read that 2.2 cm as one open trial in type 2 diabetes rather than as something the oil does. Fasting glucose and HbA1c moved only in the group given canola oil fortified with gamma-oryzanol, a fortified product you will not find in an ordinary bottle. BMI fell in the sunflower group too, so some of that change came with the diet rather than the oil. A tablespoon is 14 g and carries about 2.4 mg of vitamin E. That vitamin needs fat around it to get in. In 16 young men eating a salad dressed with just 3 g of canola oil, adding 150 g of cooked egg raised absorption of the meal's vitamin E more than eightfold, so a salad dressed with a few drops of oil is a poor way to get vitamin E. Frying is where this page is thin. The one heating trial ran oils through 20 frying cycles and tested canola only as a blend with sunflower oil plus added antioxidants, which did less oxidative harm than heated sunflower oil alone. What repeated frying does to canola oil by itself has not been tested here, and the USDA retention table has no entry for oils at all. The oil itself is drifting. Canadian harvest samples from 2010 to 2022 show alpha-linolenic acid, the omega-3 fat in canola, falling from 9.93 to 8.16 percent by mass as growing seasons warmed, and the authors say the change is large enough to show up in oil on the shelf. Five USDA samples agree closely on saturated fat, 6.61 g per 100 g with almost no spread, and disagree more on vitamin E, 16.5 to 18.6 mg. Two things on the label mean less than they sound. Cholesterol free is true of every plant oil, and US rules only allow the words if the label also admits the 14 g of fat per serving. The heart claim applies to high oleic canola oil and only to that product. In an Australian online survey of 1248 adults, 91.6 percent of them women, 84.5 percent of households cooked with olive oil and 4.3 percent with canola, and half chose their oil for perceived health benefits. Head to head across nine trials, canola came out 0.17 mmol/l lower on LDL than olive oil. That is the only direct comparison between the two oils this page holds, and one lipid number does not rank one oil above the other. Who should be careful is the gap on this page. The safety question people actually ask about canola, erucic acid, has no card here: the European opinion that sets its limit would not load for us, so the number is missing. The only safety trial we hold is in babies. Full-term infants on formula made with canola oil grew at the same rate in weight and length from 4 weeks to 7 months as infants on formula without it. That trial was powered to detect a 3 g a day difference, although the abstract does not give the sample size. Nothing here covers drug interactions, pregnancy or kidney disease, because our interaction layer is built around nutrients and has no entry for a cooking oil. If any of those is your situation, this page cannot answer it.

Sources

1. cano-c2-09 · longitudinal observational
   Data for this cohort showed the average mean ALA content decreased from 9.93 ± 0.78 mass % (average mean± standard deviation) to 8.16 ± 0.46 mass %, with a concomitant increase in oleic acid.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-09-23
2. cano-c2-11 · reference dataset
   Oil, canola Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 17.3 MG range 16.5-18.6 (median 16.8), samples 5, spread 12% || Fatty acids, total saturated 6.61 G range 6.56-6.67 (median 6.62), samples 5, spread 2% || Fatty acids, total monounsaturated 62.6 G range 61.8-63.5 (median 62.8), samples 5, spread 3% || Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated 25.3 G range 24.3-26.1 (median 25.2), samples 5, spread 7%
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, FDC 748278 · checked 2026-09-23
3. cano-c2-10 · cross-sectional
   The majority of participants (84·5 %) reported using some form of olive oil as their main source of oil for cooking and food preparation. ... Fewer households reported using rice bran oil (4·6 %), canola oil (4·3 %) and vegetable oil (1·8 %).
   Br J Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-09-23
4. cano-c2-12 · reference dataset
   Canola oil [2710188] 1 tablespoon 14 g || 1 cup 224 g || Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 17.3 MG per 100 g, 1 tablespoon 2.4 MG
   USDA FoodData Central survey foods (FNDDS) 2024-10-31, fdc_id 2710188 · checked 2026-09-23
5. cano-c2-07 · RCT
   consumed the same salad (all served with 3 g canola oil) with no egg [control (CON)], with 75 g cooked egg [low egg (LE)], or with 150 g cooked egg [high egg (HE)] ... The α-tocopherol 0- to 10-h AUCs (AUCs0-10 h) in TRLs was higher (P < 0.05) for the HE trial (least-squares mean ± SE: 981 ± 162 nmol/L ⋅ 10 h) than for the LE (311 ± 162 nmol/L ⋅ 10 h) and CON (117 ± 162 nmol/L ⋅10 h) trials
   J Nutr, 2016 · checked 2026-09-23
6. cano-c2-08 · RCT
   Twenty obese people received four breakfasts following a randomised crossover design consisting of different oils (virgin olive oil (VOO), sunflower oil (SFO), and a mixed seed oil (SFO/canola oil) with added dimethylpolysiloxane (SOX) or natural antioxidants from olives (SOP)), which were subjected to 20 heating cycles.
   Food Chem, 2013 · checked 2026-09-23
7. cano-c2-01 · meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials
   CO significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC, -0.27 mmol/l, n = 37), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, -0.23 mmol/l, n = 35) ... In comparison with saturated fats, CO improved TC (-0.59 mmol/l, n = 11), TG (-0.08 mmol/l, n = 11), LDL-C (-0.49 mmol/l, n = 10)
   Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2020 · checked 2026-09-23
8. cano-c2-03 · meta-analysis of RCTs
   The meta-analysis revealed that CO consumption reduces BW [weighted mean difference (WMD) = -0.30 kg; 95% CI: -0.52, -0.08 kg, P = 0.007; n = 23 effect sizes], particularly in participants with type 2 diabetes (WMD = -0.63 kg; 95% CI: -1.09, -0.17 kg, P = 0.007)
   Adv Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-09-23
9. cano-c2-06 · RCT
   Absolute and standardized weight and length measures did not differ between the formula groups with or without canola oil. ... Power analyses confirmed that sample size was sufficient to detect a difference of 3 g per day between 14 and 120 days between the two formula groups.
   Clin Nutr, 2011 · checked 2026-09-23
10. cano-c2-02 · meta-analysis of RCTs
    Twenty-seven trials, comprising 1359 participants, met the eligibility criteria. Results of this study showed that CO consumption significantly reduced TC (-7.24 mg/dl, 95% CI, -12.1 to -2.7), and LDL (-6.4 mg/dl, 95% CI, -10.8 to -2), although it had no effects on HDL, TG, Apo B, and Apo A1.
    J Am Coll Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-09-23
11. cano-c2-13 · regulation
    Supportive but not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that daily consumption of about 1½ tablespoons (20 grams) of oils containing high levels of oleic acid, when replaced for fats and oils higher in saturated fat, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
    FDA, constituent update 2018-11-19, qualified health claim petition on oleic acid and coronary heart disease · checked 2026-09-23
12. cano-c2-14 · regulation
    it is labeled to disclose that cholesterol is not usually present in the food (e.g., “canola oil, a cholesterol-free food, contains 14 g of fat per serving”)
    21 CFR 101.62, Nutrient content claims for fat, fatty acid, and cholesterol content of foods · checked 2026-09-23
13. cano-c2-05 · RCT
    Though body mass index (BMI) significantly decreased in all three groups, only in Groups 1 and 2 waist circumference (WC) showed a significant decrement (-2.6 ± 0.1 and -2.2 ± 0.1 cm in Groups 1 and 2 respectively, p < 0.001 for both)
    Eur J Med Res, 2023 · checked 2026-09-23
14. cano-c2-04 · meta-analysis of RCTs
    CO consumption significantly increased WHR (MD: 0.003 cm, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.005, P value: 0.003) and significantly decreased BMI (mean difference (MD): -0.127 kg/m2, 95% C: -0.231, -0.024, P value: 0.016) ... Further studies are needed to provide additional insight into how canola oil affects BW and composition in adults.
    Nutr J, 2025 · checked 2026-09-23