Is canola oil good or bad for cholesterol?

Good, by a small margin. A 2019 meta-analysis of 27 randomized trials with 1,359 people found canola oil lowered LDL cholesterol by 6.4 mg/dL and total cholesterol by 7.24 mg/dL, with no change in HDL or triglycerides. The gain depends on what the oil replaces. Against saturated fats the drop in LDL was larger, 0.49 mmol/L (about 19 mg/dL) across 10 comparisons. What no trial has measured is whether canola oil itself means fewer heart attacks.

Established. Foods high in unsaturated fat and low in saturated fat, such as canola oil, lower LDL cholesterol. A 2021 umbrella review of 108 systematic reviews graded this as high-certainty evidence of at least a moderate drop, which it defines as 0.20 to 0.40 mmol/L.

What the trials found

Against everything else

The 2019 review pooled trials that gave canola oil against a range of comparison diets. LDL fell by 6.4 mg/dL (95% CI 2 to 10.8) and total cholesterol by 7.24 mg/dL (95% CI 2.7 to 12.1). HDL, triglycerides and apolipoproteins did not change. In subgroups the drop was significant in people older than 50 and in the longer trials. Subgroups suggest where the effect is clearer and do not prove it.

Against saturated fat

A 2020 meta-analysis of controlled trials compared canola oil with saturated fats. Total cholesterol fell by 23 mg/dL (0.59 mmol/L) across 11 comparisons and LDL by 19 mg/dL (0.49 mmol/L) across 10, and the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol improved. This is the comparison that matters most in a kitchen: canola oil in place of butter, lard or other hard fats.

The strongest single trial fed 119 adults with central obesity every meal for three 6-week periods. Against a fat blend with more saturated fat, a typical Western mix, the canola diet lowered LDL by 6.6% and total cholesterol by 4.2%, with no change in triglycerides or HDL. A high-oleic canola diet did about the same.

Against olive oil

Many readers want to know whether canola is a poor cousin of olive oil. For cholesterol it is not. A 2023 meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials found canola oil lowered LDL by 6.13 mg/dL (95% CI 2.46 to 9.79) and total cholesterol by 8.92 mg/dL more than olive oil did. A 2018 network meta-analysis of 54 trials ranked rapeseed oil, the plant canola is bred from, second for lowering LDL after safflower oil. In a 10-week trial in 72 women with polycystic ovary syndrome, 0.88 oz (25 g) of canola oil a day lowered triglycerides and the ratios of total and LDL to HDL cholesterol, and olive oil did not. That small trial reported only significance, without the size of the change.

Myth. Canola oil is sometimes called toxic because it comes from rapeseed, which naturally contains erucic acid. Canola is the low-erucic variety by definition: US federal rules allow no more than 2 percent of its fatty acids to be erucic acid.

Who should be careful

The one fact in this review about safety is the erucic acid limit above, and it is a rule about what the oil contains, not a measured health effect. We found no card on canola oil and cholesterol in pregnancy, in children, or alongside cholesterol medicines. A change of cooking oil is no substitute for a prescribed statin, and any change to treatment is a conversation for the person who prescribes it.

Not for everyone. The benefit depends on replacing another fat. The FDA's condition for the label claim is that canola oil replace a similar amount of saturated fat without raising the calories you eat in a day. Pouring it on top of your usual diet is not what the trials tested.

What expert bodies say

The FDA allows a qualified health claim, its weakest kind. The label may say that limited and not conclusive evidence suggests about 1.5 tablespoons (19 g) of canola oil a day may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, if it replaces saturated fat and does not add calories. The 2021 umbrella review graded the LDL effect itself as high certainty. Those two positions fit together: the effect on cholesterol is well established, while the step from cholesterol to heart disease for this oil has not been tested directly.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A randomized trial of canola oil that counts heart attacks, strokes or deaths. We found none for the oil itself. The hard-outcome trial usually cited, the Lyon Diet Heart Study, used a rapeseed-based margarine as part of a whole diet.
• Trials longer than a few months, since most of the evidence covers weeks.
• Larger trials in the groups the subgroups point to, people over 50, to test that hint properly.
• We found no registered trial of canola oil now recruiting or active.

More on this oil: canola oil and olive oil and cholesterol.

Sources

1. ev-canchol-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 1359
   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.
   
   Who: Participants of 27 randomized controlled trials, searched to December 2017
   Effect: 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
   Certainty: Main answer: lowers, moderately. -6.4 mg/dL ≈ -0.17 mmol/L. The effect is relative to what canola replaced.
   J Am Coll Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-canchol-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · subgroup analysis within a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 1359
   Effects of CO on TC and LDL significantly decreased after CO consumption in subgroups of >50 years of age participants and >30 intervention duration subgroup.
   
   Who: Subgroups of 27 randomized controlled trials by age and duration
   Effect: significant TC and LDL reductions in >50 years subgroup and >30 days duration subgroup
   Certainty: Subgroups, not separate RCTs: a hypothesis of who benefits more, not evidence.
   J Am Coll Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-canchol-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis with dose-response analysis of controlled clinical trials · n = 42 articles
   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), TC/HDL (-0.29, n = 5), and Apo B (-0.09 g/l, n = 4) (P < 0.05).
   
   Who: Adults in controlled clinical trials comparing canola oil with other edible oils
   Effect: vs other oils LDL -8.9 mg/dL (-0.23 mmol/L) (n = 35); vs olive oil LDL -6.6 mg/dL (-0.17 mmol/L); vs sunflower oil LDL -5.4 mg/dL (-0.14 mmol/L); vs saturated fats LDL -19 mg/dL (-0.49 mmol/L) (n = 10)
   Certainty: The largest synthesis; the strongest effect is when canola replaces saturated fats. The greatest benefit at about 15% of calories.
   Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2020 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-canchol-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 13 trials
   The results showed that the CO consumption, significantly reduced serum LDL-c (WMD: -6.13 mg/dl, 95%CI: -9.79, -2.46, p = 0.001), TC (WMD: -8.92 mg/dl, 95% CI: -13.52, -4.33, P < 0.001) and LDL-c/HDL-c ratio (WMD: -0.30; 95% CI, -0.53, -0.06, p = 0.01) levels compared to OO.
   
   Who: Adults in randomized controlled trials comparing canola oil with olive oil
   Effect: LDL WMD -6.13 mg/dL (95% CI -9.79 to -2.46); TC WMD -8.92 mg/dL (95% CI -13.52 to -4.33); LDL/HDL -0.30
   Certainty: Comparison with olive oil: on LDL canola is not worse but slightly better (more PUFA). Says nothing about cardiac events.
   Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-canchol-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random dose-response network meta-analysis of randomized trials · n = 54 trials
   Safflower oil had the highest SUCRA value for LDL-C (82%) and TC (90%), followed by rapeseed oil (76% for LDL-C, 85% for TC); whereas, palm oil (74%) had the highest SUCRA value for TG, and coconut oil (88%) for HDL-C.
   
   Who: Randomized trials of at least 3 weeks comparing two or more oils or solid fats
   Effect: SUCRA for LDL-C: safflower 82%, rapeseed 76%; oils lowered LDL-C by 16 to 8.9 mg/dL (0.42 to 0.23 mmol/L) vs butter per 10% energy exchange
   Certainty: An answer to "what is better for cholesterol": canola/rapeseed among the best; butter the worst.
   J Lipid Res, 2018 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-canchol-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials with GRADE · n = 108 systematic reviews
   With high evidence, foods high in unsaturated and low in saturated and trans fatty acids (e.g. rapeseed/canola oil), with added plant sterols/stanols, and high in soluble fiber (e.g. oats, barley, and psyllium) caused at least moderate (i.e. 0.20-0.40 mmol/L) reductions in LDL cholesterol.
   
   Who: Guidelines, systematic reviews and RCTs on foods and LDL cholesterol, searched to June 2019
   Effect: at least moderate LDL reduction (7.7-15 mg/dL (0.20-0.40 mmol/L)), GRADE high
   Certainty: The highest GRADE confidence of everything here.
   Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-canchol-07 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind randomized 3-period crossover controlled feeding trial, 6 weeks each (NCT02029833) · n = 119
   Compared with the control, canola and HOCO diets resulted in lower endpoint total cholesterol (TC; -4.2% and -3.4%; P < 0.0001), LDL cholesterol (-6.6% and -5.6%; P < 0.0001), apoB (-3.7% and -3.4%; P = 0.002), and non-HDL cholesterol (-4.5% and -4.0%; P = 0.001), with no differences between canola diets.
   
   Who: Men (n = 44) and women (n = 75), mean age 44 y, mean BMI 31.7, increased waist plus at least one metabolic syndrome criterion
   Effect: LDL -6.6% (canola) and -5.6% (high-oleic canola) vs control; TC -4.2% and -3.4%; apoB -3.7% and -3.4%; no change in TG or HDL
   Certainty: Strong design (all food provided). The control is a mixture with a higher share of saturated fats.
   J Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-canchol-08 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled trial, three parallel arms (canola, olive, sunflower oil), 10 weeks · n = 72
   Canola oil consumption resulted in a significant reduction in serum levels of TG (P = 0.002) and TC/HDL (P = 0.021), LDL/HDL (P = 0.047), and TG/HDL (P = 0.001) ratios, however, there was no significant reduction in lipid profile following olive oil consumption.
   
   Who: 72 women with PCOS, mean age 29.31
   Effect: canola: TG (P = 0.002), TC/HDL (P = 0.021), LDL/HDL (P = 0.047), TG/HDL (P = 0.001) reduced; no significant lipid change with olive oil
   Certainty: Small sample, retrospective registration. The abstract gives no magnitudes, only P.
   Lipids Health Dis, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-canchol-09 · Position of an expert body · regulatory decision (FDA letter of enforcement discretion) · n = —
   Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1 ½ tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day.
   
   Who: Canola oil and canola oil-containing foods labeled in the US
   Effect: qualified health claim, enforcement discretion letter of 6 October 2006; evidence rated limited and not conclusive
   Certainty: The body does not consider the link with heart disease established; cholesterol is an intermediate marker. The condition "in place of saturated fats, without extra calories" is the main caveat.
   FDA, Qualified Health Claims: Letter of Enforcement Discretion, Unsaturated Fatty Acids from Canola Oil and Reduced Risk of Coronary Heart Disease, 2006 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
10. ev-canchol-10 · Position of an expert body · regulation, 21 CFR 184.1555(c) · n = —
    Chemically, low erucic acid rapeseed oil is a mixture of triglycerides, composed of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, with an erucic acid content of no more than 2 percent of the component fatty acids.
    
    Who: Canola oil sold in the US as GRAS food ingredient
    Effect: erucic acid at most 2% of component fatty acids
    Certainty: An answer to the myth "canola is toxic because of erucic acid": food-grade canola is low-erucic by definition. A composition limit, not a health effect.
    21 CFR 184.1555, Rapeseed oil, eCFR · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section