Eating a lot of soybean oil for a month lowered levels of DHA — a healthy omega-3 fat — in red blood cells, possibly because the two types of fats compete to get into cell membranes.

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Foods Fortified with Soybean or Palm Oil Show No Effect on Inflammation or Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein in Adults with Overweight or Obesity: a Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2026 Feb

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Source Study

Foods Fortified with Soybean or Palm Oil Show No Effect on Inflammation or Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein in Adults with Overweight or Obesity: a Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial

Score: 58

DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107635

Similar Assertions

After eating soybean oil daily for a month, the level of a fatty acid called arachidonic acid went down in red blood cells — which is surprising because people thought it would go up.

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Taking fish oil supplements with EPA and DHA over time makes the membranes of your red blood cells more filled with these types of fats, making them more flexible but also more prone to damage from oxidation.

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Even though soybean oil is full of linoleic acid, it didn’t make the body’s enzymes that turn it into other fatty acids work faster — so it doesn’t lead to more inflammation as some fear.

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If you're a healthy young adult, taking a high-purity fish oil supplement might help your body absorb more of the good omega-3s (like EPA and DHA) into your red blood cells compared to a lower-purity version—even if the difference in dose is pretty small.

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