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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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

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Community contributions welcome

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

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Community contributions welcome

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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

The study gave people 30 grams of soybean oil a day for four weeks and found that a key inflammatory fat (arachidonic acid) actually went down, not up—meaning the body didn’t make more inflammation-causing chemicals, even with lots of soybean oil.

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According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

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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79%

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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58

72%