The Study
Effect of different sources of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids on postprandial inflammation: A double-blind randomized crossover trial.
This study gave people different types of fatty foods and measured how their bodies reacted right after eating. It shows that the type of fat might change some inflammation markers, but not in a clear or strong way. We can't say it causes sickness — just that it changes a few body signals temporarily.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave people four different high-fat meals and checked their blood for signs of inflammation. Some meals had butter or coconut oil, others had corn or flaxseed oil.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The changes were small and inconsistent — no single fat source clearly caused more inflammation than others overall.
- 2After eating, 21 out of 93 inflammation markers changed.
- 3GlycA (a marker) went up more after corn and flaxseed oil than after butter and coconut oil.
- 4Triglycerides didn't change between meals.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Clinical nutrition ESPEN
Year
2026
Authors
Naman Limani, H. B. Henriksen, Mina Marie Minge, Viviana Sandoval, R. Landberg, H. Lindqvist, K. B. Holven, S. Ulven, Linnea Bärebring
Related Content
Claims (4)
If you swap out cooking oils like soybean or corn oil for olive oil, butter, or coconut oil, you might lower the stuff in your body that causes inflammation and make your blood fats more stable and healthy.
After eating a 706 kcal high-fat meal, meals made with corn and flaxseed oil lead to higher levels of the inflammatory marker GlycA than meals made with butter and coconut oil; other inflammatory markers show minor and inconsistent changes depending on the fat source.
After eating a single high-fat meal, healthy adults experience measurable changes in multiple inflammatory proteins in their blood within 6 hours, with 21 out of 93 proteins showing significant shifts.
After eating a 706 kcal high-fat meal, blood triglyceride levels are the same whether the fat comes from butter and coconut oil or from corn oil and flaxseed oil in healthy adults.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.