The Study
Two Blends of Refined Rice Bran, Flaxseed, and Sesame Seed Oils Affect the Blood Lipid Profile of Chinese Adults with Borderline Hypercholesterolemia to a Similar Extent as Refined Olive Oil.
This study gave different oils to people and saw that their blood numbers got better after 8 weeks. But it didn't prove the oils caused better health — just that they were linked to better numbers in the short term.
Analysis score
Maximum 45 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested if mixing three plant oils (rice bran, flaxseed, sesame) could help lower bad cholesterol and blood pressure, just like olive 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 545 / 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.
- 1These changes are meaningful — lowering LDL and triglycerides reduces heart disease risk, and even small BP drops can lower stroke risk.
- 2The weight gain is tiny and may not matter for most people.
- 3People who ate 30g of the oil blend daily for 8 weeks saw: LDL cholesterol drop by 4.16%, triglycerides drop by 10.3%, blood pressure drop by about 3%, and blood sugar drop by 1.51%.
- 4Their weight went up 0.7%.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The Journal of nutrition
Year
2020
Authors
S. Haldar, Long Hui Wong, Shia Lyn Tay, Jörg J. Jacoby, Pengfei He, Farhana Osman, S. Ponnalagu, Yuanrong Jiang, H. P. Lian, C. Henry
Related Content
Claims (5)
In Chinese adults with borderline high cholesterol, consuming 30 grams per day of a blend of rice bran, flaxseed, and sesame seed oils for 8 weeks lowers blood glucose levels by 1.51%.
In Chinese adults aged 50–70 with borderline high cholesterol, consuming 30 grams per day of a blended oil from rice bran, flaxseed, and sesame seed for 8 weeks lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, apoB, and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by specific percentages.
Taking 30 grams of a blend of rice bran, flaxseed, and sesame seed oils daily for 8 weeks does not change levels of HDL-cholesterol or apoA1 in Chinese adults with borderline high cholesterol.
In Chinese adults with borderline high cholesterol, two oil blends made from rice bran, flaxseed, and sesame seed lower blood lipids and blood pressure just as much as 30 grams of olive oil per day over eight weeks.
In Chinese adults with borderline high cholesterol, consuming 30 grams per day of a blend of rice bran, flaxseed, and sesame seed oils for 8 weeks results in a 0.7% increase in body weight, while other cardiometabolic markers improve.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.