Private MD News

Diabetic women can improve their condition by using certain cooking oil

Category: Diabetes

Postmenopausal women who have type 2 diabetes may be able to improve their C-reactive protein test scores and make sure they receive healthy insulin test results by adding more safflower oil to their diets. A recent Ohio State University study showed that this common cooking oil may have many benefits for these women.

The study showed that diabetics who added as little as one and two-thirds teaspoons of the oil to their diet for a period of 16 days had dramatic improvements in insulin sensitivity, inflammation cholesterol and blood sugar.

The researchers noted that safflower oil is a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs. In particular the PUFA linoleic acid has been shown in previous studies to improve many aspects of heart health. This may explain the benefit of safflower oil to women with diabetes who are at risk for heart disease.

"I believe these findings suggest that people consciously make sure they get a serving of healthy oil in their diets each day- maybe an oil and vinegar dressing on a salad, or some oil for cooking. And this recommendation can be extended to everyone," said the study's lead author Martha Belury.