4 weeks ago
1
For The Union-Tribune
Soy vey!
Soybean oil is the most widely consumed cooking oil (more than 50%) in the United States and a ubiquitous ingredient in processed foods. A new study by researchers at the University of California Riverside now suggests it contributes to obesity, at least in mice.
Researchers fed mice a high-fat diet rich in soybean oil. Most gained significant weight. The exception was a group of genetically engineered mice.
These mice produced a slightly different form of a liver protein that influences hundreds of genes linked to fat metabolism. This protein also appears to change how the body processes linoleic acid, a major component of soybean oil.
“This may be the first step toward understanding why some people gain weight more easily than others on a diet high in soybean oil,” says Sonia Deol, a UC Riverside biomedical scientist.
In humans, both versions of the liver protein HNF4α exist, but the alternative form is typically produced only under certain conditions, such as chronic illness or metabolic stress from fasting or alcoholic fatty liver. This variation, along with differences in age, sex, medications and genetics, may help explain why some people are more susceptible than others to the metabolic effects of soybean oil.
English (US) ·