Cooking with healthy fats is something that has been explained over and over again in recent months. Healthy cooking oils are a great way to acquire those healthy fats in your diet. Think olive oil, coconut oil and others but experts are saying there is one common oil that actually may be leading to weight gain, soybean oil. For many years, this oil was considered a healthier alternative compared to oils that contain a lot of saturated fat. But now a new study concludes it may lead to more weight gain that fructose. 

New research on mice was published in a new study in the journal, PLOS One. Scientists divided the mice in 4 groups and fed them each a different diet which contained 40% fat. This is similar to average American diet. One used coconut oil, soybean oil, and the other two diets had fructose added. All diets had the same number of calories. Those mice that were on the soybean oil diet gained 12% more weight than those that ate a fructose diet and 25% more weight than mice on the coconut oil diet. 

Soybean oil is not just from a bottle that you drizzle when sauteing, it can also found in margarines, processed foods, salad dressings and snacks.  Study researchers determined that the reason behind the weight gain was due to soybean oil's high omega-6 fatty acid content which can have a metabolic effect that can interfere with hormone regulation, fat burning and appetite control. 

Next time you're in the grocery store, pass on soybean oil and reach for the for olive oil, which is versatile and rich in healthy monounsaturated fats and also part of the Mediterranean diet which we highly recommend. 

Learn more in Coconut Oil is the New Olive Oil and also check out More Olive Oil Please for alternative oil choices and why.