There are so many effort we have done to help us to lose weight and not only we have to exercise routinely, we also need to consume some types of food or drink a supplement to maximize the process. Two oils that often consume while dieting are Safflower Oil vs Sunflower Oil. They are natural oil and have so many benefits for our body even when used only as external remedies. If you are interested on dieting with these oils, go check our article below to see their benefit.
In article, we are going to give you information about:
– What are Safflower Oil and Sunflower Oil
– What Safflower Oil and Sunflower Oil can offer to you
– Are Safflower Oil and Sunflower Oil Effective for Diet
– Safflower Oil vs Sunflower Oil
Diet Supplement
Dieting is one of the hardest thing to do because not only we need to shed some pounds, the way into our ideal body means a lifestyle changing and this is the hardest as well as challenging parts you will need to put all of your efforts in. Indulging in food and drinks is one of the common reason why someone gain a weight and an unhealthy lifestyle combined with less exercising are making our weight continues to rise, making it hard to see the scale again.
Together with a routine exercise, a healthy diet will be needed if we want to achieve our body and weight goal. There are so many diet method out there, starting from when you have to limit your calorie intake, limit the kind of food you are taking, and avoid some types of food and beverage completely. Many people are combining one diet method with consuming a supplement to maximize the result such as consuming oils like safflower and sunflower oil. Read our article on: Egg diet vs Keto diet here.
About Safflower Oil
Safflower oil itself is a natural substance; it is derived from the seeds of safflower plants and used as the ingredients of many supplement mainly for what’s inside this oil. Even though this oil is popular for diet, in fact it is also used as a medicine for those with diabetes and to prevent heart disease. Besides to be consumed, this flower is also used in manufacturing process to color cosmetics and dying a fabric while the seed oil is used as a paint solvent.
Safflower Oil Benefit
Safflower oil have many benefits when taken orally even though you don’t have a particular intention of losing weight, those benefits are:
– A healthy source of fatty acids which is important to our body for hormone regulation and memory as well as absorbing fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K.
– Improve blood sugar level due to the polyunsaturated fat which is why it is good for those with diabetes because it can help them blood sugar, insulin resistance and insulin secretion.
– A study in 2011 reports that those with high blood cholesterol level will benefits from taking the oil orally because it can help them lower their LDL or bad cholesterol in the blood.
– Fighting inflammation, when applied on dry or inflamed skin, the oil can help soothing them and give back the soft and smooth appearance when applied routinely which is why you can find the ingredient on so many skin care products.
– Compared to other oils like vegetable oil, together with olive oil, canola, corn and sesame oil, Safflower oil is safe even in high temperature and won’t create free radicals.
Safflower Oil for Diet
What makes Safflower Oil popular among people who dieting is because it contains CLA which is a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids often used as a weight loss supplement. This CLA is actually can be found not only in the seed of this plant but also in beef and dairy products but the type you can found in supplement is made by chemically altering a fat found in the oil. The supplement even promoted as an easy way to deal with belly fat and has been making an appearance on famous shows like Dr. Oz.
Taken from healthline, the naturally occurring CLA is different from the supplement and taking too much of this oil may harm your body instead of making it healthier. What made the supplement and natural CLA different is because the supplement CLA is made from vegetable oils and contain high trans-10 and cis-12 fatty acids. There are many studies has been made to find the effectiveness of this type of supplement but the result is underwhelming while some even failed to prove the effect on belly fat.
If you drink the natural Safflower oil then you will get the benefit of omega-6 fats and devoid of omega-3 fats. Our body is in need for these two fatty acids and even though both of them are important, people in the US are shown to consume more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 because of the high amounts of refined vegetable oils and processed foods. Those who diets high in omega-6 have been shown to increase the risk of diabetes, heart diseases dementia and obesity while omega-3 rich diet is the opposite.
Another reason not to consume Safflower oil too much is because it is not the best source of CLA because the oil only has a minuscule .7 mg of CLA per gram while more than 70% of the oil is composed of linoleic acid which is a type of polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid. When you consume too much of CLA like when taking a supplement, it may even lead to insulin resistance, decreased of good cholesterol, increasing inflammation and intestinal upset as well as liver fat.
About Sunflower Oil
Another oil that is popularly used as a diet supplement is sunflower oil and just like the name, this oil is derived from the sunflower seed. You may find the oil easily at some stores and according to popular use, you can either consume it or use it for your skin to treat some problem. The most well-known benefit of sunflower oil is to help people with constipation and lowering the bad LDL cholesterol. For external use, it can be used for massage oil, skin injuries and poorly healing wounds.
Sunflower Oil Benefit
When taken orally, Sunflower oil may help with several health conditions but the dose is not clear and it is better to ask your doctor or other professional if you want to get the best benefit of this oil. Sunflower oil benefits are:
– Lowers cholesterol levels. This is because the oil contains balance of fatty acids including a substantial amount of linoleic acid. Since the oil doesn’t contain any saturated fats, it may reduce your overall cholesterol.
– When applied directly into the skin, the oil is popular to help people treat athlete’s foot or Tinea pedis. This fungal infection can be dealt with sunflower oil when used routinely.
– Boost heart health because when consume in moderation, it can boost energy and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
– Improve immune system, a study found that the oil is rich in Vitamin E which is known to act as antioxidant in our body while when applied to skin, it can improve skin health and regenerating cells.
– Prevents cancer, the aforementioned Vitamin E has a group of compounds that act as antioxidant and help eliminate free radicals that can mutate the healthy cells into cancerous cells.
Sunflower Oil for Diet
The reason why Sunflower oil is popular among those who diet is still unknown because the oil is not supposed to be consumed as a supplement but as a healthier substitute of your regular vegetable oil. This oil is very famous for the vitamin E and the benefit you can get from being a vitamin E rich food but there is not enough information on how it can work towards your goal of losing weight just by consuming the substance.
Losing weight is a complicated process and you can’t achieve it by just drinking or consuming something. The clearest benefit of sunflower oil beside for health or help dealing with some health problem is because it has a high level of monounsaturated fat which is together with polyunsaturated fat are categorized as the healthy fat and have a high smoking point so it can be a good choice for cooking as opposed of using the regular vegetable oil.
Eating healthy fat can benefit your health but it still have to be limited not to exceeding 30% of your daily intake. Different from carbs, fat rich food especially the healthy ones can help you feel full longer because they are longer to break than carbs rich foods.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Safflower oil with Sunflower oil. As you may already know, both of these oils have so many benefit to our body but in term of losing weight, they are not that effective unless consumed in a moderate amount and combined with a healthy diet as well as exercising routinely. The prominent difference between them will be on the type of healthy fat because Safflower oil is high in polyunsaturated fat while Sunflower is high in monounsaturated fat.
Safflower Oil vs Sunflower Oil
| Safflower Oil | Sunflower Oil |
|---|---|
| - High in polyunsaturated fat | - High in monounsaturated fat |
| - Popular to be consumed directly for the CLA | - Popular as cooking oil |
| - Slightly lower in Vitamin E | - Higher Vitamin E |
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make. In our opinion, both of them are a good option to replace vegetable oil but not an effective way to reduce weight. Since both has linoleic acid, they can be made into CLA supplement that marketed for losing weight but the lack of prove about the effectiveness is a sign that you may want to choose those other natural help with a solid research base.