Cooking Oils Linked to Increase Risk of Lazy Behavior and Diabetes

A new study from the University of British Columbia revealed that the types of cooking oil people consume could negatively affect their sedentary or lazy behavior, leading to increase risk of illnesses such as diabetes.

The study, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that consuming high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) can increase lazy behavior, especially among women.

"Our study does present new evidence that dietary PUFA is strongly associated with sedentary behavior among pre-teen girls and weakly associated with diabetes among adult women across Europe," said Sanjoy Ghosh, a Michael Smith Health Research Foundation Scholar and a professor at UBC's Okanagan campus, in a press release.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the country-specific, cross-sectional data on sedentary activity and diabetes prevalence from European Cardiovascular Statistics 2012. The data came from 21 countries in Europe. Taking into account socioeconomic, physical environment (urbanization index) and climatic confounders for each country, the researchers found a strong connection between consumption of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and an increase in sedentary behavior.

"Nobody has made this connection and it's time for an intervention. And if someone is beginning an exercise program without taking a close look at the fats, especially PUFA they are consuming, or changing what they're eating, then it might be doomed to failure," Ghosh said.

With the result of their study, the researchers noted that consuming high PUFA, and not monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), can increase the risk of lazy behavior. The link between sedentary behavior and high PUFA diet is more apparent in 11-year-old girls.

The researchers noted that MUFAs and PUFAs are very common in foods found in convenience stores. Essentially, all fats in "convenience" foods like potato chips, energy bars, crackers or burgers use cooking oils like corn, sunflower, soybean and margarine. These kinds of oils are known to contain high amounts of MUFAs and PUFAs.