Soybean Oil Obesity Link Tied to Liver Protein, Not the Oil Alone

A UC Riverside study in mice linked high-linoleic-acid soybean oil to obesity via liver protein HNF4α and its effect on fat metabolism and oxylipin production; normal mice on a soybean-oil diet gained weight, while mice engineered to express a different form of the liver protein did not, suggesting a gene–diet interaction. Interestingly, mice on a low-fat diet had oxylipin levels similar to the obese soybean-oil group, implying fat-processing pathways drive risk rather than the oil itself. Human trials are not planned yet.