Hello and welcome to my book on: Edible Oils, Inflammation, and Diabetes. I hope you enjoy and find it useful.
Edible Oils. So many, I will touch on 14 of the most commonly consumed and used oils. The characteristics of oils such as olive oil, peanut, sesame, and safflower oil will be documented and whether the oil is prone to create inflammation in the body.
Inflammation is a normal and important process that occurs in response to illness, injury, or harmful agents in the body. It involves immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators, and serves to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out damaged cells and tissues, and initiate tissue repair. However, in some diseases like arthritis, inflammation can occur even when there are no invaders to fight.
Inflammation in the body passes goes through phases; first it becomes acute, and then chronic if the cause is not removed. Type 2 diabetes and inflammation are linked. In this book, we will look at inflammatory chemicals called cytokines that link obesity, a risk factor for diabetes and diabetes itself.
Certain edible oils can increase obesity and inflammation-related conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes by increasing calories through addition to food as well as being used in food preparation. Even when we consider additives in bread, such as oil and sugar, the terms may not translate into what we first think. Oil can be extra-virgin olive oil, almond oil, sesame oil and hazelnut oil. These oils will add flavour to the bread. But oil in baking can also include – canola, coconut, sunflower, and peanut oil.
Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy food and being physically active. According to the National Diabetes Prevention Program, behaviour changes have been shown to help people with prediabetes lose 5% – 7% of their body weight and reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% (71% for people older than age 60). Researchers examined the prevalence and excess risk of Type 2 diabetes associated with obesity.[1]
It is important for us to understand how the edible oils we consume are produced, whether it is cold or hot-pressed, or solvents such as hexane are used or the oil is used to prepare or be included in our food and whether it causes inflammation, is neutral or anti-inflammatory.
Inactivity and obesity increase the risk for diabetes, but exactly how is unclear. Recent research suggests that inflammation inside the body plays a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.[2]
[1] Journal of the American Heart Association Report, “Obesity Contributes to up to Half of New Diabetes Cases Annually in the United States,” (2021).
[2] M.D. Matthew Hoffman, “Diabetes and Inflammation,” (2025).
