Know2eat

Safflower oil

Carthamus tinctorius

What safflower oil has been studied for

2 associations assessed — none with dependable human evidence behind them yet. Strongest first.

  • 2 Insufficient
3 things to know first — allergies, interactions and intake limits

About safflower oil

Oil from safflower seed. Like sunflower it exists in two bred forms, and the high-oleic type described by this record has become the primary safflower oil of commerce — it is one of the most monounsaturated oils sold, well above olive oil in oleic acid share.

Also known as High-oleic safflower oil, Carthamus oil

Heart HealthWeight Management

The evidence in depth

Best supported: Insufficient

What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Blood lipid profile

Heart Health
Insufficient evidence

Some trials report improved LDL cholesterol when safflower oil replaces saturated fat, and small trials in people with type 2 diabetes have compared high-oleic safflower oil against other fats with mixed lipid results. The trial base is smaller and less consistent than for canola or soybean oil.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

No source is attached to this association yet, so it is rated insufficient by default. It is listed because people commonly ask about it — not because there is evidence for it.

Body composition

Weight Management
Insufficient evidence

Evidence is limited, and this claim mostly rests on a small number of trials in postmenopausal women with diabetes that reported changes in trunk fat. The findings have not been replicated at scale, and the popular version of this claim usually confuses the oil with conjugated linoleic acid supplements derived from it.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

1 source

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Safflower oil

Ask about Safflower oil

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories884 kcal44%
Protein0 g0%
Total fat100 g128%
Carbohydrate0 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Total sugars0 g—
Water0 g—
Fats
Saturated fat7.54 g38%
Monounsaturated fat75.2 g—
Polyunsaturated fat12.8 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
ALA (omega-3)0.096 g—
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)12.7 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A0 µg0%
Vitamin C0 mg0%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E34.1 mg227%
Vitamin K7.1 µg6%
Thiamin (B1)0 mg0%
Riboflavin (B2)0 mg0%
Niacin (B3)0 mg0%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0 mg0%
Vitamin B60 mg0%
Folate0 µg0%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline0.2 mg0%
Minerals
Calcium0 mg0%
Iron0 mg0%
Magnesium0 mg0%
Phosphorus0 mg0%
Potassium0 mg0%
Sodium0 mg0%
Zinc0 mg0%
Copper0 mg0%
Manganese0 mg0%
Selenium0 µg0%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene0 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin0 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash0 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Oil, safflower, salad or cooking, high oleic (primary safflower oil of commerce) (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 171027).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

Nothing dependable is recorded about how preparation changes this food’s nutritional properties. Rather than guess, this section stays empty.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    High-oleic and high-linoleic are different products

    Older nutrition writing about safflower oil usually describes the high-linoleic type. The high-oleic type named in this record has a substantially different fatty-acid profile and heat behaviour, and labels rarely distinguish them clearly.

  • Worth knowing

    Not the same as CLA supplements

    Conjugated linoleic acid supplements are commonly manufactured from safflower oil, and the marketing blurs the two. Safflower oil itself contains negligible conjugated linoleic acid, and the body-composition trials on CLA used the isomerised supplement, not the oil.

  • Too much

    Energy density

    Pure fat, at the same energy per tablespoon as every other oil.