"Soybean Oil Health Insights: Benefits, Myths & Expert Advice"

About the experts

• Sandra Zhang, MS, RDN, LDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and pediatric dietitian at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center. She specializes in treating weight management, hyperlipidemia, prediabetes, nutrient deficiencies, gastrointestinal conditions, and enteral nutrition.
• Kristen Smith, MS, RD, LD, is a registered dietitian based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she’s the manager of bariatric surgery at Piedmont Healthcare. She’s also a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and author of The 5-Ingredient Family Cookbook.
• Julie Stefanski, MEd, RD, LDN, FAND, is a registered dietitian based in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She previously served as a pediatric dietitian and adjunct professor in the nursing department at York College.

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Highlights

• Soybean oil can be part of a healthy diet in moderation.
• Critics call soybean oil toxic, but experts say American dietary patterns—not soybean oil—are at the root of their concerns.
• Research supports that soybean oil may have health benefits, including heart-protective effects.
• However, experts say that soybean oil shouldn’t be your only source of fat.

Is soybean oil bad for you? Almost 30% of Americans say that they actively avoid seed oils, which include soybean oil, according to a 2025 report from the International Food Information Council. But the report highlights that there’s clear consumer confusion around seed oils, largely based on information from friends and family and social media—sources not necessarily backed by nutrition science.

For instance, vocal critics—from the U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to wellness influencers—refer to seed oils, such as soybean, canola, and corn oil, as “The Hateful Eight,” claiming these oils are toxic and driving chronic disease. But a 2024 study published in Communications Earth & Environment found that there’s a sharp contrast between online discussions and scientific evidence when it comes to these commonly used cooking oils.

What is soybean oil?

Do you have a bottle of vegetable oil in your pantry? Though many of the bottles feature colorful vegetables on the label, the main ingredient in most vegetable oils is actually just one vegetable—soybeans.

In fact, soybean oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the U.S. food system, says Sandra Zhang, MS, RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and pediatric dietitian at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center. Besides straight-up soybean oil, the gluten-free oil is in products like salad dressings, cookies, potato chips, baked goods, and granola bars, just to name a few.

So what’s the supposed problem with soybean oil? Critics point to its high omega-6 fatty acid content. “There is limited research that suggests inflammatory properties of omega-6 in animal models,” Zhang explains. But the American Heart Association (AHA) dubs this negative buzz as misleading, supporting the inclusion of omega-6s as part of a healthy diet.

But as we can’t stroll down a grocery aisle without seeing soybean oil on the label, nutritionists break down fact from fiction when it comes to this extremely common ingredient.

How is soybean oil made?

With soybean oil as an ingredient in so many packaged foods, it’s no wonder soybeans are the second-largest crop grown on U.S. soil, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But how do soybeans turn into oil?

Soybeans grow in pods. The pod is green and usually filled with three green soybeans. Soybeans are ready for harvest when the pod dries out and turns brown. The tiny soybeans inside make a rattling noise when shaken, explains Alberta Pulse Growers.

After harvesting the soybeans, the processing begins. According to U.S. Soy, soybeans go through a cleaning and drying process; then, they’re cracked and de-hulled. The cracked beans are heated up and rolled into flakes.

A solvent wash removes the oil from the flakes as they move through the extractor. Once refined, bleached, and de...

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