Canola oil could help reduce abdominal fat after just four weeks, if included in a healthy diet, according to new research presented at The Obesity Society's Annual Scientific Meeting on Nov. 2.

Based on this study, the monounsaturated fats in canola oil are responsible for weight loss, as they decrease fats that have adverse health effects.

The research suggests that, after no more than a month of including canola oil in the diet, the participants had 0.11 kg, or a quarter pound, less belly fat than before the diet, on average. Consequently, weight loss from the midsection was not just distributed somewhere else in the body — it actually disappeared.

The monounsaturated fatty acids were shown to have positive effects on body composition. The discovery may be crucial to people who suffer from obesity. Participants lost abdominal fat as a result of the conventional canola oil or high-oleic acid canola.

The research methodology consisted of testing the effects of canola oil on five distinct vegetable blends, among the 101 participants to the study. The subjects were randomly given treatment oil diets, for a number of four weeks. The subjects were assigned to the diets randomly. The types of treatments employed by the research were conventional canola, high-oleic acid canola, corn/safflower and flax/safflower and high-oleic acid canola with DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid).

The study involved consuming two different smoothies every day, each of them containing distinct treatment oils. The quantity was previously calculated based on the energy needs of the participants. For instance, for a 3,000-calorie diet, the necessary energy will be bottled in a 60grams of treatment oil per day of the research, satisfying roughly 18 percent of the energy needs of that patient for the entire day.

"Visceral, or abdominal, fat increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, and is also associated with increased risk for conditions such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes," noted Penny M. Kris-Etherton, professor of nutrition, Penn State.

The study is consistent with previous researches proving that a fat diet could actually benefit the body, provided it is used with caution and intelligently included in a patient's day to day needs. For instance, the Mediterranean diet was found to be both healthy and responsible for a longer life, according to a research.

Moreover, according to the FDA, it is recommended to include canola oil in the diets, as it helps with heart health and was found to be helpful against coronary heart disease.