This article has been Fact-Checked by Kendall Kennedy MS, RD, RYT
There are many “weight loss oils” that don’t actually do much. What about black currant seed oil, does it help weight loss and if so, how?
There are many people that like to attribute an endless amount of benefits to certain berries like black currants and the oil you can get out of its seeds.
These claims are not always justified. Discover if black currant seed oil can actually offer weight loss and health benefits.
What is black currant seed oil?
The black currant is a woody shrub mainly popular for the berries that grow on it. You can find it both in the wild and commercially cultivated in areas in northern Europe, northern Asia and New Zealand.
The berries from this bush are relatively high in vitamin C and polyphenols (1).
Black currant seed oil is literally oil extracted from the seeds of these berries. Edible oils from plants, in this case the black currant seeds, are made pressing out the oil or by the use of chemicals.
In general, pressing is the healthiest way to make black seed oil. You can find how an individual brand of oil is made by reading the packaging. If it doesn’t mention anything about the way the oil is extracted it is likely not pressed out.
The main promising substance in black currant seed oil is gamma linolenic acid. This is an omega-6 fatty acid that can possibly offer some health benefits. More research on this substance is need before any big claims can be made.
Is black seed oil and black currant oil the same?
Black currant seed oil is not the only seed oil out there. There is also black seed oil which is a different oil from a different plant with a similar name.
Black seed oil can possibly help your weight loss a small amount. There is not enough information available to make any airtight claims about it.
Can black currant seed oil help you lose weight?
The main problem with talking about the impact black currant seed oil has on weight loss is that there is almost no research on the subject.
There is a small study that found that black currant oil was better at promoting lipid metabolism than rapeseed oil in rats on a normal calorie diet. This difference wasn’t found in the rats that got a high calorie diet (2).
Another study took 50 formerly obese humans. They gave one group an oil, borage oil, high in gamma linolenic acid and the other group the same amount in olive oil. This study found that the people who took the oil high in gamma linoleic acid regained less weight (3). You can’t really conclude with this that black currant seed oil will do the same.
In short, there is not enough evidence right now to believe that black currant seed oil will help you lose weight. Your time and money is better spent on other weight loss habits.
Does black currant seed oil make you lose weight?
The amount of research on black currant seed oil and the substances in it is far from complete. It is too early to tell if it will offer any weight loss or health benefits.
When this is the case you just want to ignore the food for now. There are plenty of habits and foods that can get you real health and weight improvements for small amounts of effort.
