Safflower is a surprisingly versatile plant. Its oil is one of the richest natural sources of linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated fat that supports heart health, skin repair, and blood sugar regulation. The seeds yield two types of cooking oil, the petals contain anti-inflammatory compounds, and both have practical uses worth knowing about.
Heart Health and Cholesterol
Safflower oil’s standout feature is its linoleic acid content, which typically makes up 68 to 83% of the oil’s fatty acid profile. This polyunsaturated fat helps lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol when it replaces saturated fats in your diet. In clinical trials, adding safflower oil to a very-low-fat diet kept LDL cholesterol 13 to 14% lower than baseline levels, similar to the effects seen with olive oil in the same study.
There’s an important caveat: the same dietary patterns that lowered LDL also reduced HDL (“good”) cholesterol by 20 to 25%. This is a common trade-off with very-low-fat diets rather than something unique to safflower oil. Using safflower oil as a replacement for butter or other saturated fats, rather than adding it on top of an already fatty diet, is how most people get the cholesterol benefit.
Blood Sugar and Insulin Sensitivity
For people managing type 2 diabetes, safflower oil shows meaningful effects on blood sugar control. In a randomized trial of obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, daily safflower oil supplementation lowered HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar over two to three months) by 0.64 percentage points. It also improved insulin sensitivity and reduced C-reactive protein, a marker of chronic inflammation. These changes took about 16 weeks to appear, so this isn’t a quick fix.
The same study found that safflower oil raised HDL cholesterol and increased adiponectin, a hormone that helps your body use insulin more effectively. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which was tested alongside safflower oil in the same trial, did not produce these metabolic improvements.
Skin Barrier Repair
Safflower oil is roughly 70% linoleic acid, and linoleic acid plays a direct role in maintaining your skin’s water barrier. When applied topically, it stimulates the growth of skin cells and boosts lipid production in the outer layer of skin, which helps seal in moisture and keep irritants out. A deficiency in linoleic acid causes dry, scaly, itchy skin similar to eczema in animal models.
When safflower oil is applied to skin, it changes the fatty acid profile of the outer skin layer in ways that promote anti-inflammatory molecule production. The oil also contains flavonoids like luteolin, which reduce inflammation at very low concentrations. This makes safflower oil a reasonable option for dry or irritated skin, though it’s lighter and absorbs faster than thicker oils like coconut or castor oil.
Abdominal Fat Reduction
Safflower oil’s effect on weight is nuanced. Animal research shows it doesn’t reduce overall body weight, but it does reduce abdominal fat specifically, at least when combined with exercise. Rats on a high-fat diet that received safflower oil while undergoing swimming training had significantly less abdominal fat than those on the same diet without the oil, even though both groups weighed about the same. Blood glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol weren’t affected.
This pattern, losing belly fat without losing weight, suggests safflower oil may influence where your body stores fat rather than how much total fat you carry. The effect appears to depend on being physically active, so it’s not a passive supplement.
Two Types of Safflower Oil
Safflower plants have been bred into two distinct varieties, and the oils they produce behave differently in the kitchen. High-linoleic safflower oil (the traditional type) contains 68 to 83% linoleic acid and is best used in dressings, dips, and low-heat cooking. Unrefined, it has a smoke point of just 225°F (107°C), which means it breaks down quickly over heat.
High-oleic safflower oil is rich in monounsaturated fat instead and contains more antioxidants. Refined high-oleic safflower oil has a smoke point of 510°F (266°C), one of the highest of any cooking oil. That makes it excellent for frying, roasting, and searing. It has a neutral flavor that won’t compete with other ingredients. If you’re buying safflower oil for cooking at high temperatures, check the label for “high-oleic” or “refined.”
Safflower Petals
The flowers of the safflower plant are used in traditional medicine across Asia and contain their own set of active compounds. The yellow pigment in the petals makes up 24 to 30% of the flower’s composition, while the petals also contain a compound called hydroxysafflor yellow A, which has demonstrated antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Safflower petals are commonly brewed into tea or used as a food coloring, sometimes marketed as a saffron substitute (though the flavor is different).
Who Should Be Cautious
Safflower has blood-thinning properties. In animal studies, safflower extract significantly increased the anticoagulant effect of warfarin by boosting both the drug’s activity and the amount that stays in the bloodstream. If you take blood-thinning medications, safflower supplements or concentrated extracts could amplify their effects and raise your bleeding risk. Safflower oil used in normal cooking quantities is less concentrated, but it’s still worth flagging for anyone on anticoagulants.
Safflower flower supplements are also traditionally avoided during pregnancy because of their potential to stimulate uterine contractions. People with allergies to plants in the daisy family (ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds) may also react to safflower.