Drug & supplement interaction

Canola Oil + Lovastatin

Lovastatin brand names: Mevacor, Altocor.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated June 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Canola Oil and Lovastatin in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the label for Lovastatin states a food rule worth keeping to.

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Interaction report

Canola Oil and Lovastatin

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Lovastatin and Canola Oil in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

Worth understanding: our licensed dataset holds no drug-interaction record for Canola Oil at all — not against Lovastatin, and not against any other medication we track. This verdict therefore rests on the absence of any recorded data, not on research that looked at this combination and found nothing. We cannot rule an interaction out.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Canola Oil safety at a glance

Canola Oil overall Generally safe Canola oil is widely consumed as food and is generally considered safe in normal dietary amounts.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When used orally in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of using canola oil in medicinal amou... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When used orally in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of using canola oil in medicinal amou... Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Lovastatin and Canola Oil? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
What to actually watch for

What Lovastatin’s Own FDA Label Lists

This is not an interaction — none of it involves Canola Oil. These are the most notable effects listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of Lovastatin’s own FDA label, for the medication by itself. Knowing the drug’s own list makes it easier to work out the likely cause if something new turns up while you take both. 10 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • A change in thyroid levels Worth acting on
  • Severe muscle breakdown Worth acting on
  • Muscle weakness Worth acting on
  • Memory problems Worth acting on
  • Pancreatitis Worth acting on
  • Yellowing of the skin or eyes Worth acting on
  • Confusion Worth acting on
  • A severe skin reaction Worth acting on
  • Shortness of breath Worth acting on mentioned in 4.8% of FDA reports for Lovastatin
  • Chest pain Worth acting on

Showing the 10 most notable of 50 label-listed effects — ranked by how unusual each one is across medicines generally, with serious effects weighted up.

From the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin. Read the label on DailyMed › Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 25,528 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Lovastatin that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Canola Oil’s licensed record lists no adverse effects our clinical vocabulary could match, so there is no Canola Oil side to compare — that is a limit of the record, not a statement that Canola Oil has no side effects.

Special populations

Canola Oil in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When used orally in amounts commonly found in foods. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of using canola oil in medicinal amounts during pregnancy or lactation. Consuming canola oil, a source of alpha-linolenic acid, increases levels of this fatty acid in breast milk. While alpha-linolenic acid is likely safe during pregnancy and lactation when used in amounts typically found in food, it is unknown if it is safe in amounts exceeding those typically found in foods; avoid using.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

How to take them

Some Lovastatin Products Have a Food Rule — Canola Oil Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Canola Oil on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Lovastatin products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

Lovastatin tablets USP should be given with meals.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Lovastatin — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

Overlapping uses

What Lovastatin Is Prescribed For, and What Canola Oil Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Lovastatin is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Canola Oil is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Lovastatin is prescribed for: Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease. In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Canola Oil has been studied for:

  • Familial hypercholesterolemia studied, not established Canola Oil has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Canola Oil for familial hypercholesterolemia

    A small clinical trial shows that using canola oil in place of all visible fat, at levels of 14-27 grams daily as part of a low-fat diet, for 13 weeks reduces levels of LDL cholesterol by 12.7% compared with baseline in children 6 years and up with familiar hypercholesterolemia. However, canola oil is no more effective than the same amount of sunflower oil.

    1 source cited
    1. 98586. Negele L, Schneider B, Ristl R, et al. Effect of a low-fat diet enriched either with rapeseed oil or sunflower oil on plasma lipoproteins in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Results of a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2015;69(3 PubMed

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Lovastatin on your own; if you are taking Canola Oil for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

From our Q&A

Questions About Canola Oil or Lovastatin

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Canola Oil or Lovastatin, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Lovastatin

This page covers Canola Oil only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Lovastatin page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Apple (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major) and Siberian Cocklebur (major).

By severity: 8 major · 140 moderate · 36 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Lovastatin page

“Lovastatin (Mevacor) lowers cholesterol, and the liver clears it through an enzyme called CYP3A4, which is where most of these 184 supplements collide with it. This list deserves careful attention.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Lovastatin interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Canola Oil as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 33 real supplement products containing Canola Oil, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Canola Oil. Even though Canola Oil itself has no known interaction with Lovastatin, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Canola Oil and Lovastatin Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Canola Oil
Steady interest

#1,305 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Lovastatin
Steady interest

#1,459 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Canola Oil reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Canola Oil and Lovastatin records this page draws on were last updated June 22, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Canola Oil

What is Canola Oil?

  • Heart health and cholesterol support
  • Cooking and food preparation
  • Source of unsaturated fats and omega-3 (ALA)
  • Skin moisturizing (topical, traditional)

Canola oil is a common cooking oil pressed from the seeds of the canola plant, a type of rapeseed bred to be low in erucic acid. It is low in saturated fat and contains heart-friendly unsaturated fats, and replacing saturated fats with it may support healthy cholesterol. For most people it is safe as a food, but it is not a proven treatment for any disease.

Brassica napus · Brassicaceae · Seeds (oil pressed from the seeds) · Cooking oil, salad dressings, margarine, capsules (less common), and an ingredient in many processed foods

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Canola Oil is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Canola Oil record says about it on its own.

Canola Oil: dosing

There is no official medicinal dose for canola oil. As a food, it is simply used in cooking, baking, and salad dressings in normal recipe amounts. More is not better, since extra oil mainly adds calories.

From our Canola Oil monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Canola Oil monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Lovastatin

What Is Lovastatin Used For?

Brand names: Mevacor, Altocor

Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease.

In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Lovastatin

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (25,528 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 1,535 reports
Nausea 1,401 reports
Diarrhea 1,275 reports
Dyspnea 1,226 reports
Dizziness 1,159 reports
See full Lovastatin drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Canola Oil

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Canola Oil — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
0Moderate
0Minor
2,829No known interaction
2,829 No interaction
No interaction 2,829 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Canola Oil against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,829 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Canola Oil list.

See the full Canola Oil interactions page
See every supplement checked against Lovastatin, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Canola Oil References

The 16 references that drive our Canola Oil monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Crawford M, Galli C, Visioli F, et al. Role of Plant-Derived Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition. Ann Nutr Metab 2000;44:263-5. PubMed
  2. Connor WE. Alpha-linolenic acid in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69:827-8. PubMed
  3. Gibson RA, Makrides M. n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid requirements of term infants. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71:251S-5S. PubMed
  4. Jones PJ, Senanayake VK, Pu S, Jenkins DJ, Connelly PW, Lamarche B, Couture P, Charest A, Baril-Gravel L, West SG, Liu X, Fleming JA, McCrea CE, Kris-Etherton PM. DHA-enriched high-oleic acid canola oil improves lipid profile and lowers predicted cardiova
  5. https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/. Accessed January 25, 2019.
  6. FDA completes review of qualified health claim petition for oleic acid and the risk of coronary heart disease. November 2018. Available at: www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm624758.htm. Accessed January 25, 2019.
  7. Liu X, Kris-Etherton PM, West SG, et al. Effects of canola and high-oleic-acid canola oils on abdominal fat mass in individuals with central obesity. Obesity. 2016;24(11):2261-2268. PubMed
  8. Kruse M, von Loeffelholz C, Hoffmann D, et al. Dietary rapeseed/canola-oil supplementation reduces serum lipids and liver enzymes and alters postprandial inflammatory responses in adipose tissue compared to olive-oil supplementation in obese men. Mol Nutr PubMed
  9. Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Vuksan V, et al. Effect of lowering the glycemic load with canola oil on glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2014;37(7):1806-14. PubMed
  10. Nigam P, Bhatt S, Misra A, et al. Effect of a 6-month intervention with cooking oils containing a high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids (olive and canola oils) compared with control oil in male Asian Indians with nonalcoholic fatty liver disea
  11. Palomäki A, Pohjantähti-Maaroos H, Wallenius M, et al. Effects of dietary cold-pressed turnip rapeseed oil and butter on serum lipids, oxidized LDL and arterial elasticity in men with metabolic syndrome. Lipids Health Dis. 2010;9:137. PubMed
  12. Francois CA, Connor SL, Wander RC, Connor WE. Acute effects of dietary fatty acids on the fatty acids of human milk. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;67(2):301-8. PubMed
  13. Salar A, Faghih S, Pishdad GR. Rice bran oil and canola oil improve blood lipids compared to sunflower oil in women with type 2 diabetes: A randomized, single-blind, controlled trial. J Clin Lipidol. 2016;10(2):299-305. PubMed
  14. Negele L, Schneider B, Ristl R, et al. Effect of a low-fat diet enriched either with rapeseed oil or sunflower oil on plasma lipoproteins in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Results of a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2015;69(3 PubMed
  15. Atefi M, Pishdad GR, Faghih S. The effects of canola and olive oils on insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress in women with type 2 diabetes: a randomized and controlled trial. J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2018;17(2):85-91. PubMed

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Canola Oil and Lovastatin Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Canola Oil with Lovastatin?
We do not list a known interaction between Canola Oil and Lovastatin. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Should I take Canola Oil and Lovastatin at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Canola Oil on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Lovastatin products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Are Canola Oil and Lovastatin used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Canola Oil in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Lovastatin is being adjusted to a target.
Does Lovastatin interact with any supplements?
Yes. Lovastatin has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Canola Oil is not one of them. The Lovastatin interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Where next

Keep Exploring

Canola Oil monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Lovastatin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Lovastatin supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Lovastatin, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 16 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Lovastatin and Canola Oil?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.