Palm Oils:
What's the Deal?
What's the Deal?
In the last few months I have been plagued with people questioning me about palm oils. They are purported to bring all kinds of health benefits. However, that is just a nice thought without any validity.
Palm oils are consumed in many parts of the world, although it is not popular in the United States. The United States uses mostly soybean oil (a non-saturated form of fat). Palm oils are used because of their availability and their long shelf life. Because palm oils are high in vitamin E and A, the fats do not oxidize as quickly. However, the benefit of these two vitamins does not outweigh the harm that is caused by the saturated fats that comprise palm oil.
Saturated fats are one of the primary culprits in heart disease. Saturated fats actually cause the human liver to synthesize more cholesterol than the norm. Most people do not realize that the liver makes cholesterol on a regular basis. Cholesterol is needed in many bodily functions. But if there is too much cholesterol, the arteries in and around the heart, as well as those that travel to the brain (carotid), can become clogged with fat. A narrowing of the arteries can occur when the fat sticks to the inside of the artery walls. We call it atherosclerosis. It is the number one cause of heart disease, and heart disease is the number one killer of human beings in our country.
The ingestion of saturated fats stimulates the liver to produce more cholesterol. This is in addition to the cholesterol that is consumed in the diet. Blood plasma levels of LDL (low density lipoprotein—also known as bad cholesterol) rise whenever a person consumes saturated fat.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found in most animal fats. It is important to note that palm oil and coconut oil, although they are derived from vegetables sources, are almost totally saturated. It is this property—the artery-clogging fat—that makes palm oil an undesirable choice—not just for cooking but for eating. Here's a sample of one company's literature on the palm oil:
"Red palm oil: Excellent for cooking your favorite recipes that require oil. Use for your cooking needs like baking, frying, etc. Better yet, simply take one tablespoon per day to improve your overall health." (New Safari Group, LLC).
Recommending that a person take a tablespoon a day of palm oil is like recommending a person take a spoonful of lard daily. Not good on the cholesterol level!
The big appeal to the palm oils is the content of vitamin E and A. The vitamin E is the most highly acclaimed between the two. Vitamin E is made of two types of antioxidants. The first is a group called the tocopherols. The second group is called tocotrienols. The tocotrienols are considered a stronger antioxidant than the tocopherols. Antioxidants protect fats from being as readily oxidized.
Almost all plants contain tocotrienols. Rice, wheat germ, oat and barley are all good sources of the tocotrienols besides palm oil. And rice, wheat germ, oat and barley do not come with the highly saturated fat that palm oil does.
Even after all this, people ask me: but what about red palm oil? No difference. It's the same stuff. Coconut oil and palm kernel oil are different—however they are just as bad as the palm (red) oil. If you have ever seen a picture of red palm oil, it will probably make you want to be sick. It is solid at room temperature, as all saturated fats are. It looks like red-raw blubber. It's not the red that worries me—that is just a function of the color of the vitamin A. It's the blubber part that is a concern.
Because palm oil is the second leading oil produced in the world (after soy bean oil), there are other uses that are being found for it. Palm oil can be burnt in diesel engines and do not produce net increases in the green house gases. Therefore, the Malaysian government (Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil) is refocusing the use of palm oil to the production of biodiesel. In fact, the Malaysians have made plans to switch to bio-fuels by the year 2008. They have already drafted legislation to make the switch mandatory.
Palm oil would be a cleaner fuel to burn in engines, and I am not opposed to this type of use of palm oil. It is the artery clogging capacity within the human blood stream that is worrisome. Let the palm oil be used to run machines—not human bodies.
Bottom line is that the appeal of palm oils lies in the vitamin E and A content. Those nutrients are available in many other foods that don't have detrimental effects. I recommend that you don't fall into the current "health pit" by jumping on the palm oil bandwagon.
Palm oils are consumed in many parts of the world, although it is not popular in the United States. The United States uses mostly soybean oil (a non-saturated form of fat). Palm oils are used because of their availability and their long shelf life. Because palm oils are high in vitamin E and A, the fats do not oxidize as quickly. However, the benefit of these two vitamins does not outweigh the harm that is caused by the saturated fats that comprise palm oil.
Saturated fats are one of the primary culprits in heart disease. Saturated fats actually cause the human liver to synthesize more cholesterol than the norm. Most people do not realize that the liver makes cholesterol on a regular basis. Cholesterol is needed in many bodily functions. But if there is too much cholesterol, the arteries in and around the heart, as well as those that travel to the brain (carotid), can become clogged with fat. A narrowing of the arteries can occur when the fat sticks to the inside of the artery walls. We call it atherosclerosis. It is the number one cause of heart disease, and heart disease is the number one killer of human beings in our country.
The ingestion of saturated fats stimulates the liver to produce more cholesterol. This is in addition to the cholesterol that is consumed in the diet. Blood plasma levels of LDL (low density lipoprotein—also known as bad cholesterol) rise whenever a person consumes saturated fat.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found in most animal fats. It is important to note that palm oil and coconut oil, although they are derived from vegetables sources, are almost totally saturated. It is this property—the artery-clogging fat—that makes palm oil an undesirable choice—not just for cooking but for eating. Here's a sample of one company's literature on the palm oil:
"Red palm oil: Excellent for cooking your favorite recipes that require oil. Use for your cooking needs like baking, frying, etc. Better yet, simply take one tablespoon per day to improve your overall health." (New Safari Group, LLC).
Recommending that a person take a tablespoon a day of palm oil is like recommending a person take a spoonful of lard daily. Not good on the cholesterol level!
The big appeal to the palm oils is the content of vitamin E and A. The vitamin E is the most highly acclaimed between the two. Vitamin E is made of two types of antioxidants. The first is a group called the tocopherols. The second group is called tocotrienols. The tocotrienols are considered a stronger antioxidant than the tocopherols. Antioxidants protect fats from being as readily oxidized.
Almost all plants contain tocotrienols. Rice, wheat germ, oat and barley are all good sources of the tocotrienols besides palm oil. And rice, wheat germ, oat and barley do not come with the highly saturated fat that palm oil does.
Even after all this, people ask me: but what about red palm oil? No difference. It's the same stuff. Coconut oil and palm kernel oil are different—however they are just as bad as the palm (red) oil. If you have ever seen a picture of red palm oil, it will probably make you want to be sick. It is solid at room temperature, as all saturated fats are. It looks like red-raw blubber. It's not the red that worries me—that is just a function of the color of the vitamin A. It's the blubber part that is a concern.
Because palm oil is the second leading oil produced in the world (after soy bean oil), there are other uses that are being found for it. Palm oil can be burnt in diesel engines and do not produce net increases in the green house gases. Therefore, the Malaysian government (Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil) is refocusing the use of palm oil to the production of biodiesel. In fact, the Malaysians have made plans to switch to bio-fuels by the year 2008. They have already drafted legislation to make the switch mandatory.
Palm oil would be a cleaner fuel to burn in engines, and I am not opposed to this type of use of palm oil. It is the artery clogging capacity within the human blood stream that is worrisome. Let the palm oil be used to run machines—not human bodies.
Bottom line is that the appeal of palm oils lies in the vitamin E and A content. Those nutrients are available in many other foods that don't have detrimental effects. I recommend that you don't fall into the current "health pit" by jumping on the palm oil bandwagon.