Palm Oil: Better Than Trans Fat?

by Jacki Donaldson (Subscribe to Jacki Donaldson's posts)
Oct 1st 2009 10:00AM

Make it your mission to read (and understand) food labels.
Photo: Getty Images

Partially hydrogenated oil is a diet no-no. And many companies are replacing this trans fat with palm oil. They say it's a healthier option. But is it? Not exactly, says FitSugar.

On food labels, you might see this ingredient listed as palm-fruit oil (from the fruit of the palm tree) or kernel oil (from the palm seed inside the fruit). Palm kernel oil is the worst of the two, with 86-percent saturated fat (50 percent of the fat in palm-fruit oil is saturated), but FitSugar says both of these oils should be limited. To protect your arteries and heart, look for foods made with canola or olive oils instead.

Another reason to stray from palm oil: Production of the stuff is leading to deforestation, which is driving orangutans toward extinction.

There's also coconut oil -- but is it any better for your body?

Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris 10-01-2009 @ 6:38PM

Red Virgin Palm Oil, or Palm Fruit Oil as you called it, is one of the healthiest oils in nature. It has an incredible amount of beta carotene and vitamin E (in obviously their most natural forms too) including other less known antioxidants such as squalene.

I don't want to go on about how inane it is to state that you think saturated fat is bad for you, it's already been proven so many times over in the past 5 years that it's the only type of oil you should cook with (it doesn't change molecular shape when you heat it, thus not carcinogenic in the long run). In fact, this blog has published quite a few posts that indicate oil like coconut oil (nearly all saturated) are wonderful for people.

The world would be a much healthier place if the manufacturers reverted back to Palm Fruit (or Kernel) oil.

From the Weston Price foundation:
http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html#benefits

(please also stop recommending canola, it's a man made oil. Just stick to Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the unsaturated oils)

kayOP 10-02-2009 @ 4:33AM

Very well said Chris.. Palm oil is indeed scientifically proven to be a very versatile and healthy oil. It has no cholesterol and contains extremely high antioxidants and almost 30times more carotene than carrots.

Here's an article by Chef Rachel Matesz on the oils we should use and also a simple experiment we could try at home to see some vegetable oil turn into plastic...
http://www.palmoilconsumer.com/Palm-Oil-And-Health/Good-Vegetable-Oils.aspx

Another concern is of transfat... All vegetable oils will be considered to include transfat ONLY IF they'd gone through the process of hydrogenation to make the oil solid/semi-solid. The good thing about palm kernel oil is that it is naturally semi-solid at room temperature, so the hydrogenation process is simply unnecessary!

And now the big issue is our environment! Here's something to consider: Corn yields only 172 litres of oil/hectare, Soy- 446 litres of oil/hectare, Rapeseed (also in the name of Canola)- 1190 litres of oil/hectare. While Palm oil produces 5950 litres of oil/hectare.

By choosing corn oil (one of the lowest oil producing crop/hectare)for instance, we are encouraging more lands to be cleared for the crop. You find residents in South America living in fear as 10-foot Anacondas find their way to the city after their habitat’s been destroyed for corn, soy and cattle: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23580894/

and recently, the news of a newly discovered Montauk Monster in Panama:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/panama/6201333/New-Montauk-Monster-spotted-in-Panama.html

Are we choosing to boycott palm oil because of the cute cuddly orang utans? What about creatures in the Amazon who go extinct even before we’ve discovered them? And Anacondas... are they too ugly and vicious to be cared for?

I think as consumers, it’s important to know these facts, and for whatever oil you choose at the end, it's important to ensure it’s from a sustainable source.

This site contains about all the things you need to know about Palm oil:
http://www.palmoilconsumer.com/Blogs/Palm-Oil-Consumer-Blog.aspx

Larry 10-06-2009 @ 11:29PM

The value of red palm oil in ones daily diet is instrumental in fighting simple things like colds/flu and protecting against major issues like cancer. I have been very impressed with amount of research now available to show is large list of benefits which includes increased energy level. The recommended dosage is one tablespoon a day.

I have been purchasing red palm oil for awhile and found that the best red palm oil available is Rainforest Red Palm Oil. It is not in stores but it can be bought at www.rainforestredpalmoil.com

This oil is certified organic, produced from sustainable agriculture and is fair trade. One thing I really love about this oil is that it is highest quality red palm oil which you find coming from West Africa. They have recorded some of the highest content of vitamin A in nature per serving, vitamin E, and has the superantioxidants, tococtrienol and tocopherols.