Blog

Is Palm Oil Healthy?

Palm oil offers a unique, heart-healthy 50-50 blend of saturated and unsaturated fat. Plus, it’s loaded with nutrients, such as vitamin E tocotrienols. These antioxidants are up to 60 times more potent than tocopherols, the more common vitamin E form.

    Scientists have debunked the theory that saturated fat consumption is linked to heart disease. Nutritionists now consider saturated fat consumption part of a healthy diet. Natural saturated fat-containing foods such as nuts, avocados, fatty fish and palm oil should not be avoided.

   In fact, a groundbreaking new study coming out of Malaysia has found that restricting carbs may have a greater benefit to heart health than restricting total fat consumption. The study, “A Cross-Sectional Study on the Dietary Pattern Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Biomarkers in Malaysia”, examined how diet patterns, lifestyle, genetics, age and socioeconomic factors affect heart disease risk.

    Senior author Dr. Kalyana Sundram states: “Our study found that higher proportions of carbohydrates in the diet tend to be associated with elevated levels of multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors including dyslipidemia (defined as high triglycerides, elevated total or bad LDL cholesterol or low levels of the good HDL cholesterol), high blood pressure and plaque-promoting small LDL cholesterol particles,”. He added that, “Higher proportions of dietary fat intake were not associated with elevating these risk factors.”

    The balance of saturated and unsaturated fat that Malaysian palm oil has, is not the only health benefit that it has. These are the other benefits of Malaysian palm oil:

  • Red palm fruit oil has more carotene than tomatoes or carrots.
  • Palm oil has more vitamin E than any other vegetable oil.
  • Red palm oil is a solid fat, so does not have to undergo unhealthy hydrogenation. Hydrogenation of oils produces trans fatty acids, which have been implicated in numerous diseases including breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease. 
  • Vitamin E tocotrienols derived from red palm oil have been shown to reduce neurological damage due to stroke. 
  • The vitamin E tocotrienols in red palm oil support the brain’s white matter health. 
  • Red palm oil has a neutral effect on cholesterol. Its effects on blood cholesterol levels are similar to olive oil, and better than common cooking oil blends.
  • The carotenes in red palm oil may help protect your skin against UV damage. It’s like sunscreen from the inside out.

You can reach the above mentioned study from this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49911-6.epdf?author_access_token=SsCCfZ4ts0pyF1wYL2v6f9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NdSGfDhExA-Nw1hb6der5WdlyC9jVtRdhBhj7Ckj4V2B_nka2zwmL4vA4UiHZdtHJgWIiqEwRUC3Q9agkAUFeOIge9xhKuVCUFSWrmDaDa6Q%3D%3D

Credit: https://www.palmoilhealth.org/nutrition/is-palm-oil-healthy/

Share this post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *