Palm oil

Global palm oil consumption continues to increase. However, it should not be forgotten that palm oil is a highly controversial food. On the one hand, palm oil appears to have some health benefits, but on the other hand, it could also pose health risks. In addition, there are environmental concerns associated with the steady increase in production. Palm oil is used to prevent brain diseases, vitamin A deficiency and symptoms of aging, as well as to treat malaria, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and cyanide poisoning. Palm oil is also used to aid weight loss and increase metabolic rate. This article will take a closer look at palm oil, its impact on health and the environment, and its sustainability.

What is palm oil?

Palm oil is made from the fresh fruit of the oil palm. Unrefined palm oil is sometimes referred to as red palm oil due to its reddish-orange color. The main source of palm oil is the Elaeis guineensis palm, which is native to West and Southwest Africa. The use of the palm fruit in this region goes back more than 5,000 years. A similar oil palm, known as Elais oleifera, grows in South America but is rarely cultivated commercially. However, a hybrid of these two palm species is sometimes used for oil production.

In recent years, the cultivation of oil palms has expanded to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Indonesia. These two countries currently produce more than 80% of the world's palm oil (1). Similar to coconut oil, palm oil is also semi-solid at room temperature, although its melting point of 35 degrees Celsius is significantly higher than the melting point of coconut oil (24 degrees Celsius). This is due to the different fatty acid composition of the two oils. Palm oil is one of the world's cheapest and most popular oils, accounting for around a third of global vegetable oil production (1). It is important to note that palm oil should not be confused with palm kernel oil. Although both oils come from the same plant, palm kernel oil is extracted from the seeds of the fruit and provides different health benefits.

Summary: Palm oil comes from palm trees native to Africa and has been consumed there for thousands of years. It is a semi-solid oil at room temperature and differs from palm kernel oil in terms of its nutritional composition.

What is palm oil used for?

Palm oil is used for cooking and is an ingredient in many ready-to-eat foods that you can find in any supermarket.

Palm oil has a hearty, earthy flavor that many describe as reminiscent of carrot or pumpkin. This oil is one of the basic ingredients in West African and tropical cuisine and is well suited to curries and other spicy dishes. Palm oil is often used for sautéing and frying as it has a high smoke point (232 degrees Celsius) and remains stable even at high heat (2). Palm oil is sometimes added as a stabilizer to peanut butter and other nut butters to prevent the oil from separating from the butter and settling on top.

In addition to this, palm oil is found in many foods, including the following:

Cereals
Baked goods such as bread, cookies and muffins
Protein bars and diet bars
chocolate
Coffee creamer
margarine
Nutella and other high-fat spreads

In the 1980s, palm oil was replaced by trans fats in many products due to concerns that the consumption of tropical oils could endanger heart health. However, after numerous studies revealed the dangers of trans fats, food manufacturers returned to using palm oil. Palm oil can also be found in other products such as toothpaste, soap and cosmetics. In addition, it can be used to produce biodiesel as an alternative energy source (3). Summary: Palm oil is used for cooking - especially in West African cuisine - and is also found in some finished foods and other products.

The nutritional composition of palm oil

One tablespoon of palm oil (14 ml) contains

Kcal: 114
Fat: 14 grams
Saturated fat: 7 grams
Monounsaturated fat: 5 grams
Polyunsaturated fat: 1.5 grams
Vitamin A: 11% of the daily requirement

All the calories in palm oil come from fat. Its fatty acid content comprises 50% saturated fats, 40% monounsaturated fats and 10% polyunsaturated fats. The primary type of saturated fat found in palm oil is palmitic acid, which provides 44% of the calories in palm oil. In addition, palm oil contains large amounts of oleic acid and smaller amounts of linoleic acid and stearic acid. The reddish-orange pigment found in red palm oil comes from antioxidants called carotenoids, which include beta-carotene, which can be converted into vitamin A by the body. In fractionated palm oil, the liquid portion is removed through a crystallization and filtration process. The remaining solid part is richer in saturated fats and has a higher melting point (4).

Summary: Palm oil is 100% fat, half of which is saturated. It also contains vitamin E and red palm oil contains antioxidants known as carotenoids, which the body can convert into vitamin A.

Palm oil may have some health benefits

Palm oil has been linked to a number of health benefits, which include protecting brain function, reducing risk factors for heart disease and improving vitamin A status.

Brain health

Palm oil is an excellent source of tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E with powerful antioxidant properties that may support brain health. Studies conducted with animals and humans suggest that the tocotrienols in palm oil help protect the delicate polyunsaturated fatty acids in the brain, slow the progression of dementia, reduce the risk of stroke and prevent the growth of brain lesions (5, 6, 7, 8, 9). In a two-year study of 121 patients suffering from brain lesions, the condition of the group receiving tocotrienols derived from palm oil twice daily remained stable, while the lesions in the group receiving only a placebo continued to grow (9).

Heart health

Palm oil may offer some protection against heart disease. Although some study results are mixed, this oil generally appears to have beneficial effects on heart risk factors including a reduction in levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and an increase in levels of "good" HDL cholesterol (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17). A large study review that looked at 51 studies concluded that total cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol levels were lower in people who followed a diet rich in palm oil than in people who followed a diet rich in trans fats or myristic and lauric acids (10).

A three-month study looked at the cholesterol-lowering effects of palm oil derived from a hyprid plant of Elaeis guineensis and Elaeis oleifera palms. In this study, subjects consumed either 25 ml (2 tablespoons) of olive oil or palm oil. Based on a 15% drop in LDL cholesterol levels in both groups, the scientists concluded that palm oil can be considered the "tropical equivalent of olive oil" (11). However, it is important to note that an increase or decrease in LDL cholesterol levels alone is not a predictor of heart disease. There are many other factors involved. However, a controlled study from 1995 suggests that palm oil may help slow the progression of heart disease in people diagnosed with heart disease. In this 18-month study, 7 out of 25 subjects treated with palm oil experienced improvements in their condition, while 16 subjects remained stable. In contrast, 10 of the 25 subjects in the control group experienced disease progression and no improvement was observed in any of the subjects in the control group (17).

Improved vitamin A status

Palm oil can help to improve vitamin A status in people who suffer from vitamin A deficiency or are at increased risk of vitamin A deficiency. Studies conducted with pregnant women in developing countries have shown that consumption of red palm oil increased vitamin A levels both in their blood and in the infants they breastfed (18, 19, 20). Another study found that people suffering from cystic fibrosis, who have problems absorbing fat-soluble vitamins, showed an increase in blood vitamin A levels after consuming two to three tablespoons of red palm oil for eight weeks (21). Red palm oil has also been shown to help increase vitamin A levels in adults and young children (22, 23). A study from India reported that preschool children who consumed 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of red palm oil per day showed a greater increase in vitamin A levels than children who received a vitamin A supplement (23).

Summary: Palm oil may help protect brain function, reduce risk factors for heart disease and increase vitamin A levels in certain groups of people.

Potential health risks of palm oil

Although most studies have concluded that palm oil protects heart health, other studies have reported contrary results (24, 25, 26, 27, 28). One of these studies was conducted on women with high cholesterol levels. This study showed that levels of sdLDL cholesterol - the type of cholesterol associated with heart disease - increased when palm oil was consumed, while levels of this particular type of cholesterol decreased when other oils were consumed. In contrast, a combination of palm oil and rice bran oil reduced sdLDL cholesterol levels (24). Another study found that sdLDL cholesterol levels did not change in the group consuming palm oil, while levels of larger LDL cholesterol particles increased. Large LDL cholesterol particles are less harmful in terms of heart attack risk than smaller, denser particles (25). Other studies have reported increases in LDL cholesterol levels in response to palm oil consumption. However, these studies did not measure LDL particle size (26, 27, 28). It is important to note that these are only potential risk factors - not evidence that palm oil actually causes heart disease. However, a study conducted with animals suggests that consumption of oil that has been repeatedly heated may cause plaque buildup in the arteries due to a reduction in the oil's antioxidant capacity. When rats were fed a diet containing repeatedly reheated palm oil, they developed larger plaque deposits in the arteries and other signs of heart disease over the course of six months, while no changes were observed in rats fed fresh palm oil (29).

Summary: Palm oil may increase certain risk factors for heart disease in some people. Repeated heating of the oil could reduce its antioxidant capacity and contribute to the development of heart disease.

How effective is palm oil in other applications?

Palm oil may be ineffective for treating malaria symptoms when added to the diet of children under 5 in developing countries. There is not enough scientific data to conclude on the effectiveness of palm oil for high blood pressure, cyanide poisoning, anti-aging and weight loss.

Further scientific research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of palm oil in these applications.

Interactions

Care should be taken when combining palm oil with the following medications:

Medications that slow blood clotting

Palm oil could slow down blood clotting. Taking palm oil in combination with medications that also slow down blood clotting could increase the risk of bleeding and the tendency to bruise.

Some medications that can slow blood clotting include aspirin, diclofenac (Voltaren), ibuprofen, naproxen and others.

Controversies regarding palm oil

There are a number of ethical issues regarding the impact of palm oil production on the environment, wildlife and communities in the areas where it is grown. Over the last few decades, increased demand for palm oil has led to an unexpected expansion of palm oil production in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. These countries have a humid, tropical climate that is ideal for growing oil palms. In order to expand palm oil plantations, tropical rainforests and peatlands have been and are being destroyed. A recent analysis came to the conclusion that 45% of the land used for palm oil production in Southeast Asia was still tropical rainforest in 1990. Clearing the rainforest is said to have a devastating impact on global warming, as forests play a crucial role in the removal of greenhouse gases by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition to this, the destruction of natural habitat is causing changes to ecosystems that threaten the health and diversity of wildlife. Of particular concern is the impact on endangered species such as the Bornean orangutan, which is on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss (30). There are also reports of human rights abuses by palm oil companies, including expropriation of farmland and forests without permission, low wages, unsafe working conditions and a significant reduction in the quality of life of local people (31). Fortunately, experts say that there are more ethical and sustainable methods of cultivation. A 2015 analysis found that limiting the expansion of new palm oil plantations to areas without forests and planting in areas with little vegetation could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 60% (31). The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an organization dedicated to oil production that is as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. This organization only awards the RSPO certificate to oil producers who adhere to its standards, which include the following guidelines:

No clearing of forests or areas that are home to endangered species or fragile ecosystems, or are important to the cultural concerns of traditional populations.
A significant reduction in the use of pesticides and fire.
Fair treatment of workers according to local and international labor standards.
Information and consultation with local communities prior to the development of new palm plantations on their land.

Summary: Replacing rainforest and peatlands with palm plantations is devastating for the environment, wildlife and the quality of life of local people.

Conclusion

Palm oil is one of the most widely used oils in the world. However, the impact of its production on the environment, wildlife and local populations is extremely worrying. If you want to use palm oil, you should only buy products that are RSOP certified. Since you can get similar health benefits from other oils and foods, it's probably best to use other sources of fat for most of your daily needs.

References

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