The Palm Myths

There's a good chance you've heard palm oil erroneously referred to and grouped together with palm kernel oil and coconut oil as a "tropical oil," a contributor to high cholesterol levels, or even as a trans-fat. Palm fruit oil is different and contains much less saturated fat than coconut and palm kernel oil.

Right now, you might be saying, "But palm oil is supposed to be just as harmful as animal fat because it is loaded with saturated fats!" No, there is a vital difference between palm kernel oil and red palm oil.

• Palm kernel oil is produced from the seed of the palm kernel and is high in saturated fats. Foods made with palm kernel oil should be avoided as they are potentially harmful.
• Red palm oil, on the other hand, is produced from the flesh of the palm fruit, and is very nutritious.

Luckily, palm oil has a red colour that will help you make the correct choice.

Palm oil became the target of a massive negative advertising campaign, including widely published allegations that palm oil is "hazardous to nutrition". Palm oil was the victim of letter-writing campaigns to food companies complaining of palm oil's allegedly adverse nutrition effects. The campaign against palm oil was unprecedented.

In the past, palm oil was attacked as "saturated" since it contains 44% palmitic acid and 5% stearic acid, and thereby allegedly raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, a sizeable and growing body of scientific evidence indicates that palm oil's effect on blood cholesterol is relatively neutral when compared to other fats and oils. In a recent review article, Professor Charles Elson concluded "palm oil, an essential fatty acid-sufficient tropical oil, raises plasma cholesterol only when an excess of dietary cholesterol is presented in the diet."

• Palm oil products are trans-fat free.

Red palm oil contains a variety of fats, vitamins and nutrients, but NO trans-fatty acids. Trans-fatty acids are found pre-dominantly in hydrogenated oils. Several recent studies have implicated trans-fatty acids in increasing the risk of cancer, interfering with fat metabolism, enhancing fatty deposits in the arteries, and reducing the body's ability to rid itself of carcinogens, drugs and other toxins.

Red palm oil is made up of a mixture of fatty acids and contains valuable vitamins and nutrition that our bodies need.