What is Palm Oil? The Health Benefits & Nutritional Value of Palm Oil
What is Palm Oil?
Palm oil comes from the fruit of the Elaeis guineensuis tree, also called the African oil palm tree. Native to Malaysia, the tree bears a fleshy fruit which is the source of both palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is entirely different than palm kernel oil, which has a higher amount of saturated fat and has to be heavily processed to be extracted. Palm kernel oil is, in general, unhealthy.
Palm oil is the most versatile of all vegetable oils. Consisting of 50% saturated fat and 50% unsaturated fat it is semi-solid at room temperature. It is also odorless and tasteless. These two properties have made palm oil ideal for baked goods and packaged foods. Palm oil also works well with fried foods and stir-fry because its quality doesn’t diminish under extremely high heat. Unlike most nutritional oils, palm oil is highly resistant to oxidation, giving it a longer shelf life.
Health Benefits
Along with other tropical oils, palm oil has been written off for decades because of its saturated fat content. The saturated fatty acids of palm oil, like coconut oil, are actually not as harmful as the public believes, and in fact actually have health benefits. They are medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCT’s are only found in mothers milk, tropical oils, and milk fat. They are extremely easy for the body to digest, increasing energy efficiency. Medium chain fats can be directly converted into energy in the liver, unlike other fats which must be processed in the intestine and then absorbed into the bloodstream. MCT’s are a valuable source of nutrition for people who cannot easily digest other fats, as well as athletes who can benefit from the highly efficient energy.
Not only is palm oil a rare source of medium chain fatty acids, it is also a source of healthy unsaturated fats. As a vegetable oil, palm oil is a cholesterol free food. It is a well-balanced fat, with 39% oleic acid (omega-9) and 10% linoleic acid (omega-6). These essential fatty acids help to lower blood cholesterol levels in the body. They are necessary for bone, joint, and skin health.
Palm oil is a rich source of antioxidants. It is the richest vegetable oil source of tocotrienols - which are a potent form of vitamin E. Vitamin E strengthens the immune system, and protects skin cells from toxins and UV radiation. From its reddish-orange hue, palm oil is also a good source of beta-carotene, a nutrient found in sweet potatoes, carrots, and other orange foods.
Processing
Palm oil can be a nutritional oil, although the health risks outweigh the health benefits as soon as it is processed in any way. With such a unique chemical composition, palm oil does not need to undergo hydrogenation - a hardening process used on vegetable oils. Hydrogenation is what makes all fats, saturated, or unsaturated, unhealthy. Once an oil is hydrogenated, the fats become trans-fats. Trans-fats are responsible for all the health problems associated with bad fats - high blood pressure, increasing LDL levels, and heart disease.
Palm oil is easily expressed from the palm fruit by pressing and squeezing. This natural, reddish, neutral oil has much to offer both commercial and individual cooking. It is however, often processed nonetheless, making it an unhealthy alternative to other hydrogenated oils. Palm oil undergoes a process called fractionation, in which it is separated under controlled thermal conditions into a solid and a liquid. The solid form, palm stearin, is then used to form solid fats such as margarine. This solid ‘half’ of palm oil is the saturated fat content. It is not actually a trans-fat after fractionation, but it is still unhealthy. It is no longer a source of antioxidants and essential fatty acids. Fractionated palm oil provides a way for food makers to claim that their product is free of dangerous trans-fats, and therefore is heart healthy. This is misleading however, as processed palm oil is no longer a nutritional oil.
Organic natural palm oil is an ideal choice for a variety of cooking and storage needs. It does offer some nutritional benefit, and has its own unique health benefits, although it is not nearly as beneficial as other nutritional oils such as flax seed oil or hemp seed oil. In small quantities, unprocessed palm oil has a place in a healthy diet, although there are many reasons to minimize the processed version of palm oil.
Resources
Page, Linda. “Healthy Healing: A Guide to Self-Healing for Everyone”. 11th Edition (Traditional Wisdom, 2003).
This post is part of the series: The Controversy over Tropical Oils
Tropical oils, such as coconut and palm oil, have been given a bad reputation as unhealthy fats. Although they are high in saturated fatty acids, these tropical oils have many health benefits, and are worth adding to a healthy diet as long as they remain in their natural form.