More consumers are taking the time to educate themselves and wise up to the serious health problems associated with consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. These health villains include soy, corn, canola, safflower and sunflower which quickly become rancid and laced with free radicals when processed. Food manufacturers are slowly but surely starting to respond to this change in consumer preference.
Why has it taken so long you might ask? That’s an easy one. Food manufacturers and their shareholders love polyunsaturated oils. Partially hydrogenated or not, they are incredibly cheap to produce and make the bottom line very attractive to corporate shareholders.
Fortunately, there is a healthy fat that can be used in processed foods in place of those nasty polyunsaturated vegetable oils that meets the profit demands of food company shareholders and also satisfies the ever growing consumer clamor for a healthy, traditional fat.
That fat is palm oil.
Wary consumers such as myself have been delighted to see palm oil becoming a more frequent player on the ingredients list of all sorts of packaged foods in recent years. The different types of palm oil can be confusing, however. Are they all equally healthy, you might wonder?
Many Names for Palm Oil – Are You Confused?
The names I’ve seen used are palm oil, palm fruit oil, and palm kernel oil. There is also red palm oil which is a very strong tasting oil that can be purchased for home cooking in ethnic grocery stores. It is not used in processed foods, at least the ones I’ve examined.
I like to keep explanations simple as overly complicated things will rarely be remembered. This is especially true at that critical moment when you are about to decide in the store whether or not to buy a food based on what you see on the label.
The bottom line is that palm oil is a healthy fat regardless of the name used on the label. Â Palm oil, palm fruit oil, and palm kernel oil are all just fine and dandy.
The difference is the amount of saturated versus monounsaturated fat in the various types of palm oil. This variation is determined by the part of the palm fruit from which the oil is obtained.
Palm oil (Palm Fruit Oil) Benefits
Palm oil is derived from the fleshy part of the palm fruit. Hence, it is sometimes referred to as palm fruit oil.
It is approximately 50% saturated fat and 40% monounsaturated fat (oleic acid – the same type of fat in olive oil). The remaining 9-10% is polyunsaturated fat in the form of linoleic acid. This is a very low amount of these inflammatory type of fat, which is excellent.
Neither saturated nor monounsaturated fats are easily damaged by processing so this fat is a healthy shortening to include in a snack item.
The mild flavor and pale color of palm oil also works well for blending with a variety of foods.
Palm Kernel Oil Benefits
Palm kernel oil is derived from the hard and innermost, nutlike core of the palm fruit. It contains 82% saturated fat, much higher than regular palm oil.
The remainder is about 15% monounsaturated fat and only 2% polyunsaturated fats. Both of these amounts are significantly lower than palm oil.
Palm kernel oil is healthier than regular palm oil for 2 reasons.
Closer to Coconut Oil
First, the higher amount of saturated fat makes palm kernel oil a closer match to coconut oil than palm oil. This is a good thing as I try to limit the amount of monounsaturated fats in my diet as they can contribute to weight gain. In 1994, the journal The Lancet published a study which noted that fat tissue is primarily composed of monounsaturated fat. Could this be a contributing reason for middle age weight gain that is so common in Mediterranean countries (Eat Fat Lose Fat, p.70)?  Being of middle age, this is definitely something that I watch out for!
Rich in Lauric Acid
Secondly, palm kernel oil is a rich source of lauric acid, that magical medium chain saturated fat that is highly antimicrobial. It is specially produced by the mammary gland for a breastfeeding baby to ingest and benefit from.
Coconut oil is also high in lauric acid which is one reason it is such a wonderfat being studied by scientists all over the world for it’s anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. This characteristic is particularly valuable in the face of the worrisome problem of increasing antibiotic resistance.
Hence, if I can get a food that includes palm kernel oil versus a similar one that has palm oil, I will personally choose the palm kernel oil every single time. Note that food manufacturers remove some or all of the lauric acid from MCT oil. It is also called liquid coconut oil, but it does not confer the same benefits.
Is Palm Oil Sustainable?
There is a downside to all forms of palm oil and that is the issue of sustainability. Â Deforestation to make way for palm plantations is certainly an extremely troubling environmental concern as is the loss of habitat for the orangutans in some locations such as Borneo.
As a result, it is important to support companies that use a sustainable source of palm oil so that your food dollars do not contribute to these environmental problems.
Another alternative is to just make as many of your snacks at home as you can using traditional fats that you have sourced yourself from reliable, green manufacturers.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Related Information
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Five Healthy Fats You Must Have in Your Kitchen
Walnut Oil: Healthy Sub for Flax Oil
Dr. Oz Gets it Really Wrong about Pumpkin Seed Oil
Selecting a Healthy Cooking Oil and Reusing it Safely
Caution When Using Chicken Fat for Cooking
I researched oils for their vitamin E content and Red palm oil is the highest in vitamin E,. This was essential for my goat farm as when the winter is upon them, and if the moms haven’t had enough grain (grains have vitamin E) they have floppy kid syndrome and I have red palm oil on hand to give by mouth to the new babies- and it strengthens then right up.
“Debunking of all fats being harmful to the human diet” happened a very long time ago already. The key word being “all” some are very much better for us than others and some should be eaten in restricted amounts while others are positively good for us and should be eaten more often.
IMO we dont have to look thousands of years back to a time when life expectancy was a mere 25 years or less for the average adult human to understand the present on this issue. A time when even tooth decay could’ve killed us and did. I don’t buy onto this we were so healthy when we were hunters and gatherers because we didn’t grow and consume vast amounts of cereal crops. This is far too simplistic and has no real academic merit. We weren’t particularly healthy at all as most archaeological research shows for one thing and yes we certainly were not consuming despite dying at 25 was tons of saturated fats or cereals, wild animals are very very lean, we were opportunistic eaters and ate everything in moderation and still keeled over in our early twenties.
In fact the irony is we have never been healthier nor so ridden with easily preventable diseases caused by diet alone. Of course using the royal “we” is not appropriate nor is using the term “in the West”, but rather mostly a large majority in some Western countries is what is meant.
Palm fats are healthier for some populations than others as is coconut oil, it all depends on what makes up their staples, if these are low or high in saturated fats or not just for one example. Avocados as a staple are a thousand times healthier for your average member of the 70% obese Americans diet than fresh coconuts simply because they contain mostly unsaturated fat. So no they are not similarly healthy items to eat.
Saturated fats store toxins in our bodies which as they build up poison us ultimately, we store fat as saturated fat. To make matters wonderfully interesting a duck doesn’t ! Atmospheric toxins natural and caused by man made pollution, toxins in our food also both naturally occurring like strychnine and man made like pesticides, natural heavy metals etc etc all get stored in our saturated fat and any other creatures or plant.
Meant “high melting point” there of course.
The question for consumers to ask is, is processed palm oil healthier than natural butter? Answere no. Its cheaper and easier for manufacturers yes, as is partialy hydrogenated cotton or soya oil!
Palm oil is more abundant on earth than natural butter, and it’s roughly equivalent in terms of healthiness and texture. So it makes ecological sense for us to use it as a replacement.
Palm oil fats are widely used in confection as they have a low melting point like all highly saturated unhealthy oils. Those pre-packaged long-life biscuits, crackers, treats, cakes are loaded with them for this reason. In America they use more partially hydrogenated vegetable oils mostly genetically modified soya oil in the same way. Unfortunately fully hydrogenated palm oil products are catching on there now unleashing a greater demand on the worlds rain forests. Yes they are less damaging for our health than partially hydrogenated soya oil but they are not good for you so saying they are a healthy product is thus very misleading.
There is no way to reliably source sustainable produced palm oil at the moment the best you can achieve is a tiny % so called green oil blend. So if a product claims otherwise its false advertising and they are liable and should be fully accountable to the consumer for doing so.
All these manufacturing processes anyway are bad for you in food stuffs so its not difficult to avoid them when shopping. Chocolate that contains palm oil is not allowed to be called chocolate in Europe and chocolate that has a high melting point is nasty anyway.
I dont know what Nancy’s treats are for animal or human consumption but I wouldn’t feed my pets products containing palm oil either and certainly not manufactured long life treats for my children. A limited intake of Butter is healthier. What happened to good old fashioned baking or buying home produce anyway?
“..like all highly saturated unhealthy oils” makes your stance on this clear. We disagree (and have many pieces of information and research to back it up, but unfortunately not much time at this moment to provide that here). Saturated fats aren’t unhealthy, and butter is great too, as long as it’s from pastured cows; but saturated fats such as palm, coconut, etc. are actually very good for our bodies as well. As long as it’s not hydrogenated / fractionated, palm fat, similarly to avocado and coconut fat, isn’t unhealthy. As for sustainability, it’s a tricky issue, and it can get murky. Are there no suppliers at all out there that can provide sustainable palm oil? None? I don’t think it’s so clear cut, even though yes, most palm oil plantations and harvesting methods that exist today are destructive, I believe there are some (even if few) that may be able to provide palm oil that doesn’t ruin the environment and natural habitats. It’s all about getting to the source and being transparent about where you’re sourcing things.
Nancy the straight plain answer to your question is yes there are none at the moment that can claim to be producing sufficient sustainably produced palm oil products to export. The very small amount supposedly green is simply not enough for any kind of manufacturing use or for wholesale domestic use. To create any kind of demand in consumers can be seen as highly irresponsible in my opinion.
As far as research is concerned Im a bit befuddled by yours. Saturated fats “as consumed” by the Western world primarily America with its 70% obesity rate are very unhealthy fats indeed. Its all about moderation and for saturated fats that means hardly any is 100% healthier than the excess actually being consumed on a daily basis leading to these lets face it down right scary obesity rates. These obesity rates directly lead to chronic diseases. Once in that state its pretty much useless trying to find blame one single item in your diet for getting you there. There have been the fat and the carbo and the calcium and the red meat and the and the finger pointers all to no real avail.
The fact is a very high carbohydrate intake, very high saturated fat (or even worse that and partially hydrogenated fats) intake coupled with a very high salt intake etc etc is known to ultimately kill us and prematurely. Cutting down on just one wont help but managing all three and eating alternatives to all three regularly will.
Again Im befuddled and this should be more or less common knowledge. Coconut oil, palm fat and avocado oils are not all the same beast not by a long shot. The oil found in Avocado oil for example is unsaturated and that in coconut flesh almost completely saturated at time of pressing. While eating ten avocados a day will make you obese and ill, eating just a few a week will add to your healthy lifestyle. Just as using coconut oil, palm oil, butter etc as a staple for example is not advised in the West but if you like the flavour of some (coconut oil is not particularly nice but good for the hair as a pomade) using it a few times a month wont kill you either, however if you are using red meat, full fat dairy, cheese, butter lard, processed fats and any of the others too all month and everyday (and millions upon millions are) you are overloading the anti considerably.
I am also befuddled; the “debunking” of fats as harmful to the human diet is gaining momentum now (finally). Also, I did not say the fat in avocado, coconut, and palm are identical; I was referring to the fact that it isn’t unhealthy for us, just as avocado fat, and coconut fat, aren’t unhealthy for us (not saying they are 100% identical compositions of fat, just saying they are similar in the sense that they are healthy fats). Obesity rates and chronic diseases are a result of over-processed foods, a diet heavy in grains (not prepared properly-soaked, sprouted, etc.), along with a sedentary lifestyle, just to name a few things. Anthropologically, biologically, archaeologically speaking, it can be seen that many cultures around the world consumed a diet high in fat (both from meat and vegetation), high in vegetables, moderate in protein, very low in grain based carbohydrates, and they were very healthy humans.
Let’s just agree to disagree (though we do agree on some points). 🙂
Great article! We’re in the process of developing a brand that creates healthier treats, and one of the ingredients we’re using is palm oil. Since our first product is going to be dairy free (among other things), palm oil (along with other ingredients) comes in handy for things like fillings, glazes, etc. Palm kernel oil is useful [stable] for glazes. We are a very eco-conscious brand though, and that’s where the controversy surrounding the sustainability of palm oil comes in; but you just have to weed through the suppliers and sources and find a source that does everything they can to ensure a sustainable production–both environmentally and socially–and that’s what we’re sourcing.
Yes, I have driven through the wreckage of palm plantations in Borneo and couldn’t speak for half an hour it was so overwhelming. They completely decimate the rain forest, plant palm trees, and then the bring in loads of cobras to control the mice population that likes to feast on palm nuts. Basically, in about 30 years Borneo is going to be the new Sahara Desert with millions of cobras and not much else. It’s nice that Westerners are trying to boycott it, but I don’t really think that it’s going to make a difference. Especially since the Chinese are evidently trying to introduce it as a bio-fuel.
Perhaps the best way to make a difference would be to find a way to educate the local villagers who sell their land, get lots of money, spend it on junky electronics and cars, and then have nothing to live on a couple of months later. So, they end up working for the palm plantations. Then, their daughters, who have to go away for Junior high and often end up selling their bodies to pay for school. Sadly, even if villagers don’t want to sell their land, the palm plantation owners know how to pay the right people in charge of the village to give them what they want. It’s a disgusting mess. Perhaps the most irritating factor is that after the palm plantations are in place they have the audacity to host “anti-forest burning” crusades. Yep, it’s all that insane.
Yes palm plantations are such sad places especialy if you’ve ever been to even a semblence of a virgin forest. Monoculture has wrecked three quarters of the planet, just think about the prairies in North America. Unspeakable acts of vandalism on the planet earth. And so alarming that influential people like Richard Branson tote biofuel as being green. Actualy used that as a marketing ticket for his airways. Hopless.
I however think consumers in the West do have the power to change things, every bit helps.
This region SEA where I’m based has such endemic corruption I feel the only way to slow the plunder is for markets to close. Anyone using bio fuel produced with reckless abandon to the plight of the planet should be fair game. Yes unfortunately China has a way to go before it has the same level of awareness as the West. It’s a race against time.
I’m curious about the picture you have posted of a palm tree. It doesn’t look anything like the palm trees here in Indonesia that they process oil from, but if I put the word used for the tree/oil in my Indonesian/English dictionary it says that it is palm oil. The oil that I generally buy says that it is made from the fruit of the tree, not the seed and that it contains Omega-3, Omega-6 and vitamin E. I’m guessing this is the healthy form of palm oil?
Yes Anna Mae you would be right the picture is not a palm oil palm, the palm oil palm is Elaeis guineensis from Africa. The palm pictured is Licula grandis a very atractive but purely ornamental palm from Vanuatu.
At the present time it is 100% impossible to buy “green” sustainably produced palm oil of any kind. For myself i would rather go without any products containing palm oils in their ingredients if there is even the slightest possibility that any creatures and habitats are being harmed, orang utans being just one that are being shot displaced and babies left to die other wise simply burnt alive in forest clearing practises.
There are responsible companies that make it eco-friendly. http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_palm_shortening.htm
Yes I fully agree Sarah.
Manufacturers will (commonly) offer a low fat product marketing it as healthy but it will be extremely high in salt and or sugar so in fact it remains unhealthy, for it to be healthy it must be lowish on all three. Or a low salt product high in fat etc. Some countries require by law for such products not to make any health claims on their packaging as it’s deemed false advertising and so it is.
Just as advertising a margarine spread as healthy because its predominately saturated partially hydrogenated palm oil and not butter is also completely false and illegal in some countries and states of the USA.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply trust producers, trust that they were indeed concerned with our health primarily?
The story on fattening pigs on skim milk sounds right. Removing the fat however doesn’t leave pure lactose.
Milk is +- 87.8 % water, if you remove the fat the water content remains the same however so do things like lactose content or carbo’s, protein and cholesterol. The last three make up 8-9%/100g of milk alone. Fat makes up +-4%. Carbs and cholesterol are fattening. No doubt about it drinking lots of milk can make a person fat even skim milk.
However on full fat milk you will get blocked arteries too, and as millions of people drink milk way past the infant stage mostly their whole life, cholesterol build up (which can happen to a perfectly slim person too) as a partial result of the saturated fat in full fat milk can occur.
I suppose if you are a milk drinker go easy on the stuff and preferably use skim milk only. Using small amounts of full fat milk though wont kill you, but (as is the case with most in the West) if you are eating predominately saturated fats in everything else along with high salt and sugar well the long term affects all put together might and do sadly.
Anton Lambert, I think the critical piece of the puzzle that you are missing is that saturated fat does not clog arteries. That is outdated information. It’s oxidized cholesterol and misdirected calcium than stick to arteries. In fact it’s fat soluble vitamins A, D, & K that make calcium go where it’s supposed to and not clog the arteries. AVOIDING foods that are high in these vitamins, which are often high in saturated fats, is bad for the arteries. You might want to ask yourself why the body is so determined to make cholesterol even when none is consumed. Blaming cholesterol for arterial damage is like blaming the firefighter for the fire. Cholesterol shows up to stop the damage, that’s why blood levels go up during times of inflamation. It means something deeper is going on. Allergies, adrenal issues, infection are just a few causes of elevated cholesterol. No doubt it will take at least 10 more years for this understanding to become mainstream, so I do understand your thinking. I used to think the same things. I can see why doctors thought cholesterol was to blame since it showed up at the time of trouble, however I am grateful that researchers are looking closer at the situation. Cholesterol is a victim of guilt by association.
Yes Liz J I have heard of the research that seems to have only recently discovered that excess calcium is bad for most people, it makes you wonder why milk drinks plus products passing themselves off as milk are “enriched” with it plus bread and any number of things even so called orange juice! Im almost sure even children are getting far too much calcium in their diets.
Oh also, have you seen the newest research on children who drink lowfat milk are more often obese? Lowfat milk is one of the worst recommendations you can give. The very form of cholesterol that cloggs arteries, oxidated cholesterol, is added to skim milk in the form of dried milk. This is done to give it a white color. I urge you to study the research that is being done by the Weston A. Price Foundation. I got angry and resisted this information at first. When I opened my heart and decided to sincerely consider the other side (5 years after first learning about this “different” way of thinking) it became abundantly clear.