The oil palm produces a fruit from which palm oil is derived. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the seed of this fruit, and is used in cosmetics and foods while the oil from the fruit is used primarily in foods.
Palm oil is a tropical saturated fat that has become a popular oil choice among consumers who have been fooled into thinking it is a requirement for health. Palm fruit oil has a deep orange color, due to its high beta carotene content, the precursor to Vitamin A. Misleading advertising claims fool the consumer into thinking that this oil is therefore an essential component of their diet. It has also become a popular choice among food manufacturers as it allows them to produce convenience foods without trans fats, as palm oil provides a similar mouth feel. They are then free to tell consumers that their products contain no trans fats, giving them the impression that they care about the health of the consumer.
All saturated fats, including tropical saturated fats, like palm fruit and kernel oil as well as coconut oil, can be made by the human body. Beta carotene is supplied in carrots and orange sweet potatoes (kumara) as well as lettuce, red peppers, kale, pumpkin and watercress. It is therefore unnecessary for you to get your supply of beta carotene in a saturated fat.
Furthermore, palm oil may be damaged during extraction and processing, as refining, bleaching and deodorising processes leave the consumer with a product that contains damaged, toxic fat molecules.
Unfortunately, the increase in this oils popularity is very bad news for the inhabitants of the forests that are being chopped down in Malaysia, Indonesia and Southeast Asia, to make way for huge palm oil plantations. Orangutans have lived in these forests for centuries, so deforestation is leaving them in severe danger of becoming extinct within the next few years. In fact, the orangutan population has decreased by about 50% in the wild over the last decade.
You can make better choices, and avoid palm oil, when you know the difference between what fats cannot be made by the body, the essential ones (polyunsaturated EFA’s) and what fats can be made by the body (saturated and monounsaturated fats). Click on this link to read more about essential fats.