Palm oil's impact on nutrition and health
1999
Nesaretnam, K. (Palm Oil Research Inst. of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia))
The global demand for oils and fats is expected to increase in the future. Increasing awareness on health aspects of oils and fats is making domestic and industrial consumers opt for vegetable oils instead of animal fats. As a result, the demand for vegetable oils in particular is expected to increase significantly. Experts predict that palm oil has the best potential to capture the major share of this increase. Currently, palm oil accounts for more than 37/ of world exports of vegetable oils and fats. It is consumed in over 120 countries as an ingredient in a wide range of products, including recombined evaporated and sweetened condensed milk. From the nutritional point of view, several human clinical trials have shown that palm oil and palm olein do not elevate total blood cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The cholesterolemic effects of all saturated fatty acid are not uniform, and the adverse role of trans fatty acids in the modulation of blood lipids is being increasingly recognised. In this respect, palm oil is devoid of trans fatty acids. Palm oil is also a rich source of the minor components vitamin E, which is mainly in the form of tocotrienols, and carotenoids. Evidence accumulated so far strongly suggests that these minor components are beneficial to human health, confer stability to the oil and have potential chemopreventive actions. Red palm oil's efficacy as a source of carotene in combating vitamin A deficiency in school children, lactating women and nursing infants has been well established in different countries. All these properties synergise to enhance the beneficial attributes of palm oil as a safe and healthy edible oil.
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