cruiserhead

My simple rules w/ food:
1. Avoid anything w/ high fructose corn syrup
2. Avoid anything w/ partially hydrogenated oils

I have read completely opposing views on Palm Oil. It is very common in snacks as a substitute for other oils. Does anyone have definitive info on Palm Oil?
thanks all

CastIron

Tropical oils are generally put in the 'bad' column.

AnthonyG

Palm oil is making a comeback. Its a vegetable oil with a domination of saturated fatty acids not too dissimilar to coconut oil so for a while the powers that be, who don't have the faintest idea of what they are talking about put them in the "bad column". Saturated fatty acids have properties that are required for baked foods in particular so when saturated fatty acids got unfairly discriminated against without any good evidence the food industry went to hydrogenated vegetable oils as a way to get the properties they required from vegetable oils. The "powers that be" were happy about this but then the evidence came out that hydrogenated vegetable oils were MUCH worse than the saturated fatty acids they replaced.

Nice going "powers that be". Its good to see that someone did their homework before making these reccomendations.

Anyway the food industry faced with all the criticism of hydrogenated fats is going back to one of its previous staples, palm oil. See, https://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/index.html Its a healthy traditional fat but it has one blot on its horizon. Its becoming so popular that they are chopping down Indonesian forests in order to plant Palm plantations. Meh, catch 22.

Regards, Anthony

DM4

I can think of only one reason to put oil on your palm...

El Julioso

Palm oil has a bit less saturated fat / volume than coconut oil. It is useful for baking, as tasty crusts require a fair bit of either saturated or trans fats (which are considerably worse for you than saturated fats). However, baking is the only application for which you should use palm oil, as saturated fat, while not nearly as bad as trans fat, still isn't very good for you.

For stir-fries, you should use something with a reasonably high smoke point, like peanut oil or grapeseed oil.

For non-cooking applications, such as bread dips, extra virgin olive oil is the best (very high in monounsaturated fats). EVOO also has more flavour than other types of oil.

El Julioso

Here's a good reference for oil information:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html

cruiserhead

That is a really interesting link! Some surprises -to avoid canola, corn & safflower oils
i'll read thru that site, seems very interesting thanks!

quoted-
The following nutrient-rich traditional fats have nourished healthy population groups for thousands of years:

Butter
Beef and lamb tallow
Lard
Chicken, goose and duck fat
Coconut, palm and sesame oils
Cold pressed olive oil
Cold pressed flax oil
Marine oils
The following new-fangled fats can cause cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, learning disabilities, growth problems and osteoporosis:

All hydrogenated oils
Soy, corn and safflower oils
Cottonseed oil
Canola oil
All fats heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying

AnthonyG

Yes the Weston a Price Foundation web site is a real eye opener. Its a traditionalist food group.

Regards, Anthony

andre nickatina

Weston A. Price Foundation can be a good or bad source depending on what they're talking about. They're biased as hell towards the livestock/animal industry. So while they're generally accurate about the dangers of trans fat, MSG, refined carbs, processed foods, etc., they're pretty far off the field on animal fats.

Palm oil is interesting. In my research, I've found that plant based saturated fats do not carry the same risks as the animal fats you've been warned about for years. One mainsteam acknowledgement of this is the fact that chocolate, which is high in saturated fat, may actually be GOOD for your heart as long as there's no trans fat, due 1) to heart protective antioxidants and 2) to the fact that the saturated fatty acids present are mostly neutral to heart health.

It's absolutely essential to know that not all saturated fats are created equal. The short chain fatty acids in coconut oil, for example, are very healthy. I believe palm oil has some of these as well. The reason palm, palm kernal and coconut oil have been villified have a lot more to do with lobbyists, big business interests and money than with health and Truth in marketing.

AnthonyG

OK, I let this one go but I've just come across a relevant article, https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22116724 Its an article discussing why we are STILL told that saturated animal fats are bad for us when there is a total LACK of evidence to back it up.

For the record the Weston A Price Foundation is NOT biased towards the "livestock/animal" industry. You will not find a more vocal critic of factory farming than the Weston A Price Foundation.

Regards, Anthony