Significant scientific findings about palm oil have arisen from painstaking research in many laboratories. Twelve of these facts about the nutritional effects of palm oil are presented on this page. Each fact has been thoroughly examined and evaluated by scientists in some of the most respected laboratories using universally approved methods to render them worthy of international acceptance.

This compilation of documented facts on the nutritional effects of palm oil has been published in full or in part in international scientific journals and is endorsed by committees of several of the most recognized and respected nutrition scientists in this field. (Refer : MPOPC Health, Nutrition and Palm Oil: A Compilation)

A Compilation of the Nutritional Effects of Palm Oil and Palm Olein

FACT 1: Palm Oil is Not Palm Kernel Oil or Coconut Oil - Palm oil from the fruit of the palm is physically and chemically different from either palm kernel oil which is derived from the seed, and from coconut oil, both of which are highly saturated.

FACT 2: Long Record of Safe Use - Palm oil has been a safe and nutritious source of edible oil for healthy humans for thousands of years. (1)

FACT 3: Consumed Worldwide - Palm oil and its liquid fraction, palm olein, are consumed worldwide as cooking oils and as constituents of margarines and shortenings; these oils are also incorporated into fat blends used in the manufacture of a variety of food products as well as in home food preparation.

FACT 4: Excellent Dietary Energy Source - Like other common edible fats and oils, palm oil is easily digested, absorbed and utilized in normal metabolic processes. It plays a useful role in meeting energy and essential fatty acid needs in many regions of the world. (2)

FACT 5: Free of Cholesterol and Trans Unsaturated Fatty Acids - Palm oil, like other vegetable oils, is cholesterol free. Having a moderate level of saturation, it does not require hydrogenation for use as a fat component in foods and, as such, does not contain trans fatty acids. (3,4)

FACT 6: Rich Carotenoids - Red (unprocessed) and red or golden (specially refined) palm oils, the major cooking oils in many parts of the world, are rich sources of beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A, which some studies have found to have antioxidant properties.(5)

FACT 7: Vitamin E Antioxidants - Palm oil and palm oil products are naturally occurring sources of the antioxidant vitamin E constituents, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These natural antioxidants may act as scavengers of damaging oxygen free radicals. Some studies have suggested that antioxidants may play a protective role in cellular aging, atherosclerosis and cancer. (6,7,8,9).

FACT 8: Balanced Fatty Acid Composition - Palm olein contains a mixture of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. The relative concentrations are 44% oleic acid, 10% linoleic acid, 40% palmitic acid and 5% stearic acid. The concentrations of palmitic and oleic acids are reversed in unfractionated palm oil i.e. 44% and 40% respectively. The fatty acid composition of palm oil is similar to that of the adipose tissue in most people on an ordinary diet.

FACT 9: Provides Linoleic Acid: An Essential Fatty Acid - Palm oil triglycerides carry linoleic acid predominately in the 2-position, which favors absorption and availability for use in the body.

FACT 10: Favorable Nutritional Studies - Human feeding studies and epidemiologic data have found that palm oil and palm olein have effects on blood cholesterol levels that are similar to olive oils. (10,11) In several studies of normocholesterolemic men and women, a diet that included palm oil resulted in reduced blood cholesterol compared to entry level values, and palmitic acid (16:0) (which comprises 90% of palm oil) was found equivalent to oleic acid (18:1) insofar as it affected cholesterol metabolism. (11,12,13) There is evidence that a balance between linoleic (18:2) and palmitic (16:0) acids may be required to maximize HDL levels. (14) Substitution of palmitic acid (16:0) from palm oil or palm olein for the lauric acid (12:0) and myristic acid (14:0) combination from palm kernel or coconut oils leads to a decrease in plasma and LDL cholesterol. (15,16,17) Of several fats tested, including a fat blend approximating American intake, a palm oil-enriched diet fed to hamsters induced the highest level of protective HDL-cholesterol and the greatest production of liver LDL receptors, key to removal of harmful LDL-cholesterol from the blood. (18)

FACT 11: Thrombosis - Rats fed a palm oil-enriched diet were found to have a reduced tendency for blood clotting. (19)

FACT 12: Cancer - Red palm olein is a source of carotenoids which some animal studies have found to inhibit some types of cancer. Animal studies have found that a diet containing palm oil, as compared to lard, beef tallow, corn oil and soybean oil, exerted an inhibitory effect on the development and incidence of experimentally -induced breast cancer in rats. (20,21) Animal and cellular studies have also found that tocotrienols inhibit the growth of cancer cells in vivo (22,23) as well as in vitro. (24,25)

12 NUTRITIONAL FACTS - REFERENCES

1. Cottrell, R.C., (1991) Nutritional aspects of palm oil. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 53: 989S - 1009S.
2. Calloway, D.H. and Kurtz, G.W (1956) The absorbability of natural and modified fats. Food Research 21: 621-629
3. Agriculture Handbook 8-4 (1979). Composition of Foods, United States Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration, Washington, D.C.
4. Life Sciences Research Office (1985). The Health Aspects of Trans-Fatty Acids, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Rockville, MD.
5. Krinsky, N.I. (1993). Actions of carotenoids in biological systems. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 13:561-588.
6. Walton, J.R. and Packer, L. (1980) Free radical damage and protection: relationship to cellular aging and cancer. In: Vitamin E, a Comprehensive Treatise, ed. L.J. Machlin, Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, pp. 495-517
7. Hirai, S., Okamoto, K., and Morimatsu, M. (1982). Lipid peroxide in the aging process. In: Lipid Peroxides in Biology and Medicine, ed. K. Yagi, Academic Press, New York, pp. 305-315
8. Cross, C.E., (1987). Oxygen radicals and human disease. Ann. Int. Med. 197: 526-545
9. Elson, C.E. and Qureshi, A.A. (1995). Coupling the cholesterol and tumor- suppressive actions of palm oil to the impact of its minor constituents on 3- hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity. Prosta. Leuko. Ess. Fatty Acids. 52: 205-208.
10. Wood, R., Kubena, K., Tseng, S., Martin, G. and Crook, R. (1993). Effect of palm oil, margarine, butter and sunflower oil on the serum lipids and lipoproteins of normocholesterolemic middle-aged men. J. Nutr. Biochem. 4: 286-297
11. Ng, T.K.W, Hayes, K.C., de Witt, G.E, Jegathesan, M.,Satgunasingham, N., Ong, A.S.H. and Tan, D.T.S (1992). Palmitic and oleic acid exert similar effects on serum lipid profile in normocholesterolemic humans. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 11: 383-390
12. Hayes, K.C., Pronczuk, A., and Khosla, P. (1995). A rationale for plasma cholesterol modulation by dietary fatty acids:Modelling the human response in animals. J. Nutr. Biochem., 6:188-194
13. Choudhury, N., Tan, L., and Truswell, A.S. (1995). Comparison of palm olein and olive oil: Effects on plasma lipids and Vitamin E in young adults. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 61:1043
14. Sundram, K., Hayes, K.C. and Siru, O.H. (1995). Both dietary 18:2 and 16:0 may be required to improve the serum LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio in normocholesterolemic men. J. Nutr. Biochem., 6: 179-187
15. Ng, T.K.W, Hassan, K., Lim, J.B. Lye, M.S. and Ishak, R. (1991). Non- hypercholesterolemic effects of a palm oil diet in Malaysian volunteers. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 53:1015S-1020S
16. Sundram, K., Hayes, K.C., and Siru, O.H. (1994). Dietary palmitic acid results in a lower serum cholesterol than a lauric-myristic acid combination in normolipemic humans. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 59: 841-846
17. Hayes, K.C., Pronczuk, A., Lindsey, S. and Diersen-Schade, D. (1991). Dietary saturated fatty acids (12:0, 14:0, 16:0) differ in their impact on plasma cholesterol and lipoproteins in human primates. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 53: 491-498
18. Lindsey, S., Benattar, J. Pronczuk, A. and Hayes, K.C. (1990). Dietary palmitic acid (16:0) enhances HDL cholesterol and LDL receptor RNA abundance in hamsters. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 195: 261-269
19. Hornstra, G., (1988). Dietary lipids and cardiovascular disease. Effects of palm oil. Oleagineux 43: 75-81
20. Sylvester. P.W., Russell, N., lp, M.M. and lp, C. (1986). Comparative effects of different animal and vegetable fats fed before and during carcinogen administration on mammary tumorigenesis, sexual maturation and endocrine function in rats. Cancer Res. 46: 757-762
21. Sundram, K., Khor. H.T., Ong, A.S.H. and Pathmarathan, R. (1989). Effect of dietary palm oils on mammary carcinogenesis in female rats induced by 7,12- dimethylbenz (a) anthracene. Cancer Res. 49: 1447-1451
22. Komiyama, K., Iizuka, K., Yamaoka, M., Watanabe, H.,Tsuchiya, N and Umezawa, 1. (1989). Studies on the biological activities of tocotrienols. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 37:1369-1371
23. Goh, S.H., Hew, N.F., Norhanom, A.W. and Yadav, M. (1994). Inhibition of tumor promotion by various palm oil tocotrienols. Int. J. Cancer. 57:529-531
24. Guthrie, N. Nesaretnam, K., Chambers, A.F. and Carroll, K.K. (1993). Inhibition of breast cancer cell growth by tocotrienols. FASEB J. 7:A70
25. Guthrie, N., Chambers, A.F, Gapor, A. and Carrol, K.K. (1995). In vitro inhibition of proliferation of receptor-positive MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by palm oil tocotrienols. FASEB J. 9:A988