Is palm oil harmful

Arguments for and against

Dmitry Manin, MednovostiThe phenomenon

Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is obtained from the fruits of the oil palm.

The main area of its application for the last five thousand years has been cooking. Today palm oil is used all over the world in the dairy industry, confectionery and bakery.

What is the dispute aboutDespite the fact that palm oil is quite well studied from the point of view of medicine and is not banned in any country in the world, there are a huge number of publications in the Russian media about its harm.

The main question that society is concerned about is how palm oil affects the human body:

• Is palm oil digested in the same way as other vegetable oils?
• Does palm oil harm the cardiovascular system?
• Is adding palm oil to baby food harmful?

ProRussian journalists and some representatives of the food industry have several claims to palm oil at once.

In particular, he is credited with the content of a large amount of really harmful trans fats, at least increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Trans fats are part of meat and dairy products, but not vegetable. In vegetable products, they can appear only when liquid fat (oil) is hydrogenated, that is, converted to a solid state – this is often necessary in the food industry.

However, palm oil initially has a semi-solid consistency. This is due to the content of palmitic fatty acid, the presence of which is characteristic of animal fats. It is this acid that is "to blame" for the fact that the oil does not spread. Due to this property, it does not require artificial curing, such as sunflower oil, therefore, there are no trans fats in it.

Palm oil is an ordinary fat, which, like any other fats (butter, beef fat, mutton fat, chicken fat, vegetable oil, soy oil, etc.), is digested using the lipase enzyme located in the intestine. This enzyme "breaks" fat into small elements that are absorbed into the intestinal wall. At the same time, any fat is normally absorbed, even with high melting temperatures. It's just that in one case the process is faster, and in the other it is slower.

In the Russian media, you can often find information that we are supplied with palm oil of reduced quality, the so-called "technical". This is not the case: the Customs Union monitors compliance with the relevant regulations. They say what the requirements are for edible oil: it should not exceed the maximum permissible standards for toxic elements, radionuclides, molds, yeast, etc. The degree of oxidation of the oil is also monitored. In the food industry, only oil can be used, in which all these indicators are not violated.

Without the use of palm oil in the production of baby food, the quality of the product would have suffered greatly. "Infant formula should be as close as possible in composition to breast milk, which has everything necessary for a child," says Professor Oleg Medvedev, Head of the Department of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine of Moscow State University. – Female breast milk contains one component, which is also present in large quantities in palm oil. This is palmitic acid. It is necessary for the natural development of the child. Therefore, in the production of infant formulas, palm oil itself is not taken, but acid is extracted from it. It is absolutely safe, and today there are no medical studies that would detect negative symptoms in children. If this acid is present in breast milk itself, then it is necessary for the child. In order to reproduce the entire composition of breast milk, many other acids are required, which can be obtained from vegetable oils, not only from palm oil. The necessary components are also obtained, for example, from coconut oil. As a result, a mixture is obtained that is as close as possible to the natural nutrition of the child."

ContraIt has not been fully studied whether palmitic acid from palm oil is similar in its action to the same acid from breast milk.

There are studies that prove that palmitic acid from palm oil is absorbed somewhat worse. It forms insoluble compounds with calcium, which are excreted from the child's body with feces. That is why children do not get the right amount of fat and the likelihood of developing a calcium deficiency increases.

In addition, serious environmental problems are associated with the use of palm oil. Plantations in Asia, Africa and Latin America are expanding for the cultivation of oil palms. As a result, tropical forests are being cut down – the main habitat for many endangered species of animals. The World Wildlife Fund supports the production of palm oil as such, but strongly opposes the policy of many producers: instead of creating new plantations on already developed large areas of land, they are clearing new forest areas, simply burning what grows on them.

To support the movement against the destruction of forests, many European manufacturers have started to produce products with the label "without palm oil". This step towards environmental protection has been interpreted by many as a rejection of palm oil due to the fact that it allegedly poses a threat to health. In particular, such a measure has led to the emergence of myths in Russia about the dangers of palm oil.

Palm oil contains 50 percent saturated fatty acids. Similar acids are also found in large quantities in animal fat (red meat and butter). The main problem with the consumption of saturated fats is their effect on the cardiovascular system: this type of acid increases the level of "bad" cholesterol in the blood, which increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.

FinallyPalm oil helps to avoid the appearance of trans fats in products.

Its use for the production of confectionery and bakery products could reduce the incidence of cancer, and moderate consumption would reduce the number of cardiovascular diseases, which are provoked, among other things, by the action of trans-isomers of fatty acids.

If palm oil is banned, it will not end well. The food industry requires solid fats, so hydrogenated vegetable oils will be used as an alternative, which will lead to an increase in the consumption of trans fats that are dangerous to health.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru11.02.2015