Harm And Benefit Of Palm Oil: Is The Devil As Scary As It Is Portrayed?

Myths about the harm and benefits of palm oil. What threatens the content of palm oil in products. The production of palm oil harms the environment.

Many of us have heard about the harm of palm oil at least once in our lives, but remembering exactly what it is and from whom is not an easy task. The conclusion suggests itself - isn't this a cunning black PR used in the battle of the titans of the food industry? Let's try to weigh all the pros and cons, and put someone in the sentence: "Palm oil execution cannot be pardoned."

Damage

In the minds of the masses, palm oil is on the same level as dyes, preservatives, flavor enhancers and GMOs. They say that it contains some fatty acids that can harm the body, provoke a heart attack or stroke. For example, in 2011, Stanford University researchers published data showing that in countries with the highest consumption of palm oil, statistics of cardiovascular diseases are also increasing. But scientists ignored the fact that palm oil is eaten more in countries with a low standard of living, where people's diet is generally worse, and medicine is not all right.

Benefit

Other researchers of human consumption of saturated fats claim that neither butter, nor palm, nor any other vegetable oil can in itself cause any harm to health, especially when it comes to moderate consumption.

 

But why is palm oil used so often and everywhere? The reason is cheapness: if a ton of milk fat costs about $2,700 in 2015, palm oil is being asked for $570. So why pay more when this similar substance can easily replace butter? An additional plus - unlike margarine and other popular substitutes, palm oil does not contain trans fats, the harm of which has been proven by science.

Micronutrients are also found in palm oil: co-enzyme Q10, carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These substances have the properties of antioxidants, which means that they are completely suitable for food consumption.

 

Production

It turns out, you can safely buy cheeses, sweets and sauces, ignoring the labeling on the packs? Unfortunately, everything is not so rosy. Intensive production of the product harms the environment, because huge areas of virgin tropical forest are cut down to plant oil palm plantations. Thus, rare species of animals disappear, rivers become polluted and dry up, which ultimately leads to global climate change. Conservationists say that if plantations in Indonesia continue to expand at the same rate, after 7-8 years only 2% of the forest will remain in the country.  

A rhetorical question

Unfortunately, demand creates supply, and poor tropical countries continue to follow the lead of industrial giants Unilever, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Kraft and other companies that actively use palm oil in their products. Perhaps, when a person is faced with the painful choice of whether to eat or not to eat this mysterious product, he should think not only about the mythical clogging of arteries, but about the very real ecology of our planet.