Tropical Oils: What's Healthy? what's Not?

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Tropical Oils: What’s Healthy? What’s Not?

 

In the past few years, I’ve noticed an influx of “health” foods containing

fractionated palm oil. How is this different from regular palm oil and from palm

kernel oil? Is it healthier?

 

-- Karen Kwiek

 

 

Answer (Published 10/18/2002)

 

 

You’ve asked a good question about a rather confusing subject. The African oil

palm (Elaeis guineensis) or its American hybrid variety (Elaeis oleifra) is

widely cultivated in tropical areas and produces a fleshy fruit from which two

oils are extracted: (1) palm oil from the fruit and (2) palm kernel oil from the

pit.

 

Both contain a lot of saturated fat, but of the two, palm oil is the healthier

of the two, both because it has less saturated fat and because it has high

antioxidant activity from a significant content of natural vitamin E (including

both tocopherols and tocotrienols). It can also be extracted gently by pressing

the pulpy fruit.

 

Rees Moerman, product engineer at Spectrum Naturals, a California company, which

sells high quality expeller-pressed oils, tells me that unlike palm oil, palm

kernel oil can’t be obtained organically.

 

Instead, the oil must be extracted from the

pit with a gasoline-like hydrocarbon solvent.

 

In short, palm kernel oil is a cheap, unhealthy fat, and I recommend avoiding

food products containing it.

 

Fractionation is a further phase of palm oil processing, designed to extract and

concentrate specific fatty acid fractions. Fractionated palm oil, as found in

food products, has a higher concentration of saturated fat than regular palm oil

and is used for the convenience of manufacturers who like its stability and

melting characteristics. The healthful aspects of natural palm oil are largely

lost in the process.

 

I’ve noticed that fractionated palm oil is now a common ingredient in many power

bars sold in health-food stores.

 

The bottom line is that of all these oils, organic, minimally processed palm oil

is the healthiest, followed by conventionally processed palm oil. Palm kernel

oil is less healthy still, and fractionated palm oil is the least desirable.

 

Dr. Andrew Weil

www.drweil.com

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