What's your take on tropical oils?

Q. I have noticed that food companies are using more palm and palm kernel oils. Aren't these saturated fats unhealthy too? What's your take on tropical oils?

A. Many food companies have made a quick switch to tropical oils, in order to reduce or eliminate the trans fatty acids in food. (Trans fatty acids are created when food processors add hydrogen to oils. These oils are called hydrogenated oils.)

It's important to keep in mind that classifying fats as merely "saturated" or "polyunsaturated" does not accurately indicate their impact on the body. Rather, it's important to look at the specific fatty acids. There are several different saturated fatty acids.

In the earlier days, studies indicated that saturated fats raise cholesterol, which was the basis for health guidelines advocating a reduction in eating this type of fat. But a growing body of research shows that individual saturated fatty acids are much more diverse in their actions.

In the Pacific Island of Tokelau, the indigenous diet contains 40% saturated fat. Yet, these islanders have an apparently low heart disease rate. Nearly all of the saturated fat in their diet is from coconut oil, which is high in lauric acid. This saturated fatty acid is associated with elevating the beneficial HDL-cholesterol.

Palm oil and palm kernel oil are both high in saturated fats, but with very different fatty acid profiles.

* Palm oil is 43.5% Palmitate, which is the dominate saturated fat in the USA diet, (most of which is from eating grain-fed meats and dairy). This fatty acid raises LDL (bad cholesterol).

* Palm Kernel oil is 47% Lauric acid, which is a saturated fatty acid associated with reducing the total cholesterol to HDL ratio (mostly by elevating the beneficial HDL-cholesterol).

If I was on a deserted island and you were to ask me to pick the best of the three tropical oils, I'd say coconut oil, but I would not go out of my way to seek it out.

Here's a great review for more information:
Ramsden et al. Dietary fat quality and coronary heart disease prevention: a unified theory based on evolutionary, historical, global and modern perspectives. Curr Treatment Op in Cardiovascular Medicine 2009,11:289-301.

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