Palm oil is extracted from the palm fruit (Elaeis Guineensis) of the oil palm tree. The oil squeezed from pulp is called palm oil, and the oil squeezed from nuts is called palm kernel oil. The composition of these two oils is quite different. Palm oil mainly contains palmitic acid (C 16) and oleic acid (C 18), and its saturation is about 50%. Palm kernel oil mainly contains lauric acid (C 12), and its saturation is above 80%.
Traditionally, palm oil only refers to crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil (RPO) squeezed from palm pulp, excluding palm kernel oil.
It has been used as natural food for more than five thousand years. Various statements about the harm of palm oil:
1. Palm oil is a mixture of fatty acids. Palm oil with a melting point of 40 degrees can only be used to make soap and cosmetics; The melting point is 24 degrees, which can be used to fry instant noodles and make cakes; Melting point 12 degree, which can be used as edible vegetable oil.
But palm oil with a melting point of 24 degrees is the easiest to buy on the market now. The saturated fatty acid content of palm oil is higher than that of lard, and it is easy to get coronary heart disease, hypertension and other diseases.
Secondly, palm oil is one of the worst quality vegetable oils, which contains trans fatty acids, and long-term consumption is not conducive to human health.